By Chris Winslow
1. Vegetable Garden The timing always feels a bit strange, but this is actually the month to renew your vegetable garden for the fall harvest season. From seed, plant snap and lima beans, sweet corn, Swiss chard, cucumbers, summer and winter squash (my favorite), black-eyed peas, okra, cantaloupe, pumpkin and watermelon. For transplants, it’s the right time for tomatoes and peppers.
2. Tomatoes Be sure to plant determinate varieties with reputations for heat survival. (Spot the clues in their names.) My favorites are surefire, solar fire, solar flare, celebrity, heatwave, sunmaster, and BHN444 (healthy surprise).
3. Water Last month’s rains were welcomed by all plants and gardeners – but will they continue into July? Fingers crossed, but in the event that we return to more normal weather patterns, your plants will need water to survive. Not just a splash on the surface… but rather a profound watering. This will give them a more established root system and a better reservoir to draw from. . Try to water on a 4 to 5 day schedule. Don’t run automatic sprinkler systems during the day. (Loss to evaporation is too great.)
4. Mulch Keep all flowerbeds, vegetable gardens and trees mulched. This will conserve water, cool the root zone and generally relieve heat stress.
5. Mow High Choose the highest setting for your mower. Longer grass blades will help shade the roots and conserve water.
6. Survive! Want to avoid heatstroke? Three rules for central Texas gardeners: a. Wear effective sunscreen and a large brimmed hat. b. Garden early in the morning. c. Drink gallons upon gallons of water!
Marigold Notes…
When gardeners think of marigolds, they think of annual color that lasts from the spring to the fall. This versatile family of plants also has two notable species that are wonderful perennials in our Central Texas gardens: Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida), and Copper Canyon daisy (Tagetes lemonii).
Mexican mint marigold, known also as yerba anise in Spanish, has an enchanting anise fragrance to its leaves, and pretty button-size yellow flowers in the fall. It emerges in the spring and makes a deeply green plant which grows to a height and width of three feet by the end of summer. And it makes a beautiful flower display in the fall.
In the kitchen, you can use its leaves as a substitute for French tarragon in culinary recipes. Some gardeners call it ‘Texas tarragon.’ This marigold is also good for cut flowers and is not invasive.
Copper Canyon daisy is the other perennial flowering marigold. It grows to a height of 3 feet and spreads out to a width of 4 feet. The foliage has a strong scent and you can expect a show of yellow flowers in the spring and fall.
Both of these marigolds are easy to grow and deer resistant. Give them at least a half day of sun, and once established, they will need very little watering.
Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a question for Chris, send it via email to iathyme@yahoo.com. Or mail a postcard to It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748
www.itsaboutthyme.com
