Jessie Keith – Page 5

The Best Vegetables to Grow with Your Kids

I remember the first time I pulled a carrot from the ground as a child. It was like magic. A simple carrot became a hidden golden-orange gem in the Earth that I could pull and eat! I’d wander the garden, plucking a cherry tomato here, a lettuce leaf there, or snapping off a bean to nibble. It was enjoyable, and I learned to love vegetables in the process. This is why I grow delicious, interesting vegetables with my own children. I’m spreading the garden fun and veggie appreciation.

There were two things I cared about with vegetables as a child: 1. Is it fun to eat? 2. Is it fun to harvest? These are the criteria used for this list. As an added bonus for parents, these vegetables are also easy to grow

Fun Vegetables to Eat and Pick

Cherry Tomatoes: There are so many cool cherry tomatoes to try now, and the smaller, sweeter, and more colorful, the better. I recommend ‘Minibel’, which produces sweet red tomatoes on tiny plants, ‘Sun Gold’, which produces loads of super sweet, golden-orange cherry tomatoes, the unusual ‘Blue Cream Berries’ with its pale yellow and blue fruits, and the classic ‘Sweet Million’ which literally produces hundreds of sweet red cherry tomatoes on large vines. Kids also love super tiny ‘Sweet Pea‘ currant tomatoes and ‘Gold Rush’ currant tomatoes, which literally pop with flavor in the mouth. Caging your plants makes harvesting easier—especially for little ones

French Bush Beans: My children love French haricot vert bush beans because they are super thin, stringless, and sweet. The best varieties for kids are produced on small, bushy plants. Try the classic green ‘Rolande’ or the golden yellow ‘Pauldor’

Asian Long Beans: These beans look like spaghetti noodles! They are vining, so trellising is required, but they love hot summer weather, and kids love to pick and eat them. ‘Thai Red-Seeded’ is a great Asian long bean for kids because it grows so well, and the super long beans double as green hair or green bean rope.

Beit Alpha Cucumbers: These crisp, sweet cucumbers are skinless, practically seedless, and taste great right from the vine. Bring a little water for rinsing, and a little ranch dressing for dipping, and they have an instant garden snack. The new AAS-Winning variety ‘Diva’ is my favorite because it is disease resistant and produces lots of cucumbers.

Miniature Carrots: Mini carrots are easier for kids to pull from the ground, so they get all the fun with no root breakage. Tiny round ‘Romeo’ carrots and the small conical ‘Short Stuff’ are great selections for a kid’s vegetable garden. Both also grow well in containers

Yum Yum Mini Bell Peppers: The name says it all! These yummy, sweet, mini bell peppers look like Christmas lights and come in shades of red, yellow, and orange! The peppers are high in vitamin C and fun to pick. Just be sure to plant your Yum Yum mini bell peppers away from any hot peppers you may be growing

Small Pumpkins: Kids love to harvest and decorate their very own pumpkins in fall! The little guys, like ‘Baby Bear‘ and ‘Baby Pam‘ are just the right size for kids. Extras can be processed to make Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. Be sure to give the vines plenty of sun and space and you will be rewarded with lots of fall pumpkins

Strawberry Popcorn: Kids can believe these cute, deep red ears actually pop up to make tasty popcorn! Strawberry popcorn is produced on smaller 4-foot plants and the ears are small too. They are decorative when dry and can be popped up in winter as a happy reminder of warmer summer days.

Growing Your Vegetables

Organic gardening is a must, especially when growing vegetables for children. Successful vegetables start with good bed prep and summer-long care. Choose a sunny spot, work up your garden soil, and add a healthy amount of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost and Fafard Garden Manure Blend before planting. Keep your vegetable watered and watch them do their summer magic

When children grow their own vegetables, they eat their vegetables. They look forward to the harvest and enjoy preparing what they have picked. Let them help snap the beans for a salad or clean the carrots before trimming and peeling them for snacking. There’s no better way to enjoy time with your kids while instilling good lifelong habits in the process.

Child picking 'Sun Gold' cherry tomatoes — Picking and eating sweet ‘Sun Gold’ cherry tomatoes is always fun for kids!

How to Create Miniature Water Lily Pots

Nothing is more pleasing and cool in summer than a water garden filled with water lilies. Most gardeners don’t consider growing these beautiful aquatic flowers because they lack the desire or space for a pond, but ponds are not needed if you grow small. Watertight, spacious troughs or pots can be converted into tiny water gardens for miniature water lilies. If you have a partially sunny patio, deck, or garden space that can take the weight of a water-filled pot, you are set!

Choosing a Container

Pot with miniature water lilies — Any deep, spacious, water-tight pot will hold miniature water lilies.

Water lily pots have to be large and spacious, so start by choosing a container that’s at least 15-18 inches deep and 24-40 inches wide. This will give you enough space for your lilies. Pots must be watertight. Specialty “no hole” pots designed for aquascaping are sold, but you can also line large pots with pond liner, which is often a cheaper option. Simply cut the liner to a size that will fit in your pot and place it snugly along the inner lip of the pot. It helps to apply a strong, non-toxic adhesive along the edge to keep it in place.

Choosing Miniature Waterlilies

Yellow water lily 'Helvola' — The yellow water lily ‘Helvola’ is a classic compact variety that grows beautifully in containers.

True miniature water lilies are so tiny that some have flowers the size of a quarter. Many are pygmy waterlily (Nymphaea tetragona) variants, which are very hardy—surviving winters as cold as USDA Hardiness Zones 4-11 with good protection. They come in a suite of colors that include ivory, pale yellow, pink, and red. The best for home gardens are easy to find online or in specialty stores.

