January in many ways is the dreariest month for gardeners (well, March might be worse), but fortunately two good indoor lecture series will get going next week and get everyone in the mood for spring.

On Wednesday, Jan. 16, the annual Home Gardening Lecture Series sponsored by the master gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester kicks off with a talk by Tom Christopher on “Stone in the Landscape.�

On Thursday, Jan. 17, Byron Martin, the owner of Logee’s Greenhouses, launches the American Gardening Lecture Series at the New York Botanical Garden with a slide presentation on “Spectacular Tropical Plants for Outdoor Summer Containers.� Doesn’t that sound like the perfect antidote for the January blahs?

The American Gardening lectures will be held on three Thursday mornings at the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall at the Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Registration for each two-hour session costs $31 per day ($28 for members) or $81 for the series ($73, members). For more information, visit www.nybg.org/edu or call 800-322-6924.

Cornell’s monthly Home Gardening series, now in its 13th year, will be held at various locations throughout Westchester on Wednesday mornings from now through June (except for February, when the lecture will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 12).

The lectures cost $12 in advance or $65 for the entire series. Walk-ins are welcome ($15 at the door). For more information, visit counties.cce.cornell.edu/westchester/ or call 914-285-3590.

Cornell Lecture Series
Here’s a look at the full Cornell series:
• “Stone in the Landscape� by Tom Christopher, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Jan. 16, St. Matthew’s Parish House, 382 Cantitoe Road, Bedford. Christopher is the co-author, with Michael Ruggiero, of “Annuals with Style� (Taunton, 2002) and a former columnist for House and Garden magazine.

• “Shady Characters� by Ruth Rogers Clausen, 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 12, The Osborn, 101 Theall Road, Rye. Clausen, who gardens in a very shady site in Thornwood, is the author of the classic “Perennials for American Gardens� (Random House, 1989). Last year she celebrated her 50th anniversary in the horticulture business. In her lecture, she promises to reacquaint us with the old standby perennials and introduce us to new and exciting cultivars for the shade garden.

• “Four Seasons of Woody Plants� by Todd Forrest, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, March 19, Chappaqua Library, 195 S. Greeley Ave., Chappaqua. Forrest, vice president for horticulture and living collections at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, is one of the leading authorities on conifers and ornamental woody plants. He gardens in Ridgefield, Conn.

• “Water Gardens and Aquatic Plants� by Tom Smith, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, April 16, John Jay Homestead, 400 Route 22, Katonah. Smith is the owner of the Garden State Koi and Aquatic Center. His showroom in Warwick, N.Y., features 15 display ponds filled with fish and plants.

• “Hardy Groundcovers� by Dan Benarcik, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, May 14, New Yonkers Public Library/Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin Center, Yonkers. Benarcik manages the courtyard gardens at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pa. He also teaches at Longwood Gardens and designs and builds innovative garden furniture.

• Tour at Lasdon Park and Arboretum with Tolly Beck, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, June 18, Lasdon Park, 2610 Amawalk Road, Route 35, Somers. Beck, the horticulturalist at this 234-acre county-owned park, will lead a tour of the Lasdon Memorial Garden, fragrance garden, formal garden and the synoptic shrub garden, an alphabetical collection of diverse shrubs suitable for the home landscape.

Botanical Garden lectures
Here’s a look a the full series at the New York Botanical Garden:

Thursday, Jan. 17 (10 a.m. to noon)
• “Spectacular Tropical Plants for Outdoor Summer Containers� by Byron Martin. Some five or so years after the trend began, container gardening is still all the rage. Martin is the owner of Logee’s Greenhouses in Danielson, Conn., which has been selling an incredible selection of tropicals for more than 100 years.
• “The Magic of Water: Taking Water Gardening One Step Further� by Anthony Archer-Wills. His talk will trace the progression of water gardening from its simple origins to the remarkable possibilities available today. Archer-Wills’ designs emphasize natural-looking rocks and water features. He is the author of “The Water Gardener� (New Line Books, 2005) and “Designing Water Gardens� (Sterling, 2000).

Thursday, Feb. 14 (10 a.m. to noon)
• “Flash and Splash: Colored-Leaved Plants in the Garden� by Dan Heims. As president of Terra Nova Nurseries, Heims travels the world to bring new perennials to home gardeners. Learn how to use variegated plants and color as a design feature in the garden with echoes, repetition, contrast and harmony.
• “The Authentic Garden� by Claire Sawyers. Learn how to capture a sense of place by relating your garden to its natural surroundings and the people who enjoy it. Sawyer has been director of the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College since 1990. Her book, “The Authentic Garden,� was published in December by Timber Press.

Thursday, March 13 (10 a.m. to noon)
• “Organic Is Beautiful, and Safe� by Paul Tukey. In 2006, the American Horticultural Society named Tukey the winner of its annual Horticultural Communication Award. He is the publisher of “People, Places, & Plants� and the creator of the popular HGTV program of the same name. His book, “The Organic Lawn Care Manual,� was published last year by Storey Publishing.
• “Elegant Silvers: Striking Plants for Every Garden� by Karen Bussolini, the co-author of a book with the same title (Timber Press, 2005). Based on her experience and research, Bussolini will suggest a wide range of silver plants, many of which are also drought and heat tolerant.