We all talk about the weather - but there is nothing we can do to change it! We've heard it for years and it's certainly true!

Our new year began as the last year ended — with rain, rain and more rain! While we can't turn nature's faucet on and off, we can help our garden take positive advantage of this overly generous portion of water.

Move as much of the rain as you can indoors! Natural rain provides essential nutrients not available in tap water. You'll see very happy plants when you water them with natural rain. You'll see a vigor and growth characteristic of a fertilization when you put them on a diet of natural rain. When it rains, put a bucket or two outside to collect and store this wonderful resource.

All this rain will also affect the garden. On the good side, you won't need to water for a while, and the natural rain is better for the garden, too.

On the bad side, an abundance of winter rain will bring about an abundance of undesirable vegetation (weeds) in early spring. Our goal is to reduce the weed problem while preserving the moisture accumulated in the soil.

We accomplish this goal by a heavy mulching of all our cultivated beds. Apply 1"-2" inches of mulch. With more rain yet to come, choose a material less likely to float out of the bed and onto the lawn. Cocoa mulch, cedar mulch or soil-building compost will be a better choice than regular bark; choose one that gives you the appearance you prefer.

Keep camellias well watered this month. Letting them go dry now will make the buds go brown and drop off later, so you won't have any bloom this winter or next spring. Don't confuse this with natural bud drop. Some varieties form a great many more buds than they can open, so they always drop a lot of them of their own accord. These naturally dropped buds will be green, not brown. (Bud drop can also be caused by growing a variety that needs winter chill in a mild coastal zone where the buds can't open.)

Disbud Camellias

For the largest blooms start disbudding camellias now, by removing all but one flower bud from each tip or joint. Twist off all but one flower bud from each cluster, being careful not to remove the growth bud. (The flower buds are round and fat. The growth bud is thin and pointed.) Drop the buds in a plastic bag and dispose of them in the trash. Some gardeners don't disbud camellias because they have too many of them or simply can't be bothered. When plants are as tall as trees it's almost impossible to disbud them. But all plants look better when they've been disbudded; the flowers become not only larger but better shaped and less prone to blossom blight.

It's a good idea to retain some forward-facing but mainly downward-facing buds, especially when plants are tall or light colored. On tall plants downward-facing flowers will be seen better. On light-colored plants they'll be less prone to sun damage. In all cases they'll last longer; when it rains, water will pour off their backs instead of soaking into the center and causing rot.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen should be kept in cool temperatures. Too much heat can cause the leaves to yellow and the plant to stop blooming.

Provide your cyclamen with as much light as possible to encourage blooming. Sunburn usually isn't a problem in winter.

Keep the plant well watered. With good care, it should continue to bloom for another month or two.

Poinsettias

Keep poinsettias away from warm or cold drafts. Keep the soil moist, but not wet. Poinsettias need well-drained soil, so if your plant was wrapped in foil, tear the foil off the bottom so it can drain.

Like cyclamen, poinsettias prefer cooler temperatures, not above 70 degrees. If possible, move your poinsettia to a cooler area at night.

Give it plenty of sun and fertilize it about once a month.

Any active houseplants will also benefit from being fertilized once or twice this winter. But don't feed the ones that are dormant. Let them get some sleep so they'll be rested and ready in the spring!