In a climate with a 365 day growing season, do miss out on the benefits of fall planting!

If you've ever complained about how hard it is to keep plants happy in the summer, then you need to shift your focus to fall. Us plant geeks keep telling you to plant now...and we promise we're not blowin' smoke! Get your booties out into the garden! Planting during fall and winter gives your new plantings lots of time to put down new roots before the onset of summer heat and drought. Really, you'll be doing both your plants and yourself a big favor!

Autumn is an especially great time in the vegetable garden. In fact, in Texas and similar hot climates, our cool season gardens are much more productive than our summer gardens. The weather is cooler and rainfall more plentiful. You’ll find that maintenance is much easier during the fall and winter months.

September - November are prime planting times for many vegetable varieties. You can plant transplants of Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, Collards, and Kohlrabi starting mid-September through early November. Direct seed any of the salad greens from September through October and continue planting transplants through November.

October is the best time for Texans to plant garlic cloves. You can purchase garlic for planting at your local garden center, where you’ll find the best varieties for our area. Split the bulb up into individual cloves then plant about one- to two-inches deep and about three- to six-inches apart. Cloves must be planted in the fall in order for them to receive the required chilling to form bulbs. Garlic bulb formation occurs in response exposure to one or two months of soil temperatures between 32 °F and 50 °F followed by the lengthening days of spring once shoots have emerged. If you want to grow onions, you can start them from seed during fall. You’ll wait until January to plant onion slips or sets (transplants).

Fall is also a great time to plant cool season herbs, such as chamomile, chervil, chives, cilantro, comfrey, dill, fennel, fenugreek, lemon balm, parsley, and many more. These herbs will continue growing for you all the way through winter and the following spring. Don’t forget that some evergreen herbs, such as curled parsley and blood sorrel make great ornamentals in the Autumn & Winter garden. Mix them with pansies, violas and dusty miller for a striking combination. Make sure to amend your vegetable and herb beds with plenty of organic compost before planting.

Be sure to fertilize your veggies and herbs with an organic vegetable fertilizer. Typically, you’ll fertilize plants at planting time, and then again once plants begin to flower or fruit.

We can’t forget about fruit! Autumn and winter, when berries and fruit trees go dormant, is the best time to plant. By planting when it’s cool, or when plants are dormant, you’ll give them plenty of time to establish before the onset of summer heat. Fruit trees that do well in our area include fig, pear, peach, plum, and pomegranate. While apples and cherries don’t fare quite as well in our climate, there are certain varieties that can be grown with some extra TLC. Citrus trees can also be grown here but usually require some winter protection. Blackberries are probably the easiest of berries to grow, followed by strawberries, raspberries and grapes. All of which perennialize for us.

So you've tackled the veggie garden and after some practice you've started to get good harvests. Once this happens, you'll often find yourself with the task of figuring out what to do with all that harvest! There's freezing, canning, pickling and so on and so forth. Of course the goal is to always eat as much of the seasonal veggies fresh if you can. But with busy schedules, it's easy to get behind on all that cooking.

Recently, I started experimenting with a program called The Fresh 20. Now let me say, I'm not being paid to write about this, I have not been contacted by the author of The Fresh 20, or any such thing. I'm just a paying customer like any other who happens to LOVE it! I've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the years on cookbooks; downloaded hundreds of recipies online; subscribed to any number of cooking magazines. But it's still hard for me to get my kitchen act together because I work all the time. For what was not the first time, I set out online to find some sort of cooking program that would help me organize my shopping list (or garden harvest list), provide easy recipes and suit the varied eating habits in my house (veggie vs. meat eater).

What I stumbled across was The Fresh 20 Cookbook. The description of the cookbook led me to further investigate the website, which offers up subscriptions to weekly shopping and cooking plans that are built around seasonal ingredients. I purchased both the Classic and the Vegetarian plans (when you buy the first one, you get additional plans for 1/2 price). It' AMAZING and the price is more than worth it. The author, Melissa Lanz, has done all the work: Created the recipes, which are tasty and easy, built the shopping list and provided all of the nutritional info. I swear, this is the easiest meal plan I've every tried to use. She also gives you a ballpark of what the week's shopping will cost you (but you should probably go ahead and double that if you shop at Whole Foods, lol). Simply substitute your garden harvest for veggies in the recipes (or sub the veggie completely for something else you have in the garden).

Each week you get 5 dinners worth of recipes, your shopping list, and panty staples. If you're a household of two, you'll have plenty of leftovers to cover all your lunches. If you have a family of 4, you should end up with just about the right amount for dinner. Some meals you'll still end up with extra. Food is great, easy to make and really makes the week of cooking so much easier.

Anyhoo, if you're a veggie gardener and are looking for an easier way improve your kitchen time, grocery bill and use up that garden harvest, check this program. It's just been too good not to share!

You may or may not know that when you plant a hybrid cultivar, and you allow that cultivar to go to seed, that those seeds will end up growing into progeny that may look nothing like the parent plant. Heirloom, open pollinated varieties will come "true from seed", however. 'Green Zebra' tomato for example is an open pollinated tomato variety. When you save seed from the fruit and replant them next season, you'll get 'Green Zebra' tomatoes. Not so if you save seed from 'Celebrity' tomato, an F1 hybrid. Your resulting seedlings from 'Celebrity' seeds will exhibit charactaristics from the parents of 'Celebrity', but may look nothing like 'Celebrity'. Such is the case with my rogue melon seedlings, which planted themsleves all over my garden from last years dwarf hybrid 'Faerie' watermelon.

