We’ve been tolerating our hot days, so that wonderful rain yesterday and cooler temperatures have been very much a good thing for the garden. Perfect for sowing seeds! Seeding is best done now through November, or whenever the nighttime temperatures stay above 50 degrees. If last year’s weather repeats itself, we might all be able to continue seeding and transplanting through winter – nice for us, but not for the plants which prefer to have a bit of rest and recuperation before they must really exert themselves next spring through fall!
Some Seeding Thoughts
Just about any variety of broccoli will do well. ‘Purple Sprouting’ – which sports many small bitesize pieces - provides about four times as much food as the big-head kind, even when the head is cut and the plant resprouts many little ones. Besides, the purple cast to the stems and leaves make it much prettier. And, if you count the leaves on either plant as edible, that’s even more food from each plant! ‘Romanesco’ – that chartreuse, spiral-pointed beauty, is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower and usually called some variation of “broccoflower.”
Garlic cloves can be planted now through November, so they’ll develop good root systems before the cool weather really settles in. Following winter’s slow growth, they’ll develop quickly and substantially in the spring and result in larger heads by June harvest. If you grew garlic and harvested a single bulb, it just never separated into individual cloves. Replant it, and the cloves will form this time around. If you forgot to harvest and now have a bunch of shoots and roots, dig the clumps up, separate each clove with its shoot and roots, and replant them four inches apart in well-drained and compost-enriched soil so they can continue to develop fully for June harvest.
Wildflowers and other bloomers can be seeded now through November, preferably just before a rain or sprinkler irrigation to settle them nicely into the nooks and crannies between soil particles for good germination. All will develop stronger plants and bloom earlier and more profusely in the spring. If you wait to plant in early spring.
Grab the first biggest and strongest flower bulbs you can as soon as they’re available. Plant them immediately, to assure the most beautiful blooms because they’ve grown their extensive root systems while the soil is warm. This is definitely the time when cheap prices and bottom-of-the-barrel leftovers are a waste of money rather than a bargain.
Next week – Transplanting
Some Seeding Thoughts
Just about any variety of broccoli will do well. ‘Purple Sprouting’ – which sports many small bitesize pieces - provides about four times as much food as the big-head kind, even when the head is cut and the plant resprouts many little ones. Besides, the purple cast to the stems and leaves make it much prettier. And, if you count the leaves on either plant as edible, that’s even more food from each plant! ‘Romanesco’ – that chartreuse, spiral-pointed beauty, is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower and usually called some variation of “broccoflower.”
Garlic cloves can be planted now through November, so they’ll develop good root systems before the cool weather really settles in. Following winter’s slow growth, they’ll develop quickly and substantially in the spring and result in larger heads by June harvest. If you grew garlic and harvested a single bulb, it just never separated into individual cloves. Replant it, and the cloves will form this time around. If you forgot to harvest and now have a bunch of shoots and roots, dig the clumps up, separate each clove with its shoot and roots, and replant them four inches apart in well-drained and compost-enriched soil so they can continue to develop fully for June harvest.
Wildflowers and other bloomers can be seeded now through November, preferably just before a rain or sprinkler irrigation to settle them nicely into the nooks and crannies between soil particles for good germination. All will develop stronger plants and bloom earlier and more profusely in the spring. If you wait to plant in early spring.
Grab the first biggest and strongest flower bulbs you can as soon as they’re available. Plant them immediately, to assure the most beautiful blooms because they’ve grown their extensive root systems while the soil is warm. This is definitely the time when cheap prices and bottom-of-the-barrel leftovers are a waste of money rather than a bargain.
Next week – Transplanting
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