I live about half a mile from the English Channel, and have a slighly larger than average suburban garden.

It is unusual to have very cold weather here; some years pass without a single hard frost.  We had several frosty days in December, and the forecast was for more in  January. 

Because of the predicted cold weather, I did not put out any new plants, not even bare root planting.  Some years I plant broad bean seeds at the beginning of January, but decided against it this year because I thought that the soil might be too cold for the seeds to germinate.

As a surprise, my husband put in some new lights.  These are solar powered, and even with our very short winter days usually turn on in the evenings to give a bit of cheer at the end of a dark day.

 My garden is really fairly dull in January.  I have some cornus (dogwood) with red stems which give a bit of colour.  Also, I have 2 varieties of hebe that bloom in the late autumn.  There were still a few flowers left at the beginning of January. 

One of my projects for 2009 is to find some plants to give some colour next winter.

 The weather forecast proved correct, and early January brought several days when the temperature did not rise much above freezing.  Some areas of my garden were covered with frost from dawn until dusk, with the result that some of my less hardy plants have died.

The cold weather also sent some unusual birds into the garden; on 5th January I observed a great spotted woodpecker eating peanuts from the feeder that I had suspended from the apple tree.

The apples had all gone by the start of January, but I have kept a variety of seeds and nuts for the birds.

 One of the joys of gardening is that there is always something new.  Even though I have lost some of my favourite plants to frost, I know that soon the early bulbs will be in flower.  Most of these are already pushing up through the soil.  I have clusters of snow drops in bud, and the first yellow crocus appeared on 27th January.

I will (of course) replace the dead plants with something new and different.

According to the weather forecast, we shall be having snow from Russia over the next two days. Please note: not just any snow, but Russian snow. I expect it to be exceptionally cold!

This photo above was taken at 4pm. This may be of little significance to those of you who live further south, but for those of us living this far north, it is wonderful to see daylight at 4pm. At the beginning of January it would be dark outside.

I hope to plant some seeds inside in February. I have some sweet peas on the window sill, well up and growing - a gift from a friend. I shall also spend plenty of time indoors, looking at plant catalogues and looking forward to warmer weather.

You can read about what I actually did in February on the next chapter - February Garden Diary.