One of the tiniest miniatures is the white pygmy water lily (Nymphaea tetragona ‘Alba’). The hardy plants reach 18 to 24 inches across and sport tiny white flowers that float alongside teensie lily pads. Another beautiful white-flowered variety with much bigger, tulip-shaped flowers but a small growth habit is ‘Hermine’.

The peach-pink-flowered ‘Berit Strawn’ (Nymphaea ‘Berit Strawn’) has larger flowers (3 to 4 inches across) and pads of deep green with some reddish mottling. The little plant is perfect for container growing, very hardy, and will bloom nonstop from early summer to fall. Plants will spread between 24 and 30 inches.

'Hermine' water lilies — ‘Hermine’ is a stunning, white-flowered miniature water lily.

One of the smallest red-flowered miniatures is ‘Perry Baby Red’ (Nymphaea ‘Perry Baby Red’). Its rosy-red flowers compliment dark green pads. Plants spread 12 to 36 inches across.

An older, classic mini water lily is the hardy ‘Indiana’ (Nymphaea ‘Indiana’). Its tricolored, 2- to 3-inch flowers are in shades of rose-red, yellow, and orange. The diminutive plants have a spread of 12 to 28 inches across and small green pads with reddish spots.

One of the best yellow-flowered water lilies is the cheerful ‘Yellow Pygmy’ (Nymphaea ‘Helvola’). Its flowers are only 2 inches, but they are bright and pretty. Plants reach 18 to 36 inches across.

There are lots of great sources for miniature water lilies. Lilypons and Texas Water Lilies are good sources that offer quality selections.

Planting Waterlilies

'Helvola' water lilies — Water lily ‘Helvola’ in full bloom. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

Water lilies grow from fleshy tubers that must be grounded in smaller pots and sunk below the surface of your water container. Choose a wide, shallow pot that will provide plenty of space. Planting depth can be 10 to 24 inches from the water surface. Pots should be placed where they can get 6 hours of sun per day or more. These planters can only be prepared after the threat of frost has passed.

Line the pots with porous but tight-knit plastic burlap bag. Fill it with a 3:1 mixture of heavy loam and Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost. Add just enough to fill the pot bottom and hold the waterlily tuber. The compost and soil must be well combined before planting. Finally, add a teaspoon of a slow-release, all-purpose fertilizer to the mix. Overfertilization can cause algal bloom, so don’t add more during the season.

Cut a small hole in the bag and sink the tuber into the soil, so the top of the plant meets the soil line. Once it is planted, line the top 2 inches of the pot with pea gravel to help keep the soil and plant in place. Place a 1- to 2-inch thick rock along one side of the pot, so it sits at a slight angle. Doing this helps with gas exchange for healthy root growth. Small- to medium-sized water pots don’t need aeration filters.

Gently fill the pot with clean tap water to a depth a couple of inches below the lip of the pot. Soon the plant will put forth fresh pads followed by flowers.

Maintaining Potted Waterlilies

Pink water lily in ceramic pot — Clean, fresh water is important to the health of potted water lilies.

Keeping the water clean in your water lily pot is essential. Remove any debris that falls in the water, and cut old leaves from your water lilies. Refresh the water regularly as it recedes.

Water-filled containers cannot be allowed to freeze in winter, even if your water lily is hardy. They are too exposed above ground and freezing and thawing will cause the containers to crack. The best course of action is to drain the container before the first freeze of the season, remove the lily from the pot (being sure to cut back the leaves), and store it in a water-filled bucket in a cool, dark place through winter. Water lily tubers should be divided every two to three years.

These cool, impressive containers will brighten any summer garden spot. If you want the tranquil beauty of a pond without all the work and hassle, plant a water lily pot this season.

Yes, Peas! Growing Edible Pod & Tendril Peas

'Golden Sweet' snow pea — ‘Golden Sweet’ snow pea is one of many delicious edible pod peas. (Image by Jessie Keith)

The tendriled vines of peas produce delicious pods in cool spring weather, and their roots naturally fortify soil with nitrogen. Once warm weather comes on, they can be pulled and replanted again in late summer for a second crop in fall. Peas are easily stored—by freezing or canning—making them a great choice for gardeners that preserve the harvest.
There are many edible pod and tendril types to try. Some create long vines, while others are bush-forming and better suited to small spaces. Fortify their soil, choose a sunny spot, and plant at the right time of year, and they’re a cinch to grow. At least 8-10 weeks are required to raise plants from seed to harvest. Harvest can last for several weeks. Once summer heat comes on, vines stop producing, and slowly turn brown and die.
Edible Pod Peas

'Sugar Snap' peas — Classic ‘Sugar Snap’ peas are the snap pea standard. (Image by AAS Winners)

Snow and snap peas are the two edible pod peas of choice. Snaps are crisp and plump and snow peas are more delicate and slender. Both are very sweet and can be eaten fresh or cooked. Snaps are favored by most growers, but snow peas are gaining more garden ground.
Two snow peas stand out when it comes to flavor and performance, ‘Oregon Sugar Pod II’ and ‘Golden Sweet’. The productive and vigorous ‘Oregon Sugar Pod II’ consistently gets high reviews by gardeners. It produces super sweet, 4- to 5-inch-long flattened pods on bushy, disease-resistant plants that only reach 2 ½ feet. The pale yellow pods get top marks for flavor and are produced on vigorous 6-foot vines that require trellising. First discovered in India, this variety is also more heat tolerant than most, which extends its window of harvest.
Snap pea culture is dominated by the ever-popular ‘Sugar Snap’ (1979 AAS Winner) and ‘Super Sugar Snap’ varieties. This is because both are crisp, sweet, and prolific. The “super” in ‘Super Sugar Snap’ comes from the fact that these peas are more compact, earlier to produce (60 days), and bear more heavily over a shorter window of time. Reportedly, the mildew-resistant, 5’ vines yield pods that are not quite as sweet as the classic ‘Sugar Snap’.

