Time to take stock of the Okanagan gardening season
Published 8:00 am Friday, January 9, 2026
For gardeners, this is the time of the year where we can rest a bit and look through seed catalogues and make plans for the coming year.
Make a map of your garden and write down what went right or wrong during the growing season.
If you keep a record, you can always go back to it and change things around.
It is nice to have it on paper as the memory sometimes fades, take my word for it.
I have a file called Day to Day in the Garden. At the end of the day, I jot down what happened that specific day in the garden, what I planted or harvested, the sun or rain, the first bloom on the plants, the first harvest etc.
With the computer is is easy to find what I am looking for when I need to.
It makes a good resolution for the year and easy to keep.
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I was just reading a report that every day more than 51,000 trees are cut down to support North America’s paper towel habit. Globally 270 million trees are estimated to be cut down annually for paper towels alone.
Just wondering how many trees are cut for all the junk mail. I reuse a lot of the envelopes as paper notes for grocery list or the blank back of sheets I can use for printing.
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If you were gifted a cactus or it bloomed over the holidays, visit this site to learn how to tell if you have a Thanksgiving or a Christmas cactus: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/christmas-cactus/christmas-cactus-or-thanksgiving-cactus.
And here for the one gardening trend to leave behind: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/design/garden-trends-for-2026.
“High-maintenance landscaping designs with perfect flower beds and immaculate lawns are out of favour and definitely the gardening trend to leave behind in 2026. The new approach to garden design means less intervention and instead letting nature take the lead.
“Low-input landscaping means celebrating unexpected outcomes instead of trying to control every little detail.
“Allowing your garden to get messy is a key part of this relaxed approach. It means letting your lawn grow into a no-mow one to encourage biodiversity, choosing plants that support wildlife habitat, and encouraging naturalistic flower planting in borders rather than shoehorning plants into set designs.”
Happily, it’s a more low-maintenance style of gardening that frees you up to spend more time enjoying your outdoor space, too.
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I have plants in my garden that came from many different places and friends. Some of these friends have passed away now but when I see these plants in the garden and still blooming, it brings nice memories.
I have Nola irises, Bob strawberries, Claudia Moses in the cradle, etc.
For more information: 250-558-4556 or jocelynesewell@gmail.com.
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