Plants respond to seasonal changes

This is the time of year when you might wake any morning to find that your garden has disappeared, replaced by an expanse of white fluff, with sleepy, white mounds where low bushes once grew. Each crosspiece of fencing enclosing your garden might be spread with white icing; and white traces might perch precariously atop the thin branches of trees. A blanket of snow definitively shuts down the garden for the season.

The temporary disappearance of the garden is no cause for sadness, for about now is when you might need a break. In case you think there has been nothing to do over the past couple of months: Have you mulched your strawberries, tidied up the garden, made compost, fertilized, planted shrubs, etc. Once snow falls, it hides all thoughts and reminders of things that could still be done.

Look out your window: Whether or not you see snow, plant life has also reached a standstill. This rest is good for the plants.

Even houseplants, although they grow indoors and are accustomed to year-round warm climates, respond to seasonal changes. The sun now hangs low in the sky, much of its energy dissipated by the time it streams into even a south-facing window. And, more obvious, the sun shows its face just a few hours each day. Growth of houseplants is just about at a standstill.

The houseplants that are most still are those few that do respond dramatically to the seasons, apparently lifeless plants such as amaryllis and Easter cactus. Their stillness is not the result of light, but of cool temperatures or dry soil -- artificially imposed by us. These plants need a rest to coax them to put on their once-a-year flower shows.

This early winter rest period -- yours and your plants' -- will not last long. By early February, the coldest part of winter will be past, the days will quickly lengthen, and the sun will become increasingly more intense as it climbs higher in the sky. Houseplants will begin to grow and need more frequent watering and fertilizing.

And then it will be time to sow the first seeds of the season indoors: onions, leeks, pansies, and snapdragons. Outside, buds on trees and shrubs will begin to fatten, at first almost imperceptibly. Rush some of these buds along by bringing cut branches indoors to blossom. Week by week, the pace will quicken. A new season of gardening will be off to a running start.