'Patio Pride' snap peas — ‘Patio Pride’ is a new, super compact snap pea perfect for containers. (Image by AAS Winners)

Original ‘Sugar Snap’ peas became a household name for a reason. Nothing has come close to their quality since they were first introduced over 35 years ago. Young pods are relatively stringless, super sweet, reach up to 3 ½ inches in length, and are produced after 62 days. The 6-foot vines are heat tolerant (but not mildew resistant) and produce peas over a long period.
The 1984 AAS Winner, ‘Sugar Ann’, is a super early producer bearing sweet peas in only 52 days. Another compact, early gem is the 2017 AAS Winner ‘Patio Pride’. It only takes 40 days for the ultra-compact, 6- to 12-inch vines to produce plump, edible pods. These can be harvested early or allowed to mature a bit at which point they can be enjoyed as shelling peas.
Tendrils

'Super Magnolia' peas — ‘Sugar Magnolia’ peas produce loads of edible tendrils. (Image by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

Pea tendrils can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked in stir fries. Heavily tendriled peas are semi-leafless and referred to as “afila” peas. Their sweet flavor and novel looks have made them popular in restaurants. Only recently have they become available to gardeners.
The new tendriled variety ‘Sugar Magnolia’ produces a wild mess of green tendrils on 8-foot vines in addition to bearing good-tasting purple snap peas after 70 days. ‘Feisty is another vigorous tendril pea that has monstrous vines that can reach 30-feet in length. Harvestable tendrils are produced in 50 days and sweet pea pods are produced after 60 days.
Cultivating Peas

Sugar snap peas in hands — A bountiful harvest of sugar snap peas.

Cool weather, full sun, and fertile soil are required for great pea production. For best results, amend garden soil with a 1:3 ratio of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost to garden soil and lightly feed with an all-purpose organic fertilizer for vegetable gardening. Turn the soil gently to make sure it is light and friable.
Most peas need trellising. The lightweight vines will grow well on a moderately sturdy trellis consisting of bamboo posts fixed with tightly fitted trellis netting. Even bush varieties can benefit from a low bamboo and twine support system.
Once your spring pea crop is spent, remember that you can plant a new crop again in fall. These sweet summer treats are healthy, delicious, and well worth the effort.

Bamboo trellis in garden — A sturdy bamboo trellis fitted with taut trellis netting is perfect for peas. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Best-of-the-Best Spring Vegetable Varieties

'Alcosa' savoy cabbage and 'Sugar Snap' peas (trellis) — ‘Alcosa’ savoy cabbage and ‘Sugar Snap’ peas (trellis) are two recommended spring vegetable varieties.

Sweet crunchy carrots, crisp snap peas, and tender lettuce—vegetables like these just shout out, “It’s spring!” This is the stuff gardeners clamor for as they peruse new seed catalogs for the first vegetables of the season. But, with hundreds of varieties to choose from, it’s hard to know which are best for taste, yield, and good performance in the vegetable garden. This is where experience helps.
My top ten “favorites” list includes some of the best spring vegetable varieties. For over 25 years I’ve grown hundreds of vegetables—choosing new favorites, losing duds, and keeping superior standbys along the way. My findings are corroborated with university seed trials, seed catalog customer reviews, and award programs, like All-America Selections. If you aren’t sure what varieties to choose from, let this be your go to source great spring vegetables!

Beets

When choosing beets (Beta vulgaris), I go for tasty, early, productive and pretty varieties. Of the reds, ‘Merlin’ (48 days) and ‘Red Ace’ (50 days) are the most reliable and sweet and have performed well for me. Both also received some of the highest ratings for taste, uniformity and performance at a recent University of Kentucky Beet Trial Evaluation. Of the golden beets, ‘Touchstone Gold’ (55 days) is an outstanding performer that produces the sweetest golden beets. For looks and taste, the red and white candycane striped ‘Chioggia’ (55 days) is the heirloom of choice.

Broccoli

Good broccoli (Brassica oleracea) varieties for the garden must be heat tolerant and reliably produce large heads fast. My favorite spring broccoli is ‘Gypsy’ (58 days), which has reliably large heads with small beads and good heat and disease resistance. It produces well and develops lots of sideshoots after the first harvest. Gardeners interested in broccoli with extra-large heads should try the commercial standard ‘Imperial’ (71 days). It take a little longer to develop, but plants are super heat tolerant and high performing. Those seeking thin-stemmed broccoli should choose the 2015 AAS winning, ‘Artwork‘ (55 days). It produces many thin, flavorful, cut-and-come-again broccoli stems over a long season.

Cabbage

Small, crisp, sweet heads are what I look for in a spring cabbage (Brassica oleracea). Smaller heads are easier for me to store and finish, and they develop faster, which results in less damaged from cabbage loopers and slugs. The small savoy cabbage ‘Alcosa’ (60 days) is a reliable variety with sweet, deeply savoyed, blue-green leaves. Another small-head cabbage with good performance and taste is the conical ‘Caraflex’ (68 days). It’s heads look like perfect little cones and are perfect for small-space gardens. Gardeners interested in a slightly larger cabbage should choose the mid-sized ‘Tendersweet‘ (71 days). It’s flatted heads are comprised of tightly bunched, thin, sweet leaves.

