Jan. 23-29, 2012 O Winter, ruler of the inverted year ... I crown thee King of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, homeborn happiness. -William Cowper
Lunar phase and lore Waxing throughout the week, the new Singing Cardinal Moon enters its second quarter at 11:10 p.m. on Jan. 30. New moon on Jan. 23 will increase the likelihood of strong storms as the January thaw period comes to a close. The weak moon at the end of the month, however, is expected to improve the chances for a mild Groundhog Day thaw (Jan. 30-Feb. 3). The moon’s position in Pisces on Jan. 25-27 and in Taurus from Jan. 30-Feb. 1 is expected to be ideal for the seeding of bedding plants. As the moon moves overhead in the afternoon this week, fishing should improve, especially as the last cold front of January pushes the barometer down.
Weather patterns
After the January thaw, the likelihood of cooler conditions increases briefly, making Jan. 25-26 some of the crueler days of the month. Starting on Jan. 27, however, the chances for highs above freezing reach above 80 percent, and stay there through Jan. 30. Although Jan. 31 can bring back subfreezing temperatures 40 percent of the time, that day introduces the possibility of a high in the 60s in the Great Plains and the lower Midwest for the first time since Jan. 7.
Zeitgebers, or notables, for this week include the arrival of bluebirds, the beginning of cardinal mating songs at about 7:15 in the morning, the appearance of the first snowdrop flowers, the emergence of day lily, crocus, daffodil and peony foliage, the rapid disappearance of the remaining orange euonymus berries and the last seeds of the small-flowered asters. Daybook
Jan. 23: Today’s new moon is likely to bring chilling cold to the North. Indoors, however, this moon initiates one of the best times of the year for gardening in flats.
Jan. 24: Mardi Gras season begins along the Gulf Coast now (about a month ahead of actual Mardi Gras). That means Easter is only 10 weeks away, or April 8 this year.
Jan. 25: The sun approaches a declination of 19 degrees today, putting it at its mid-November noontime height, and marking more than 20 percent of the way to spring equinox.
Jan. 26: The brief season of late winter is under way throughout the nation. Although this period can be one of the coldest of the year in the North, its thaws accelerate the swelling of buds and the blooming of early bulbs across the South.
Jan. 27: The day now starts to grow at the rate of two minutes per 24 hours along the 40th Parallel, and average temperatures climb one degree almost everywhere in the United States.
Jan. 28: As the major kidding time approaches, have all your supplies on hand: heat lamp, blankets, disbudding boxes, nipple waterers, iodine or other disinfectant to treat the naval cord of new kids. Vaccinate the does due to kid in February. Trim their feet, and clip their udders and hindquarters before kidding begins.
Jan. 29: Livestock and people may feed more and are more active as the barometer is falling 1-3 days before the weather systems that arrive near the following dates: Feb. 3, 6, 11, 15, 20 and 24. The winter gardener
Kenneth Jones, who lives right outside my hometown, has a whole garden 2-by-5-feet square. He cultivates his plants, some 40 or so African violets, in a small room on the north side of his house, right near a window from which he can see the renegade lilac bush – moderately famous in this village – that often blooms in October as well as May.
“Oh, the violets do okay by that window,” says Jones, “but they like these lights better.” He has several tiers of flowers, each level illuminated with a plain white florescent tube and a pink “Grow Lux.” “That’s what they say to use for violets,” he says, “and I like to follow the experience of other people.”
That philosophy has served him well. His plants are lush and varied, and he likes to show them off.
“Now here’s a micro- miniature,” he says. “It’s just getting ready to blossom.” The entire plant is maybe two inches across. “And this is a semi-miniature. This one’s what they call a miniature. Here’s what they call a standard. You see they’re all different.”
He seems to appreciate the smallest most of all but, like a summer gardener, he’s not indifferent to the biggest.
“I’ve seen a violet up at the violet show, up there at the motel, you know, three years ago,” he remembers. “I know it was 18 inches across. That’s a fact. And the leaves were this big (he cups his hands). I sure never saw anything like that!”
He knows what makes a winning violet: “Oh, they’ve got to be symmetric (he turns his plants every 48 hours to make sure they develop evenly), and have three rows of leaves, and the flowers should be just right.” His efforts brought him “Best of Show” two years ago at the Friendly Gardener’s spring display at the local Presbyterian church.
The greatest reward of all, he says, is simply being with the violets. “And in this kind of winter weather, you can’t be outside much, I spend a lot of time with them.”
An hour or two a day? “Oh, more than that. Sometimes three or four. Not all at once, of course. But I’m in that room with them quite a bit, in and out, looking at this and that.
“I keep checking them, and I go through my violet magazines and books. You know I’m repotting, making cuttings, watering. And I’m helping people out ... I’ve got to repot a violet tomorrow for somebody.”
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