Tomatoes in the Spring
I hope everyone has had some success with their vegetable gardens this spring and summer, especially with tomatoes, America’s favorite backyard vegetable plant.
To be honest, this spring was a rough one. We had a late season freeze during the night of March 20, which was 20 days after the last average freeze date. In northern Hays County, we even had a frost on April 10, 25 days past the last average frost date.
My first crop of tomatoes froze and my second planting had to be covered with frost cloth three different times.
This all added up to a late start. My heirlooms just started blooming when the heat set in. Very little fruit was made.
On the other hand, my determinate hybrids, mostly Rodeo 602, BHN 444, Tigress, and Celebrity managed to produce tons of fruit that ripened during the last two weeks of June. The plants finished just in time to prepare for the fall tomato planting season which kicks off next week (the second week of July).
Most of the hybrids produced fruit in the ¾ to 1lb range with the largest – a Rodeo 602 - weighing in at 1.4 lbs. It was a whopper!
(If you’re free this Sunday, please visit my nursery - It’s About Thyme - at 1 p.m. for a lecture on the subject of tomatoes by Kevin Callaway. See our ad for details.)
Mexican Mint Marigold & Copper Canyon Daisy
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 also makes great cut flowers and is not bed 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.
A Safe Way to Get Rid of Slugs
One of the oldest techniques is to leave out a few saucers of beer. Slugs and snails love beer so much that they wind up drowning in it. Snail and slug bait with metaldehyde has been used for years but is unsafe for children and pets. The good news is that there’s a new snail and slug bait on the market that contains iron phosphate. This is safe for kids and pets, and simply becomes plant food when all the slugs have been killed. Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a gardening question, send it to me via email: [email protected]. (Please put ‘Ask Chris Winslow’ in the subject line.) Or mail your letter or postcard to: Ask Chris Winslow. It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748
