What Plants and Vegetables Can You Start in January?

Week 1

• Carrots, iris tubers, penstemon, allium, draba, lupine, lettuce and radish are ideal for starting the first week of January. The iris tubers will bloom by April if you plant them in a heated greenhouse. Direct sow seeds of carrots, lettuce and radish. Covering the seeds with a cold frame is not necessary, but will help the seeds germinate faster since the ground will warm up faster in the spring; plus, it will prevent critters from eating the seeds. A cold frame is a boxlike structure with a clear glass or plastic top. Penstemon, allium, draba and lupine are better suited for starting indoors under lights. Starting seeds of these flowers this early in the season will allow them to bloom before the end of summer.

Week 2

• Pansy, dianthus, snapdragon, peas, anemone bulbs and triteleria bulbs are good options for starting the second week of January. Direct sow peas in the ground around some type of trellis to offer these vining plants something to grow on once they begin to germinate. A good option, since the ground is usually frozen this time of year, is to set up tall tomato cages the previous fall, make the indentations for the peas around the cages and be prepared to cover the peas with a seed starting mix or compost. Sow seeds of pansy, dianthus and snapdragon indoors for early spring blooms. These plants will tolerate light frost, so harden them off and move them into a cold frame once they are about blooming size. In the heated greenhouse, plant anemone bulbs for April blooms and triteleria bulbs for May blooms.

Week 3

• Statice, cabbage, celery, onions, parsley, crocosmia tubers, carrots and spinach are good plants and vegetables to start in January. Start a few of the cabbage, celery and onions indoors to speed their growth. Direct sow a few cabbage, celery and onion seeds in the garden along with seeds of parsley, carrots and spinach. Cover the seeds with a cold frame as you did the seeds you planted in week 1. Crocosma tubers planted in the heated greenhouse this week will bloom in July. Statice seed is best started indoors under lights.

Week 4

• Carrots, primrose, ice plant, silene, columbine and wild buckwheat are excellent choices to plant the last week of January. Direct sow the carrots in the garden. Use a cold frame to protect the seeds if you wish. Sow seeds of primrose, ice plant, silene, columbine and wild buckwheat indoors under lights. Begin hardening off larger seedlings, with at least two sets of true leaves. The first leaves that form on a plant are the seed leaves; the leaves that form after that are the true leaves. Once the larger plants are hardened off, move them into a cold frame for the remainder of the winter. The plants in larger cold frames will benefit from a small heater set to 40 degrees F.