Early Carrots

'Adelaide' carrots — Sweet, crisp ‘Adelaide’ carrots

There are many carrot (Daucus carota) varieties and some are much better suited for spring sowing than others. The perfect spring carrot is fast-growing, crisp, and very sweet. The best I have grown for flavor and texture is the baby carrot ‘Adelaide‘ (50 days). Its small carrots develop quickly and should be plucked from the ground before weather warms. Of the many new varieties available, ‘Yaya‘ (55-60 days) is a mid-sized “sugar carrot” that’s getting top marks for performance and super sweet flavor. The equally sweet ‘Napoli‘ (58 days) is another mid-sized super sweet carrot that always yields perfect roots.

Lettuce

There are many lettuce (Lactuca sativa) types, but my favorites are small, sweet, fast, and crisp. My very favorite is the little gem romaine ‘Tintin‘ (55 days). The little heads are all crisp, sweet, heart and they consistently perform well. Of the crisphead type lettuces, the French heirloom ‘Reine des Glaces‘ (62 days) is flavorful, slow to bolt in the heat, and has loose heads of coarsely serrated edges that look pretty in salads. Salanova® has a high-performing line of designer mini lettuces that are really nice. Of these, try the fast, frilly red Salanova®Red Sweet Crisp (55 days). Its tiny cut-and-come-again heads are wonderful in containers or small gardens.

Radishes

Most think that radishes (Raphanus sativus) are spicy and make you burp, but good spring radish varieties are mild and sweet if you grow and pick them at the right time. When it comes to classic French breakfast radishes, nothing beats ‘D’Avignon‘ (21-30 days). The early, sweet, red and white radishes should be harvested as soon as they reach 3-4 inches in length for best crisp texture. The new purple radish ‘Bravo‘ (49 days) is reliably sweet, very colorful and slower to bolt, making it good for late-spring culture. Of the white radishes, ‘Icicle‘ (27-35 days) produces long, crisp roots that remain sweet with little bite, even when subjected to heat.

Snap Peas

Snap peas (Pisum sativum) are a must in my spring garden, and those that remain stringless, crunchy, and sweet are my favorites. The classic top-notch variety is ‘Super Sugar Snap‘ (60 days). Look no further if you seek a prolific, high-quality snap pea produced on 5-foot vines. Those interested in short-vine peas that bear early should pick ‘Sugar Ann‘ (52 days), which bears lots of sweet snaps on 2-foot vines. The 1984 AAS winner is a classic coveted by gardeners with limited space.
Ensure your spring vegetables have a great start by enriching your garden beds with the best amendments. Mix a liberal amount of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost into your garden soil. Turn it in deeply to better support root crops and encourage vigorous root growth all around.

Evergreen Herbs: Lavender, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Rosemarinus officinalis forefront garden jakMPM 1051 — A fall herb garden containing rosemary and lavender (foreground).

Some herbs don’t disappear when winter comes. A suite of favorites from the Mediterranean stay green, keeping our gardens looking pretty and our food tasting good. Designing and cooking with them is easy, but keeping them happy during the winter months requires an understanding of what they need to grow well.
Rather than being herbaceous perennials, meaning they die to the ground in winter and stem from the earth in spring, these herbs are actually shrubs and subshrubs. This means they have woody growth. They require pruning to maintain their good looks and vigorous growth, and if the cold and winter sun becomes too harsh and they are not protected, their stems will die.

Lavender

Lavandula JaKMPM — *Lavandula angustifolia* is highly attractive to bees.

Valued as a garden and landscape beauty, as well as an aromatic and culinary herb, lavender has both lovely foliage and pretty summer flowers. There are several species that are commonly grown. The most cultivated forms are English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, 2-3 feet) and French lavender (Lavandula stoechas, 1-3 feet), which are both shrubby perennials with pretty flowers that are highly attractive to bees. The leaves are commonly used are a component of Herbs de Provence, a popular French herb mix used to flavor meats, sauces, and stews.
The common name “English lavender” is actually a misnomer. This evergreen plant originates from the mountain ranges of Spain, France, and Italy where it exists in open, rocky, alkaline soils. When grown in the garden, plants need sharply drained soils and full sun. The whole plant is fragrant. Its summer flowers, may be lavender blue, purple or white, exist in elongated clusters atop long, thin stems. Small, linear, silver-gray leaves densely line the stems. This lavender can survive in zones 5-8, but in the colder end of its hardiness, the stems often experience winter desiccation and damage. Old or unsightly stems should be pruned off in spring after temperatures have begun to warm and new growth appears.

Lavandula stoechas 'Anouk' PP16685 JaKMPM — *Lavandula stoechas* is tender but offers very pretty plumed flower spikes.

French lavender is a bit more tender than English. It survives in USDA hardiness zones 8-9. It naturally exists on the Mediterranean coasts where conditions are hot and dry. The mounded evergreen subshrub can become quite large with age. It is fully evergreen with fine, toothed leaves of silvery gray-green. In drier weather, the leaves become more linear and silvery. Its slender stems are topped with oval spikes of densely clustered dark purple flowers topped with showy plumes of brighter purple bracts. These appear from late spring through summer.

Sage

Salvia officinalis 'Berrgarden' JaKMPM — *Salvia officinalis* ‘Berrgarten’ has broad, silvery leaves that always look pretty.

