A Balm for January

By Bess Taylor

 

Well, we’re back to the top of the circle of seasons. January is the start of the year and the garden and gardener both are more at rest than at any other time. It is good to take a breather, because we’ll be quite busy for most of the rest of the year and we need to stock up on energy and inspiration. At no other point in the year can we count on such a fortunate blend of a cold, dark day, a warm sofa and a stack of flirtatious plant catalogues and voluptuous garden books. Give me a winter afternoon and a cup of coffee and I can sit and dog-ear pages for hours, lost in botanical fantasies. Ahhhh…

 

Sooner or later, I have to snap back to reality, though. Much as I’d like, I haven’t managed to have flowers in my yard in January (except a few years back when it hit 70 degrees late in the month and a couple of crocuses popped, that was a thrill). Though I feel as if I can’t wait to get back to the garden, I know I can’t rush things. One year I started seeds on my windowsill in February and they got so leggy they didn’t survive the transplant to the outdoor beds. So I have learned to appreciate the deliberate nature of January. My focus goes from the ground to the treetops.  I have learned to notice the pure crystal blue of the sky when it is completely devoid of humidity, and how the southern horizon can hold a soft peachy sunset glow for much of the day.  I admire the hawks and the occasional bald eagle we see along the byways. These are beautiful things.

 

There comes a point though, when the cold starts to wear thin. The Christmas paperwhites begin to lean to one side and the other houseplants look tired and one forgets what sunlight on the arms felt like, only that it felt great. This is when people of means fly off to tropical climes. I would too, if I was a person of means. But there is one place a person like me can go to feel the sun in winter around here: The U.S. Botanical Garden on the mall in Washington, D.C., an hour’s drive away. We plan a trip there every year at this time to spend a few hours among lush greenery in the warm sun.

 

Coming into Washington D.C. from the west, the U.S. Botanical Garden can be easily spotted as the giant greenhouse to the right of the U.S. Capitol dome. Many visitors to the National mall miss it though, as they become exhausted exploring the museums and galleries closer to the Washington Monument. The U.S.B.G. is the very last building on the north side of the mall. In January we often are able to park right in the lot by the front door of this museum of living plants, as most of the out-of-town tourists have long gone.

 

Even though it appears modest from the outside compared to the other grand museums of the mall, the Botanical Garden has lots to offer. To walk in is to leave winter behind and stroll straight into June. I recommend the wearing of light clothing under sweaters and to peel down the layers as soon as you’re in the profoundly warm and humid air of the garden court. There your winter-weary soul can be soothed by the sound of fountains, the smell of blossoms and the sight of green trees. You can stroll the paths of the jungle room under towering palms and alongside steaming rivers. You can climb to the sunny catwalk and look down on the tropical canopy, admiring cascades of bougainvillia blooming in hot colors. All around the main jungle conservatory are smaller rooms of different environments. There is a room of desert plants that feels like Arizona and a room of medicinal plants that make you feel better just by breathing their air. There are special galleries for visiting exhibits and places where children can explore the inner workings of plants.

 

Even if plants aren’t that interesting to you, the atmosphere is so splendid that often we see people just sitting on the benches reading books in the sunshine, as if in the park. It is so relaxing in there that we come out fully energized and usually pop next door to the fabulous Museum of the American Indian for a snack, as it has the most outstanding cafeteria of any of the museums, and then perhaps across the way to cruise the art in the National Gallery. By the end of the afternoon we are spiritually renewed and ready to face the rest of the winter, having reacquainted ourselves with sunshine and full of faith that the earth has begun to tilt again towards longer days.