Welcome to the slightly off-schedule January 2015 e-gardens. We're always in your e-mailbox the last Thursday of each month, but that was Christmas, and that just didn't seem right. So surprise! Here we are with the latest gardening updates, facts and fun. I hope you enjoy it, and that you'll tell others about us.

Wait a minute! Santa missed you on this one? You must have been really bad! Well, we forgive you, and we'd be happy to get a copy to you. It's Neil's new book (self-published eight months ago). It's 24 years younger than his old Complete Guide to Texas Gardening. It's not a revision. It's a huge improvement. It's not in stores, and it's not on Amazon. Signed copies are available for only $28.95 (plus tax and shipping) by calling 800-752-4769 or visiting our website.

If you have a question and would like Neil's help, he invites you to send a photo of the plant, problem or situation along with your question. Each month, he chooses six or eight questions of the most general reader interest and answers them here. Click to send him your question and the required photo. Here are his answers to this month's questions.

We're here with your list of things to get done over the next several weeks. We knew you wouldn't want to sit indoors watching football, so here are your gardening assignments.

Discovering Ol' Red all set for a road trip, our Native Son takes time to remember some favorite adventures of days past. We hope you enjoy Steven Chamblee's musings about the old year and the new.

It was an eventful 2014 in the Trial Gardens at the Dallas Arboretum. Jenny Wegley and Kaylee Decker, who oversee those trials, give us an overview of the year just past and a glimpse into plant trials for 2015.

Winter is the time to get the best perspective on your gardens. Neil took a stroll a couple of days ago, iPhone in hand, and decided to share a few of his thoughts on this shaded part of the Sperry landscape.

In January, a gardener's fancy often turns to fruit tree pruning. In this issue, our tree expert, Steve Houser of Arborilogical Services, provides a valuable primer for fruit tree owners.

Time is running out -- and so is seating. Sign up today, and learn how to draw your own landscape-improvement project to scale. Neil and Steven Chamblee will teach you how all day Saturday, Feb. 14, in Plano. Best design principles. Best plants. Best use of "hardscape" elements. Best value for the gardening dollar, as they'll teach you how to avoid costly mistakes. Only $199 for one person or $239 for two persons from the same household. Click for details.

January marks the end of my fifth year on Facebook. Numbers on our page have grown steadily over that time, and I've enjoyed getting to know many of you, if only electronically. Here's a quick link to my page, where you'll find daily Garden Tips, my "Notes" covering the most frequently asked questions, and hundreds of gardeners' comments, questions and answers each month.

The January/February 2015 issue of Neil Sperry's GARDENS magazine features articles about beautiful heirloom shrubs, driveway landscaping, success with seedlings and more! This month we share a past article about garden arches by Diane Morey Sitton.

Few plants have more vivid ties to history than the Old European Roses. This month Mike Shoup tells e-gardens readers some of his favorite tales of these beauties.

You can start the new year with a pet like Gonzo, Bonnie, Miles or Dominique! They are deserving animals who need forever families and lots of love. Read their stories here, and meet them at the Dallas or McKinney SPCA shelter.

Winter is the time in Texas to plan vegetable gardens, plant trees, and go birding! See our calendar for all kinds of garden-related events in January (and late December).

If you enjoy e-gardens, we hope you'll take a little time to let others know about us. You really can't lose. We're free. We're timely. We're time-tested and proven. And anyone can always unsubscribe at any time and without any issue. (We don't believe they will.) You're our main way of growing our numbers, so please take just a moment, and click forward at the bottom of this e-mail to share us with friends.

That's it for our January e-gardens, but if any type of weather emergency crops up, I'll send out a special warning. Watch my Facebook page, too. And please share these contacts with friends, as well.

Next month we'll be back on schedule, so be by your e-mailbox at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29. I'll meet you there. Until then, Happy New Year ... and

Happy Gardening!

Neil Sperry