Join us on January 1st to explore January, the coldest and darkest month named after Janus, the door-keeper of heaven. Discover the beauty of early morning walks through steel grey mists, estuarine birdwatching, and snow-covered conifers. Learn about the first blooms of the year, winter aconites and snowdrops, and the best spots in London to see them. Don't miss this captivating article celebrating January's hidden beauty and peacefulness.
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January is named after Janus, the door-keeper of heaven and presider of peace. It is the coldest and blackest month of the year due to its short days and weak sun. Sunny interludes and above average temperatures have always allowed for more spring-like activities to commence and in recent years these have become more common.
Early morning walks on clear bright mornings with late dawns and typical low lying steel grey mists are to be recommended as are walks on heaths and commons after a rime frost. It is also a particularly good time for estuarine birdwatching and after snow it is always worth walking among large conifers.
Snowdrops and Winter Aconites
If December has been harsh there will be no wild flowers to be seen in the early part of the new year except for the ever faithful daisy and gorse Ulex europaeus. The two real botanical heralds are the winter aconite Eranthis hyemalis and our native snowdrop Galanthus nivalis.
If December has been harsh there will be no wild flowers to be seen in the early part of the new year except for the ever faithful daisy and gorse Ulex europaeus. The two real botanical heralds are the winter aconite Eranthis hyemalis and our native snowdrop Galanthus nivalis.
Snowdrops are found everywhere in London, but good places to see them are Morden Hall Park, the southern tip of Ranelagh Gardens and best of all the national collection at the Royal Horticultural Gardens at Wisley. It is at Wisley you are most likely to see the first snowdrop of the year and in more recent years perhaps even on January 1st.
If the flowers are not open they can be coaxed to open with a little heat. Putting the unopened flower into your mouth for a few minutes may provide just enough warmth for the petals to open before the flower can be triumphantly removed.
Although there are over one hundred different kinds of garden snowdrop and they can flower over several months it is the first one you encounter that tends to be noticed more
Visiting the collection at Wisley it is often the large impressive Galanthus elwesii that is seen first. Our native snowdrop G. nivalis opens soon after with the advantage of being seen in far greater numbers. Many have no perfume but Galanthus S. Arnot, another early flowering form, is reported as having a ginger scent.
Large numbers of snowdrops brought indoors can produce a mild honey scent, although unfortunately in the past this was believed to precipitate a death in the family.
Winter Aconites Eranthis hyemalis are like miniature buttercups with small Elizabethan style ruffs giving rise to one of their country names, Choirboys. Their flowers open when the temperature rises to 10 Centigrade. The sepals are yellow and the petals reduced to small green tubes producing nectar.
They are usually encountered in the untouched grassy areas of churchyards and parks e.g. Hampton Court Gardens. Although various other species and forms of winter aconite are well naturalised in gardens they are very rarely found in the wild. One place they have almost given that appearance is by the Round Tower at Windsor.
Aconites are particularly poisonous and consequently possess a sinister folklore. The plant was dedicated to Hecate, the Queen of Hell. Medea is supposed to have used it to try to kill Theseus and on throwing the poison to the ground it is said to have behaved like acid, frothing violently and cracking the marble.
Considering it is often the first flower of the year, just beating snowdrops, it is surprisingly uncommon in London. It was much more common here in Elizabethan times and in the seventeenth century two varieties were recognised. In the nineteenth century it was even popular as a winter pot plant in Paris.