Prized for flavoring Thanksgiving stuffing, sausages, and winter pasta dishes, sage (Salvia officinalis, 2-2.5 feet) is also an attractive, evergreen landscape plant that continues to look nice through winter. It’s broad, dusty gray leaves smell pungent when crushed, and in early summer, stems of pretty violet-blue flowers appear.
Also from the Mediterranean, this sun-loving subshrub requires well-drained soils. It is quite hardy, surviving in USDA hardiness zones 4-8. In colder zones, stems and leaves have a tendency to die back, so spring removal of dead or damaged stems is a must. There are many beautiful cultivars including the broad-leaved ‘Berggarten’ sage and ‘Tricolor’ sage with its purple, cream, and gray-green leaves. All sages have a place both in herb and perennial borders.

Rosemary

Rosemarinus officinalis flower jakMPM 071 — *Rosmarinus officinalis* flowers are pale lavender blue and much loved by bees.

The piney smell of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, 2-6 feet) permeates this sprawling evergreen shrub. Native to the Mediterranean and Caucasus, it grows in rocky sandy soils and can withstand the salt spray of the seashore. It will grow in USDA hardiness zones 7-10, but in colder zones winter stem dieback is common. Some cultivated varieties are hardier than others with the upright cultivar ‘Arp’ surviving to zone 6. Well-drained soils and sites protected from harsh winter weather will help plants make survive the cold. They can also be protected with a winter cover of straw.
Rosemary shrubs can become quite wide and bushy, though low-growing, creeping cultivars also exist. The mat-forming ‘Prostratus’, which sprawls to several feet but only reaches 6-12 inches, is one of these. Pale violet-blue flowers appear along the stems in spring and early summer. Plant rosemary in sharply drained soil and full sun where it will have plenty of room to grow. Where winters are mild, these shrubs can be sheared as topiaries to create an architectural, fragrant border. Harvest leaves and stems to season meats, sauces, and roasted vegetables.

Thyme

*Thymus pseudolanuginosus* is wooly and very low growing.

Creating low mats of minute evergreen foliage, thyme is a garden favorite for herb and rock gardens. It also looks great planted among stepping stones or as a ground cover for the sun. Many species are cultivated and all are culinary, though some taste better than others. French thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is the culinary favorite, with lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus) following in flavor. The highly prostrate, fuzzy-leaved wooly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) is very pretty planted along a stone walkway or along a rock wall. The low-growing pink-flowered creeping time is also extra pretty producing masses of pink flowers in spring. Mother-of-thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is a northern European species that also produces masses of pink flowers in spring and makes groundcover. Planting them among sunny, protective rock walls and beds will help protect them through winter and ensure they will continue to look nice.
All of these herbs are mints producing pretty, fragrant flowers that are highly attractive to bees. Their planting needs are similar. All require well-drained soils, and though they can withstand poorer quality soils, they will thrive if their soils are amended with Black Gold^® Garden Compost Blend. Plant them in spring, so they will have plenty of time to become established for the cold winter months.
Leaves can be harvested any time of year, which is why sage, rosemary, and thyme are used to flavor winter dishes. Their aromatic flavors offer year-round pleasure and the plants themselves full-season garden interest.

Fall Garden Cleanup

Putting your garden to bed will result in a prettier, healthier garden from fall to spring. It’s essential to know what areas to clean, what to prune, what to leave undisturbed, and what to protect. Simply taking a leaf blower to your beds and landscape is a start, but there’s more to the process if you want to do it right.

Clean Beds

Waning perennial garden — A waning perennial garden before the first frost.

When cleaning your garden beds, consider bed appearance as well as plant appearance and health. This means determining what should be cut back and cleaned and what should be left alone until spring.

Begin by cleaning out loose-leaf material by hand or blower with a focus on the most visually conspicuous areas. Smart gardeners are wise to leave some leaf litter in beds to provide added winter protection for more tender plants and help support overwintering pollinators. (Some species of overwintering native bees and butterflies use undisturbed leaf litter as essential winter habitat. Click here to learn more.) After clearing away unwanted leaves, give your fading garden plants needed attention.

Dead or dying annuals are the first thing to cut back or pull. If some have mature seed heads, consider scattering their seeds in hopes of getting a few extra seedlings in spring. Once annuals are removed and beds smoothed, start work on your perennials and shrubs.

Many perennials look great over winter and their crowns are protected by leaving the top growth intact. Leave all healthy evergreen perennials, such as lavender and sage, alone. Most ornamental grasses, coneflowers, asters, and black-eyed-Susans can also remain up until late winter. Some of these perennials, such as grasses, coneflowers, and asters, produce seed heads that naturally feed overwintering songbirds. Hardy perennials that die to the ground, such as daylilies, hardy geraniums, hostas, Shasta daisies, and salvias should be cut all the way back to keep gardens looking tidy.

Edge and Cover Beds

Garden covered in frost — Edge and provide some cover while leaving attractive perennials up for winter.

After cleaning beds, cut fresh bed edges (Click here for a how-to video about edging.), and apply mulch. Lots of mulches will work, but dark, earthy leaf mulch is landscape gold. Not only does it look good, but it breaks down quickly to naturally feed soil, and it is easy to create from yard leaves. [Click here to learn how to turn your fall leaves into mulch.] Screened, partially composted bark mulch is another good option for broadcast mulching. For small garden spaces, Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost can be applied as a high-quality, fortifying mulch.

When mulching, work around perennials and shrubs. Many plants will die or perform poorly if their crowns and trunks are thickly layered with mulch. Succulents, alpines, rock garden plants, hosta, and heuchera should never have heavy mulch applied on or around their crowns.

