A time for new beginnings – few of us want to venture out into the garden at the start of the year though. However, the bright winter sunshine and crisp frosty mornings bring an added dimension to the garden - it gives us a chance to appreciate the garden in a completely different light.

Cyclamen are tuberous perennials providing colour and interest when little else is flowering, particularly in late winter or early spring. Hardy cyclamen species and cultivars are ideal for naturalising under trees, on banks or in a shady border and can be planted in association with other early-flowering woodland plants such as snowdrops, winter aconites and primroses.

Cyclamen are a genus of about 20 tuberous perennials grown for their pink and white flowers. Most grow to about 10cm tall, although established tubers can reach the size of a dinner plate and produce dozens of flowers. Cyclamen habitat ranges from deciduous woodland to scrubland and rocky areas with most cyclamen found growing around the Mediterranean and across southern France, Italy, Greece and into Turkey.

In general, hardy cyclamen prefer poor, well-drained soil in full or part shade. Hardy cyclamen are easy to grow as long as you avoid heavy soils that are apt to get waterlogged. If you do have very wet soil it is probably best to grow cyclamen in pots or raised beds. They are at their happiest around the base of deciduous trees and large shrubs. These are areas that are cool and shady in the summer but light and moist during the autumn and winter.

Cyclamen look especially good when grown under and around deciduous shrubs, especially shrubs with coloured winter stems like Dogwoods and Willow. A selection of favourites include:

Cyclamen coum AGM: This species and its many excellent cultivars have pink or magenta flowers during the depths of winter from January to March, surviving in the severest weather.

Cyclamen hederifolium AGM: This excellent garden plant will provide ground cover from winter to spring. Large flowers in shades of pink appear before the leaves in early autumn. Marbled foliage bears a resemblance to that of ivy. This species self-seeds freely.
 
Cyclamen purpurascens AGM: Very fragrant pink flowers borne with the heart-shaped, shiny, dark green and silvery mottled leaves, flowers from mid-late summer.

As with all small, delicate plants they can often look a little uninspiring when planted as single specimens however when planted en masse they really come into their own – there is nothing quite like a cyclamen carpet extending across the woodland floor.

Jobs to be done in January
Ornamental Garden:
• If the ground is waterlogged then keep off the soil to avoid compaction and worsening the conditions.
• If snow falls – Do not let the snow sit on the shrubs, gently shake off to prevent damage.
• Prune bush or standard apples and pears, aiming to create an open framework of about 5 main branches.
• Sweet Peas can be sown this month and those sown in the autumn can be potted on. Place them in a sunny greenhouse, coldframe or windowsill.
• Plan annual cut flowers for the borders.
• Mulch borders if not already done in autumn.
• Plant deciduous hedges.
• Move deciduous trees and shrubs if necessary.
• Ensure protective coverings such as fleece / mulch have remained in place over frost tender plants.
• Avoid walking on turf when the grass is covered with frost or is waterlogged.

Vegetable Garden:
• Protect brassicas from pigeons with cloches, netting or fleece.
• Harvest Winter Vegetables such as parsnip, swede, sprouts, leeks and turnip.
• Remove one third of the oldest stems of blackcurrants at ground level to encourage new basal shoots.