“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” ~ Sydney J. Harris
January, the month of winter sleep, offers gardeners the opportunity to dream, plan, and imagine. There is not much work to be done in our gardens, but we can still begin to chart the days ahead so that we’ll be able to share the bounty from our efforts. The new year is a time to re-evaluate everything we do. As gardeners, we can begin anew, too.
Once you’ve finished a few gardening chores, make time to relax and refresh. Curl up with a cup of tea brewed from your homegrown Meyer lemon, lavender, and spearmint, grab your favorite seed catalogs or garden books, and discover new water-conserving cultivars for the year. You can plan patio hardscapes incorporating rocks, bricks, and cobbles instead of flower beds. If you have the space, design a meditative maze in your garden. Prune a few budding branches from your peach or crab apple tree and put them in a vase to watch their blossoms unfurl.
Cut a bouquet of narcissus for a scent-filled room of sweetness, or pick those final fragrant rose blooms to place by your bedside for the deepest tranquil rest. For kindness to our fine-feathered friends, design a “Bird Branch” on a deciduous tree or an old stump, hanging feeders, and nests for those cold winter nights.
Every new year, I ask myself, “Why do I love to garden?” I know my reasons. Ask any gardener, and you’ll get a multitude of various answers, but a few are universal. We garden because it feeds our bodies, minds, and souls. Gardening offers us a way to connect, to remember, and to share.
January offers us the chance for a new beginning. To your list of resolutions, include spending more time in nature while you drink in the beauty. Decide to compost, recycle, collect rainwater for watering, and grow organic vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Exercise your body, mind, and soul by digging deep. Be grateful for what we already have. Relating to the earth reminds us that despite turbulent times, we can survive and thrive. Go into the garden to be nurtured by nature.
Perform the necessary chores, then take the time to chill out! It’s winter. Nature is sleeping and you need to take a break, too.
Hello 2025!
Cynthia Brian’s Goddess Gardener Garden Guide for January
FERTILIZE the entire landscape with a slow-release all-natural fertilizer.
ADD better drainage to any potted plants you received as holiday gifts by removing the wrapping paper. Trim the spent blossoms, water deeply and fertilize.
BRING budding cymbidium orchids indoors to display.
APPLY elemental sulfur to the soil around your acid-loving plants such as the azaleas, citrus, and camellias. This will break down slowly over the next year and will help keep the soil in these areas at the optimal PH for plant color and health.
PRUNE roses, crape myrtles, and deciduous fruit trees by the end of the month.
BUY bare-root rose bushes. Soak them in water for a day before planting. Cut off any damaged or broken roots. Plant the bud union three inches above the ground.
TREAT houseplants with a warm shower and shake. Indoor heat dries the roots, leaves, and fronds, especially those of ferns.
PICK ripe and tangy navel oranges, Meyer lemons, and tangelos, and use the rest of your persimmons.
WATCH for snow plants to sprout in the Sierras.
PERUSE seed catalogs available now to determine what you want to plant in spring.
ADD a bowl of freshly picked Meyer lemons to your countertop as a useful culinary display.
REMOVE the longer canes from wisteria.
COVER frost-tender plants with burlap, sheets, newspaper, or straw. Be on the alert for swift temperature swings.
FEED the birds. Baby, it’s cold outside and our birds need food and shelter. Make sure to clean your birdhouses and feeders regularly.
WATCH for rats and mice. As the cold weather begins, vermin seek a warm bed and easy-to-find food.
CHECK plants brought inside for the winter for any insect infestation.
APPLY organic snail and slug bait (Sluggo), as these mollusks are active during winter.
CLEAN the dead leaves from the bearded iris to prevent rot and insect hideouts.
PLANT a cover crop to increase nitrogen and protect against winter erosion. Fava beans, clover, vetch, and mustard are excellent choices. To find seeds visit www.rareseeds.com or www.sowtrueseed.com.
GIVE the gift of my book, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, twelve months of inspiration and gardening tips to sustain your inner gardener with a full year of kindness and happiness in nature. Buy directly from www.cynthiabrian.com/online-storewith proceeds benefiting charity PLUS you’ll receive extra goodies and an autographed copy.
Happy Gardening. Happy Growing. Happy New Year!