Fall Pruning

Use clean shears and wear gloves when pruning in autumn

In fall, start by cutting back any dead, unhealthy, or crossing branches from trees and small shrubs. When pruning out dead, diseased, or infested wood, prune just below the point where growth is still fresh and healthy. If you think that a plant you are pruning is diseased, be sure to clean your pruning shears in a 10% bleach solution before pruning another plant. If additional pruning of flowering trees and shrubs is needed to shape the plants, first determine whether your shrubs bloom on old or new wood. It is okay to prune new-wood bloomers in fall but not old-wood bloomers.

French lilacs (Syringa vulgaris), azaleas and rhododendrons (Rhododendron spp.), forsythia, most viburnum, serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.), and some hydrangeas, such as oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), all bloom on old wood—meaning they set their flower buds for the next year shortly after they bloom. These plants should never be pruned in fall unless you want to cut off next year’s flowers. Old- or second-year wood bloomers are best pruned right after they flower. Butterflybush (Buddleja davidii), crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), and some hydrangeas, such as wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), bloom on new wood, so fall pruning is an option.

Pruning techniques vary from plant to plant. As a general rule, shrubs that bloom on new wood are forgiving and can be hard pruned, or cut back nearly to the ground. In fact, hard pruning is recommended for more aggressive shrubs, like Buddleja.

Toss it or Compost It?

Bed cleaning creates lots of waste. Some of the waste is perfect for composting and some is best discarded. Loose leaf matter makes great compost. Fall grass clippings and leftover edging pieces can also be thrown into the compost heap. Old perennial and annual waste can also be composted, if it appears to be clean and disease free. Healthy woody branches can also be chipped and added to the bin. Any material thought to have pests or disease should be thrown away. This is especially the case for vegetable waste, such as last-season’s tomatoes, which commonly develop early and late blights. Rose clippings should also be kept far away from the bin because of the many diseases they can harbor. [Click here to learn more about rose diseases and pests.]

Clean, coiffed beds with crisp edges look great and will make spring prep a breeze. They will also make it easier to plan and implement fall bulb plantings and decorate for the winter holidays.

Grasses, such as this Ravennagrass (*Saccharum ravennae*) can be left up into winter.

Protect Plants from Summer Heat in Four Steps

A thick layer of straw helps hold moisture around these okra plants while also keeping walkways clean and weed free. — A thick layer of straw helps keep roots cool while also holding moisture and keeping walkways clean and weed free.

It’s baking hot and your garden plants are wilting, waning, and altogether looking crummy. What do you do? High heat can take a toll on our vegetable and flower gardens, causing fruit and flowers to drop, buds to shrivel, leaves to wilt, and plants show general stress. It’s bad news, but there are a few protective measures gardeners can take to save their green investments through the worst of the high heat periods. Just four tips can help you turn your over-heated plants around: 1. Plant Smart, 2. Add Water-Holding Amendments, 3. Water Smart, and 4. Provide Mulch and Shade.

Plant Smart

Heat-tolerant Profusion Zinnias buffer the hot edge of a driveway garden.

This basically means choosing heat-tolerant plants and picking the right locations for your plant choices. Vegetables (read more about heat-tolerant vegetables here and read more about heat-tolerant greens here) and flowers (read more about heat- and drought-tolerant bedding flowers here) that can take the heat generally originate from warmer parts of the world. Choosing a Mexican-native Marigold (Tagetes erecta) over a European Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) means a world of difference when temperatures heat up. The Mexican Marigold will thrive and the European species will fry.

Choose heat-tolerant plants, such as Mexican marigolds, that will shine all season long.

More heat-tender plants should be placed in spots where they are protected by midday shade. Those planted alongside pavement need to be tougher because of the reflective heat generated by the concrete or asphalt. Buffering walkway or driveway edges with super tough creeping plants, such as rocky stonecrop (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’), trailing rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’) or Profusion zinnias, will reduce some of the glare and generated heat. Another tip is to place plants so that they are just touching, but not overcrowded. Keeping the sunlight from hitting the ground surrounding plants is cooling. It is also smart to plant from high to low with taller plants shading shorter plants (Wild Senna is an outstanding tall, heat-tolerant perennial you can read about here).

Add Water-Holding Amendments

Water keeps soil cooler, so adding water-holding amendments helps reduce heat stress as well as drought stress. Organic matter always holds more water, so it is wise to add fresh compost to beds before planting. Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost is a great choice, but there are other amendments designed specifically to hold water. A sustainable selection is Black Gold Just Coir, which is comprised of 100% all-natural coconut coir and holds water like a dream. Coir comes from processed coconut husks, a byproduct of the coconut industry.

Water Smart

Silver watering can — Early morning is a great time to water plants, if the day is going to be a hot one.

There are several watering techniques that will help you protect your plants from heat a little better (read all about smart watering tips here). First, watering early in the morning or later in the evening will allow plants take in moisture at cooler times of the day to help them withstand the high heat of midday. I like to water in the morning best. Drip hoses also help keep roots cool and water directly at the root zone.

Provide Mulch & Shade

Mulching cools rootzones, which helps keep plants happy during the hottest times of the day.

Mulches help keep plant roots cool. In the garden, lighter mulches, such as straw, hay, or leaf mulch, make a real difference in keeping plants happy during high-heat windows. Leaf mulch or pine straw are good choices for ornamental gardens. When days are really scorching, vegetables may benefit from floating shade cloth to reduce the sun’s glare. The cloth can either be supported by stakes surrounding beds or floated over rows during the day’s hottest window, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Most studies show that the time between 2:00 and 3:00 pm is the hottest time of the day.
The most scorching days of summer usually don’t last long, but they can do lasting damage, dulling your garden’s looks and reducing yields. Protect them during these times to make the most of your garden for the rest of the season.

