Endings and Beginnings

Beautiful salvia loving this transition time in the garden

Feijoa - pineapple guava - ripening up for October harvest. As a kid, this was "my" tree, which I harvested and enjoyed in place by rolling the fruit in my hands until almost squishy, then biting off the blossom end and squeezing into my mouth. Yum!

Garlic chives blossoming.

Flower bulbs beginning to emerge. If they're crowded or didn't bloom well last year, transplant them now to give them more new soil and moisture to thrive.

Stock potted up from a patch where a billion seeds had fallen and sprouted. When they've developed good root systems, I'll transplant around the garden and share with friends.

Fig cuttings from a friend starting to root well and push out new leaves.

Repotted up succulents from an overcrowded pot with lots of old dead foliage.

Poinsettia pruned down by half from its 10-foot-tall plant that had already started to push new growth. That's your cue to trim it back!

Tip trimmings from an over-leggy succulent are potted up and kept out of direct sun for a month or so while they root. Then, over a week's time, I'll give it more direct sun each day so it acclimates.

The last tomato plant. I may give it another month to see if it produces any more blossoms and sets fruit. But, chances are I'll rip it out and plant veggies that really love the chill.

     September and March are transition times in our Southern California gardens.  We plant the last seeds and seedlings of the almost-finished season, and the first ones of the next.  Because we never know exactly what the weather is going to be, we’re hedging our bets by this double planting.  Whatever the weather ends up doing, one of those sets of seeds and seedlings will thrive and produce food and beauty for us to enjoy.  Success either way!
     So, I’m planting more beans, cucumbers and squash on the chance that warm weather will continue for the 2 months that they’ll take to mature. 
     I’m not bothering with tomatoes, even the ones bred for cool locales like ‘Siberia’.  In the past, I’ve trimmed back still-healthy plants that had new shoots and even some fruits.  They ripened around the end of the year; but were no better than the ones available in the grocery store and farmers markets.  So I decided to devote my garden soil and effort to the edibles that thrive in the cool weather.
     I’m also planting the first batch of beets, bok choy, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, kales, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, parsley, peas, spinach and tatsoi; also sweet peas and wildflowers. 
     I’ll repeat plantings of all these again each month through March for a continuous supply of new sproutings and maturings.  I'm counting on my multiple tries to result in many seeds germinating and plants blooming over the long time span.
     The trick to successful germination when sowing this early when both the soil and the air temperatures are still so warm is to keep the nursery bed or seeding trays moist and shaded from hot afternoon sun until the seedlings develop two to four true leaves.  The seeds need to be kept moist so they germinate.  The residual heat in the soil may be too warm, and the warm air may dry out the seeds before they're able to germinate.  But, you don't want the soil to be soggy, either.  So it takes attention....
     I’ll wait until November to plant garlic and strawberries so they're not stressed by current heat.
     Some years, I keep sowing both edible and sweet peas, but they finally germinate only after  several months.  You just have to keep at it until the environmental conditions are right for the germination to finally happen.   
      Now, I also transplant California natives and other perennials like salvias and stock that have sent up new shoots from the mother plants or sown their seeds that have sprouted. 
     Because the soil is warm, this and next month are ideal to transplant perennials, ground covers, shrubs and vines and trees of all kinds, not just California natives, so they can develop extensive root systems as the weather slowly cools down over the next couple of months. 
     This timing is far superior to spring planting, when plants will barely have time to get established before they’re subjected to increasing temperatures and the stress of also producing their food or flowers – and consequently you have to spend more time watering just to keep them surviving, to say nothing of thriving.
     I also keep an eye out now for re-energized bearded iris, daylilies and other rhizomatous plants and bulbs as they sprout so I can dig and transplant clumps before the roots become too extensive to transplant successfully.
     If you're growing melons and winter squashes, pinch out any new blossoms and growing tips to force growth into the fruits that have already set.  They really do need the remaining heat to mature completely, either for sweetness in the melons or to be able to store well for the winter squashes.
     Pruning back perennials is an easy task for beginners, now that the plants are sending up new foliage at their bases and lower branches of the plants – it’s easy to see where to cut.  Just make sure to cut no more than one-quarter of an inch above a node.  Leaving more stem invites dieback that may continue down through the node to the whole branch and perhaps the entire plant.
     And put all those clippings into the compost pile!