Get plants off to a good start with this January to-do list

With the holidays over, gardening really kicks into high gear: pruning, planting bare-root fruit trees and roses, ordering vegetable and flower seeds, preparing soil and grooming plants. Late this month, fruit trees burst into bloom, announcing the arrival of our spring.

Here are some tips for gardening in January to get plants off to the right start this season:

Roses: Consider planting Dream Come True and Mardi Gras, the 2008 winners of the All-American Rose selections. These roses have all the desired characteristics you want in roses: disease resistance, flower production, color and fragrance. They competed across America for two years to get into the winners circle.

If you are a rose lover wanting to prune roses right for our climate, the Las Vegas Valley Rose Society will take the mystery out of this task through a workshop Jan. 26 at 1112 Oak Tree Lane. Expect to do some pruning, because this group believes in learning by doing.

Bare-root planting season: Nurseries are packed with bare-root roses and fruit trees. Plant them before Valentine's Day so they can establish themselves before the heat sets in.

Native seeds: Many of you wonder where to get native plant seeds to include in your landscape. Go to www.nativeseeds.org or www.seedsofchange.com for their catalogs.

Spring color: Plant calendulas, pansies, petunias, snapdragons, sweet alyssum, poppy, wallflowers and other similar flowers. The sooner you plant them, the more blooms you can expect. Of course, these beauties do best when planted with generous amounts of organic matter in the soil.

Perennial flowers: Many summer-flowering perennials do best growing vegetatively during cool weather and they'll reward you with bushels of blooms. Native perennials such as brittlebush, desert marigold, globe mallow, Angelita daisy and penstemons are still blooming. These plants reseed freely. Some seedlings may show up in unwanted places, so move them to a desired location. Avoid fertilizing perennials unless it really warms up later this month.

Vegetables: Order your vegetable seeds to plant when the weather warms later this month. One gardener harvests his first radishes before Groundhog Day. Plant peas early, because they won't set fruit when it heats up. Plant tomatoes, eggplants and peppers in your home so they will be ready to plant out around St. Patrick's Day. If you are daring and have a little farmer in you, direct seed your tomatoes in the garden at the end of month. Direct seeded plants develop a more determined root system so the plants will deal with the heat better when it sets in.

Perennial edibles: Plant artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, chives, fennel, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, sorrel, thyme and winter savory in your permanent garden. If you already have perennials, add fertilizer to stimulate spring growth.

Bulbs: Spring-flowering bulbs are now emerging, so feed them with nitrogen and they will produce more and better bulblets next year. But don't remove foliage until it dies, because those leaves stimulate higher quality bulblets. Add mulch to beds to improve the looks of bare soil and conserve water. Plant gladiolus at two-week intervals before Valentine's Day for continuous blooming through the season. Feed irises and follow with a thorough watering.

Feathered friends: With it so dry, provide birds with water for drinking and bathing. At the Springs Preserve, birds are having a heyday harvesting seeds from ornamental grasses. It's fun watching them balance on stems while feasting on seeds.

Houseplants: Fertilize plants showing signs of new growth. Plants on the windowsill need attention on cold nights; tender leaves die if they touch cold windowpanes. At night, pull plants away from the glass or close curtains or blinds.

Fruit trees: Feed trees and grapes and then water it in. Prune trees before bud break to keep them at a manageable size and open tree centers for better fruit development, then dormant spray. Try dwarf trees. They make excellent container plants and produce food within reaching distance.

Forcing blooms: Snip off a 2-foot section of last year's growth off apricot and almonds and place in water. They'll bloom shortly thereafter and add fragrance to your home.

Prune trees and shrubs: Prune all established trees and shrubs to remove undesired growth and induce proper growth. Don't attempt to alter natural development of trees and shrubs any more than necessary. Remove dead, diseased, crisscrossing and closely parallel branches. Prune early spring-blooming shrubs after bloom; if in doubt, prune after bloom. For large shade trees, hire a tree service, because it gets dangerous in trees making the right cuts -- especially when you get my age.

Hardwood cuttings: Propagate grapes, pomegranate, desert willow and most shrubs during the dormant season. Take pencil-size cuttings about 6 inches long. Dip the bottom ends in rooting powder -- sold at nurseries -- and plant in pots filled with coarse, well-drained soil. Insert the cuttings so the top inch protrudes above the soil and keep it moist until leaves appear and then plant.

Recycle your Christmas tree: Instead of sending your Christmas tree to the landfill, recycle it. This season, Southern Nevadans purchased more than 160,000 trees. If we recycled 100 percent of those trees, we'd end up with 1,379 tons of water conserving, nutrient-rich mulch for our valley's parks and gardens.

Last year, we recycled more than 10,000 that produced 89 tons of mulch. Let's double our numbers this year.

There are 19 drop sites across the valley, receiving trees from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 15. For a site near you, go to www.springspreserve.org or call 822-7700.

There is no charge to recycle your tree.

BECOME A DESERT GARDENER

Nevada Cooperative Extension's master gardeners are offering four desert gardening classes on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the extension learning center at 8050 S. Maryland Parkway, off the Las Vegas Beltway and Windmill Parkway. For more information about these free classes, call 257-5555.

On Wednesday, Bob Peloquin will show you how to add durability, color and fragrance to your garden by creatively mixing standard and lesser-known desert species and using different color schemes to transform a garden into a palette of sensual surprises with less pesticide use.

Linn Mills writes a garden column every Thursday. You can reach him at linn.mills@springspreserve.org or at the Gardens at the Springs Preserve at 822-7754.