Colorful Tropical Hibiscus

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Chiffon Breeze' (TRADEWINDS™ CHIFFON BREEZE, TRADEWINDS™ BREEZE SERIES) — Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Chiffon Breeze’

Giant blooms bursting with color—these make Chinese or Hawaiian hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) a floral favorite in sizzling summer gardens. Huge variety is another perk of these tried-and-true tropical shrubs. There are literally hundreds of types that come in many floral color variations and sizes. And, their familiar good looks bring to mind Hawaiian shirts, leis, and landscapes. What’s not to love?
Native throughout tropical Asia, these hibiscus have been bred for centuries for their big, beautiful flowers. Through woody, they are fast growing and ever blooming, making them ideal for large patio containers and bed plantings. Their lush, deep green foliage creates a perfect foil for the big beautiful flowers. Some leaves are even glossy. These plants are only hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 9-11, which means they will only survive winters in the most southerly regions of the United States. But, they will overwinter well in a sunny, warm indoor location where winters are cold. A bright south-facing window, sun room, or conservatory is perfect.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Baja Breeze' (TRADEWINDS™ BAJA BREEZE, TRADEWINDS™ BREEZE SERIES) — Hibiscus rosa-sinensis TRADEWINDS™ BAJA BREEZE

The flowers are between 4 and 8″ wide and comprised of five large, open petals. The largest varieties are the size of dessert plates. They come in loads of bright, tropical colors to include all shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, and white. Unusual colors, such as near black, gray, and purplish hues are also common. Many blooms are bicolored and tricolored, with radiating rings of bright color. At the center of each bloom is a protruding pistil lined with colorful stamens, which is attractive and interesting in its own right.
There are literally hundreds of varieties of Hawaiian hibiscus. The International Hibiscus Society has a full register of every type under the sun. Anyone interested in learning more about these beautiful flowers should have a look. The wide ranging varieties give a complete picture of all this plant has to offer. To get a good look at exciting newer, interesting selections, check out the offerings of specialty growers, such as Charles Black’s Hidden Valley Hibiscus. His amazing hibiscus may be just enough to hook you!
Garden center varieties are often bred for compact habits and high flower production. The Tradewinds varieties are particularly nice, being developed to produce lots of flowers on tidy plants ideal for container growing. Though the plants are small, they always grow and flower best in large containers that allow their roots to spread and easily access water and nutrients. Large containers also need to be watered less often.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Erin Rachel' — Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Erin Rachel’

Grow these beautiful flowers anywhere there is sun. They prefer fertile soil that drains well and perform best with some supplementary fertilizer for flowers. Starting with a fortified potting mix, such as Black Gold’s All-Purpose Potting Soil with RESiLIENCE, is a good idea. Potted plants appreciate large containers and will fill them in quickly, if plants are happy and well-tended. In warmer zones, these shrubs are best planted in garden and shrub borders mixed with other lush, tropical plants loaded with bright color.

Waterwise Container Gardening

Container plantings are notorious for drying out quickly and needing extra water through the worst summer months, lest they dry and shrivel in a day’s time. Miss one morning watering and the most beautiful contained petunias or impatiens can go from great to ghastly full wilt by evening. Thankfully, there are ways to reduce the need for daily container watering while also ensuring lots of pretty potted plants for porch and patio.

The four factors to consider when designing water-wise container gardening are 1. pot size and type, 2. soil and soil additives, 3. plant drought tolerance, and 4. pot placement. Get these factors right and your containers may require half the water normally supplied to summer pots.

Container Size and Type

Flowers in clay pot — Glazed and plastic pots hold water better than terracotta. (Image care of the National Garden Bureau)

Container size and type are things that most gardeners don’t consider as water-saving, but the larger and more water-impermeable the pot, the more it will conserve water. Think about how plants move water. They take it up through the roots, the water travels through the plant, and then it’s released from tiny pores in the plant’s leaves and stems. Basically, the plant pulls water from the soil. A larger pot holds more water and provides more root space—offering a bigger well of needed moisture. And, an impermeable pot surface simply means that less water will be lost due to evaporation. Terra cotta pots are the worst when it comes to evaporation while glazed ceramics and plastic or resin pots keep water at the root zone.

Soil and Additives

Fafard Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed and RESILIENCE pack

Some soils and amendments like peat moss hold water well and others like perlite encourage drainage. Our best water-holding potting soils contain lots of rich organic matter in addition to water-reserving additives, such as the Moisture Pro™ water-holding crystals Fafard® Ultra Container Mix with extended feed and RESiLIENCE®. The RESiLIENCE® additive, which is OMRI-listed for organic gardening, helps plants further by helping plants reduce water stress during hot, dry times. The addition of coco coir (we recommend Black Gold Just Coir) or Fafard Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss further enhanced water-holding to reduce the need to water every day.

Drought-Tolerant Plants

Lantana camara Bandana Rose — *Lantana camara* BANDANA™ ROSE

There are so many beautiful container-friendly garden flowers that stand up to heat. For containers, it’s great to choose heavy-flowering annuals that look nice until frost—either with their foliage, flowers, or both. It’s also nice to try new garden center offerings, in addition to solid standbys, that will wow and impress.

For warm container color, try the new Bidens Campfire® Fireburst with its tiny hot daisies of orange-red and gold. Annual Bidens bloom continuously and look great alongside the red and orange flower of Lantana Rose Bandana, and gold-, -orange, and magenta-flowered Zinnia Pinwheel Mix, which are also compact. All stand up to hot, dry weather once established.