For more gardening advice for all seasons, check out Growing with the Goddess Gardenerat https://www.CynthiaBrian.com/books. Raised in the vineyards of Napa County, Cynthia Brian is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach, as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3, which was just honored as the 2024 Nonprofit of the Year by the Moraga Chamber of Commerce. https://www.BetheStarYouAre.org. Tune into Cynthia’s StarStyle® Radio Broadcast at https://www.StarStyleRadio.com. Her newest children’s picture book, Books in the Barnyard: Oh Deer!, from the series Stella Bella’s Barnyard Adventures is available at https://www.CynthiaBrian.com/online-store. Hire Cynthia for writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. Cynthia@GoddessGardener.comhttps://www.CynthiaBrian.com
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Cynthia Brian, SAG/AFTRA, A.S.I.D., Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3 literacy and positive media charity, New York Times best-selling co-author of Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, author of Be the Star You Are!®, 99 Gifts for Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning to Make a Difference, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS, Be the Star You Are!® Millennials to Boomers, Growing with The Goddess Gardener, The Business of Show Business, The Blessing of Love and Relationships, and Miracle Moments®, is an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, personal growth consultant, actor, producer and host of radio and TV shows, columnist, designer, gardener, and lifestyle coach. (www.CynthiaBrian.com)
Stella Bella’s Barnyard Adventures is Cynthia’s first illustrated children’s book series with true tales from her menagerie of adopted rescues. Titles include No Barnyard Bullies, Family Forever, and Books in the Barnyard: Oh Deer!
Referred by the media as “the Renaissance woman with soul!”, Cynthia is a world traveler who speaks French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. With four decades of experience working in the entertainment field as an actor, producer, writer, coach, designer, and casting director, she has had the honor of performing with some of the biggest names in the industry. Cynthia is a Certified Interior Designer and has had her interior and garden design projects featured in TV, commercials, books, and numerous publications. She wrote, produced, and directed the film, The Quest for Pure Design. Cynthia is a much in demand speaker on luxury cruise lines and spas around the world, inspiring others to be the stars they were born to be by creating a life they design.
Because of her devotion to increasing literacy and positive messages in the world, Cynthia founded and is the Executive Director of the 501(c)(3) charity, Be the Star You Are!® (www.BetheStarYouAre.org) empowering women, families, and youth, which won 2024 Nonprofit of the Year. Her motto is “To be a leader, you must be a reader!”. GuideStar and Great Non Profits consistently honor Be the Star You Are!® as a top-rated non-profit. BTSYA was named the 2024 Nonprofit of the Year. As part of her dedication to giving youth a voice, she created and launched the creative community at www.BTSYA.com while also producing and directing the young adult radio broadcast, Express Yourself!™, (www.ExpressYourselfTeenRadio.com) the #1 most listened-to program around the world on the Voice America Network with teen hosts and contributors. Cynthia says “Express Yourself!™ is an uncensored haven where youth talk and the world listens!”
As an empowerment architect and life success coach, Ms. Brian is also dedicated to helping others achieve their dreams, recognize the possibilities, and utilize their potential by implementing their unique gifts. Many aspiring thespians, writers, and professionals have been coached to fun, fame, and fortune through her personal success consultations in acting, media, writing, life skills, and presentations. Because of her energy and passion, companies engage Cynthia’s services as a media spokesperson.
Born on a farm in the Napa Valley in northern California, the eldest of five children, Cynthia raised chickens and sheep, drove tractors, and picked fruit to earn enough money to pay her way through college. She was a Grand Champion rooster raiser, winning hundreds of blue ribbons in 4-H. After being honored as the Outstanding Teenager of California, she was named teenage ambassador to Holland and served as a foreign correspondent for several newspapers. Her travel expeditions gave birth to her writing, speaking, and coaching career.
Since 2008, Cynthia has been the gardening consultant and inspirational garden columnist for The Lamorinda Weekly known as The Goddess Gardener. (www.CynthiaBrian.com/Gardening) There, she also served as the editor and coach for Teen Scene. As a home, garden, and lifestyle expert, she has been privileged to write for Internet sites, and numerous print publications, and is proud to be a Top Reviewer at Trip Advisor and on the Elite Squad at Yelp. She published her first gardening calendar, A Gardener’s Guide, in 1993.
Interviewing is a talent this dynamic woman enjoys. Broadcasting live since 1998, Cynthia interviews the authors and experts considered pioneers on the planet. Tune into her award winning upbeat, positive, internationally broadcast lifestyle radio program, StarStyle-Be the Star You Are!® live and archived every Wednesday from 4-5 pm PT/7-8 pm ET on the Voice America Network Empowerment channel. (www.StarStyleRadio.com)
Cynthia’s goal is to inspire, encourage, inform, and motivate others to be their unapologetically unique selves.
When you are seeking a business expert with earthiness, exuberance, and personality that garner results, Cynthia Brian is the seasoned professional writer, speaker, coach, host, spokesperson, and Goddess Gardener guide for your next project.
Cynthia Brian, empowerment architect, passion, purpose, and possibility professional, is available for private coaching, consultations, and speaking engagements.
To Book Cynthia Brian
Talent Agent:
Stars, the Agency
415-421-6272
http://www.StarsAgency.com
Reception@StarsAgency.com
Literary Agent:
Waterside Productions, Inc.
Gayle Gladstone
760-632-9190
www.Waterside.com
gaylegladstone@gmail.com
https://www.waterside.com/portfolio-item/cynthia-brian/