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This week, Ken Lain, the mountain gardener at Watters Garden Center in Prescott, AZ, shares information on what plants to plant in January, the best month to propagate wildflowers, and the best vegetables to plant in January.
January is not considered the prime gardening month in northern Arizona. Gardeners in southern Arizona know it’s the perfect time for cool-season vegetables and flowers. It’s warm enough to direct seed much of your garden, but keep your row covers handy. Even in frost-free deserts, January can be a complicated month for gardeners. Extremes and Arizona go hand in hand with unpredictable winter weather is always a gamble.
Weather and growing conditions vary widely in Arizona. Sudden storms and an unpredictable season make it difficult to know when to start your spring vegetable and flower seeds. Below are some guidelines based on USDA hardiness zones and your last expected frost date. Remember that hardiness zones measure the highest and lowest average temperatures. As always, use common sense and gardener’s instinct.
USDA Zones 1 through 5 – Bellemonte and White Mountains
- If you’re in zones 1 through 5, settle for growing something fresh indoors in January. Seeds for indoor microgreens will be available from January. Plant a mix of your favorites like arugula, beet greens, mizuna, and pea shoots.
- Try growing sprouts even faster. They germinate in days and are full of nutrients. Mix things up a bit and try radishes, peas and even sunflower greens.
USDA Zone 6 – Williams, Flagstaff and Showlow
Zone 6 gardeners have more options in January than their Zones 1–5 counterparts.
Indoor vegetables, herbs and flowers
- Now it’s time to start sowing celery, parsley, onions and leeks indoors. Celery and parsley seeds take several weeks to germinate. You also have a wide variety of seeds to choose from, like big yellow onions, red torpedoes, and even donut-shaped cipollini.
- Start with early spring bloomers indoors under lights like begonia, browallia, larkspur, dusty miller, pansies and snapdragons.
flowers outdoors
- Daffodil and tulip bulbs that you missed in the fall can still be planted, but hurry up. If the bulbs are still firm, they will bloom this spring.
USDA Zone 7 – Prescott, Payson, Chino and Prescott Valley
January weather in zone 7 is the most difficult to predict but offers excellent opportunities.
Indoor vegetables, herbs and flowers
- If you haven’t already started with celery, parsley, leeks and onions, start with them indoors. Towards the end of the month you can also start transplanting broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and lettuce outdoors in March. 15 Vegetables That Are Best Started From Seeds
- Geranium and Coleus seeds can be started at the end of the month. They take several months to mature into transplants.
flowers outdoors
- Take advantage of January’s unpredictable weather and direct-sow wildflower seeds that germinate better through freeze-thaw layering, like delphinium, poppy, and nigella.
USDA Zone 8 Verde Valley, Sedona, Kingman, Humboldt
Zone 8 gardeners have some great options.
Indoor vegetables and herbs
- If you haven’t already started with the celery, parsley, leeks, and onions, get them cored right away. Peppers can also be sown indoors as they need extra time to reach the graft size for April planting.
- Cool season crops like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, and other cooking vegetables multiply quickly. Start now so they’ll be ready for spring planting in March.
Vegetables, herbs and flowers outdoors
- If the soil can be tilled, bare root asparagus and strawberry plants can be planted as soon as they become available at the garden center. January is also an excellent time to plant fruit trees.
- You can direct seed root vegetables and hardy vegetables like beets, bok choy, carrots, radishes and even peas. You can transplant onions, broccoli, cabbage, chard, and kale seedlings until the end of January. Harden them off first and keep the row covers handy.
USDA Zones 9+ Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma
In January, the cool growing season for zones 9 and 10 is in full swing.
Indoor vegetables, herbs and flowers
- Start with seeds of eggplant, kale, lettuce, cantaloupe, peppers, squash, tomatoes and basil to allow the grafts to harden as the weather warms up in April.
- Go ahead and start with indoor flower seeds of cosmos, marigolds, sunflowers and zinnias.
Vegetables, herbs and flowers outdoors
- Transplant seedlings of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard and Asian greens. Be sure to sow in sequence to keep the harvest going. It is also safe to sow various vegetables such as arugula, cabbage, carrots, kale, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach and beets right in your garden.
- Hardy fruit trees such as peaches and nectarines can now be planted. Plant tender fruits like citrus until the weather stays warm.
Watters Free Garden Class series Saturday at 9:30 a.m
Join in the gardening fun as we share local tips, tricks and gardening advice that’s sure to make a difference in your garden this year.
15. January – Happy, healthy houseplants with professional style
Jan 22 – Local top landscapes with flair
Jan 29 – Why January is the month to plant wildflowers
Until the next issue I will be helping local gardeners here at Watters Garden Center.
This article was written by Ken Lain. He can be found weekdays at the Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott or can be contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or Top10Plants.com.
Get more gardening tips from the Watters Garden Center in the Mountain Gardener Column on Signals A Z.com.
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