Pennisetum glaucum 'Jade Princess' — *Pennisetum glaucum* ‘Jade Princess’

The outstanding Cuphea Vermillionaire® is another super tough, super pretty bloomer producing lots of orange-red, tubular flowers through summer that attract hummingbirds. These glow container plantings when placed alongside tall, Angelonia Angelface® Superwhite and soft, airy Mexican hairgrass (Nasella tenuissima). Another great hummingbird flower for heat and containers is the new Salvia Ablazin’™ Tabasco with its taller stature and scarlet flowers that shine alongside the chartreuse leaves and purple plumes of Pennisetum glaucum ‘Jade Princess’.

Containers of bold succulents are also welcome for those wishing to water as little as possible. Pots of colorful Agave, Aloe, cacti or sedums look great through summer and can be brought into a sunny indoor spot through winter. The only caveat is that these plants tend to want a better-drained soil, such as Black Gold Cactus Mix.

Container Placement

Pink Pentas and purple Pennisetum with butterfly — Pretty pink *Pentas* and purple-leaved *Pennisetum* are both drought resistant and look great in containers.

Where you place your plants can make a big difference in how quickly they lose water. Exposed areas with hot sun and wind will always dry plants out more than protected areas shielded from the wind and sheltered from the sun during the hottest time of day. Morning and afternoon sun is always less beating, so place planters in spots where this level of sun dominates and light shade it provided around noon.

Planning ahead with these four steps for water-wise containers will save water, time, and headaches through summer. Your containers will still need regular care and water for the best health and looks, but you will be able to enjoy them more and worry less about summer container instant-wilt.

Growing Salad Greens in Spring

Spinach and romaine lettuces — A suite of spinach and romaine lettuces growing in late March.

This is the time of year to start your seeds for salad greens, such as spinach, lettuce, and arugula. Getting a head start indoors will ensure that you will have fresh greens by late March to early April when daytime temperatures are warm enough for growing and nights are still cool and crisp. Once transplanted in the garden in early March, your seedling starts should take off, if your beds have been well prepared.
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is the most variable green—coming in lots of shapes, lead densities and colors. Some of the most common and popular types include the upright romaine or cos lettuce (popular in Caesar’s salads), crisphead or iceberg lettuce, and looseleaf types, which include butterhead and oakleaf varieties, among others. Colors vary from bright chartreuse green to deep green, purple and bronze. Speckled varieties also exist, such as the Austrian ‘Forellenschluss’, which essentially translates to “trout-like”. Reliable starter varieties, such as the classic heirloom looseleaf variety ‘Black Seeded Simpson’, super tight-headed romaine ‘Spretnak’, and unusually beautiful French crisphead, ‘Reine Des Glaces’, are all quite easy and delicious.

Lactuca sativa 'Reine Des Glaces' — The French crisphead lettuce ‘Reine Des Glaces’ looks beautiful and has more flavor than your average iceberg lettuce.

Spinach and arugula grow under the same conditions as lettuce—requiring cool weather for best growth and flavor. Both are less variable in appearance, but there are quite a few cultivated varieties with special characteristics that set them apart. Spinach may have smooth or savoyed leaves and some varieties are slower to bolt (set flower) in spring than others. The 1925 heirloom ‘Bloomsdale’ has large, savoyed leaves and is slower to bolt than most. I contrast, ‘Corvair’ has large, smooth leaves and is resistant to downy mildew. Some cultivars, such as ‘Baby’s Leaf‘, are recommended for growing “baby spinach”. Arugula cultivars vary somewhat in leaf shape, color and heat. The popular ‘Wasabi’ is an easy-to-grow selection with leaves that truly taste of hot wasabi. The new ‘Dragon’s Tongue’ is a visually pretty, finely cut variant with purple-red venation.

Lactuca sativa (SALANOVA® RED INCISED-LEAF, SALANOVA® SERIES) — Looseleaf lettuce varieties can come with variable leaf shapes and colors.

There are a few things to know when growing these greens. To begin with, they must have cool germination temperatures. Lettuce seed, for example, germinates best at temperatures between 70 and 40 degrees F, with those at the higher end sprouting faster. Most other greens do, too. The small, almond-shaped seeds of lettuce also require light to germinate, so be sure not to cover the seed—just gently pat it down and wet its soil completely. Arugula seed is also small and should be surface sown, but spinach seed is larger and can be planted just below the soil’s surface. For planting all these seeds, it is vital to select a quality seed-starting mix with a fine texture, such as Fafard Seed Starting Mix with Resilience. (For more seed-starting tips, click here.)

Tidy open beds — Tidy, open beds and good spacing are needed for healthy, vigorous greens.

Before planting, be sure to harden seedlings off, slowly exposing them to outdoor temperatures and sunlight until they are acclimated. Soil should be fortified with a quality organic amendment. I recommend Fafard Garden Manure Blend for greens. Work it in evenly before planting your seedlings. Once seedlings are planted around six to eight inches apart, water them well and apply a light solution of water-soluble, all-purpose fertilizer.
In no time, you should have harvestable greens. In is not uncommon for most greens to take between 45 to 50 days to produce after planting. Harvest depends on the green. Spinach, arugula, and looseleaf lettuce can be harvested leaf by leaf while romaine and crisphead lettuce are harvested whole by the head. The easiest way is to cut the head with a harvest knife from the point where it meets the ground.
It is not uncommon for a few stray greens to begin bolting before they are harvested. If this happens, let them bloom and set seed. After plants have bolted, wait for the seed to mature and dry. Then collect the seeds for planting later in the season when growing conditions are cool once again.

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