These super cute teeny tiny watermelons have been producing in my garden all summer long. They came up anywhere and everywhere, all over my front garden. The vines only reach about 3' to 4' long, an the melons are palm-sized. The flesh is yellow when mature with pink flesh. Now these little buggers have a lot of seeds, but the flavor is great. Hmmm...wonder what will come of their seeds next year? I call it 'Too Cute'. LOL

Now that night temperatures have dropped and it's starting to feel like fall, many summer veggie plants in the garden have started kicking back into gear for fall harvest. Peppers especially move back into high gear right about now, along with summer squash, zucchini and others.

There aren't many perennial veggies we can grow, but the Chili Tepin (and Chile Pequin, which looks very similar) is one that returns reliably for me in zone 8a. It does go dormant in the winter, then re-emerges in late spring after soils warm. It will even tolerate some shade while still producing prolifically. Plants are also referred to as Chilitepin, Chili Tepin or Bird's Eye Pepper. Love it!

Oh yeah, it's decorative gourd time! And yes, I even color coordinate my gourds to my house, pots, dogs, car...you name it. So I have a color coordination compusion...at least I admit it!

Never heard of evergreen wisteria? You're not alone! Many gardeners have never seen or grown this vine and I consider it a very underused ornamental. Millettia reticulata, while commonly referred to as evergreen wisteria, is not actually related to true Wisteria. This vine does have a similar appearance to true Wisteria, but instead produces gorgeous deep purple to magenta pea-like blooms at the tips of stems. The color is almost iridescent!

This is a photo of my evergreen wisteria in bloom. The vine grows to approximately 15’ tall and 3-6’ wide, with dark glossy green foliage. Plants are winter hardy in USDA zones 8-11, but you'll find in Zone 8 plants may only be partially evergreen over the winter or may even drop all their leaves in a colder than average season. If they do defoliate, new growth will re-emerge from the dormant vines the following spring.

Evergreen wisteria needs a sunny location in order to bloom well, but can take some late-afternoon shade. Make sure to provide this vine with good support like a sturdy arbor or fence. Bonus: The blooms are fragrant!

Here are a few common questions I get about watering and watering systems, which are an important tool in very hot dry climates:

1. Sprinkler systems are expensive. Is it really worth the investment?
There are several reasons why a sprinkler system may or may not be right for you. If your landscape contains mostly woody plants and herbaceous ornamentals with little turf, you may want to stick with soaker-hoses/drip irrigation and hand watering. However, if you have an expansive lawn or you just don’t have the time to water, a sprinkler system may be the way to go. Turf requires deep watering in order to encourage a healthy root system. Hand watering or watering with mini-sprinklers usually doesn’t do the trick. A sprinkler system allows for proper and consistent watering with little effort. Because sprinkler systems are controlled automatically with timers, you can ensure your landscape won’t lay victim to drought while you’re on vacation in August! If you aren’t ready for an expensive underground sprinkler system, you may want to consider using an above ground stand-alone pulsating sprinkler, such as a Rain Tower. Stand-alone sprinklers are several feet tall and connect to standard garden hoses. In the long run, a good sprinkler system can increase the value of your home, which may make the investment a worthy one.

2. What kind of mulch is superior for moisture retention?
Most gardeners use organic mulches, which are derived from plant material, to conserve moisture in their landscape. Inorganic mulches include lava rocks, pebbles, plastic, or landscape fibers. Inorganic mulches can conserve moisture, but they do not break down to improve soil structure nor do they add nutrients. An important value of organic mulches is that they continuously add organic matter to the soil surface in addition to conserving moisture. Homemade organic mulches can be produced by recycling yard waste such as chopped or shredded leaves, wood chips, and dry grass clippings, or you can purchase mulches from your local garden center. Shredded hardwood mulch is an excellent choice if you are going to purchase mulch. Mulch should be applied as a 2-5 inch layer on top of your existing soil. Over-mulching will limit air and water movement to the soil and cause disease, so make sure not to over do it!

3. What is the trick to using soaker hoses?
Drip, trickle, or soaker hoses are ideal for use on woody plants, herbaceous ornamentals, and vegetable gardens. Soaker hoses use less water than conventional systems, such as the handy garden hose, operate at lower pressures than sprinkler systems, and save water by preventing run-off. Soaker hoses actually “sweat” water as opposed to spraying it into the air. The key to successfully using soaker hoses is to run them long enough. While you may be able saturate your soil to 6" deep by running a sprinkler system for 40 minutes; it could easily take 3 or 4 (or more) hours to get the same saturation with a soaker hose. Remember, it's a slow drip! One tip for using soaker hoses is to bury them underneath your mulch if you can. This not only holds the hoses in place, but also ensures that the moisture reaches the soil instead of getting trapped in the mulch. Soaker hoses are also very useful for keeping your foundation watered, which is crucial during our hot dry summers. Place the soaker hoses along the drip line of your home, or about 18 to 24” away from the foundation.

4. What time of day is best to water? As a general rule, how often and how deep should I water? As a general rule, how often and how deep should I water?
Early morning is the best time to water if you can. Watering during the evening or at night encourages fungal diseases on your turf and ornamentals. Watering during the middle of the day or afternoon can cause scorching. High soil temperatures also make it difficult for plants to take up water efficiently. When it comes to turf, the less often you water the better. Setting your sprinkler system for 10 or 15 minutes a day will do more harm than good. Shallow watering causes a shallow root system that is susceptible to disease and damage due to heat and cold. Water your turf about once a week for an hour early in the morning. In the heat of the summer you may need to increase to twice a week, but only if your grass is wilting (the blades will curl and it may have a bluish tint). Herbaceous ornamentals, such as your summer annuals, may need more frequent watering as summer progresses. Their root systems usually reach about 6 to12 inches deep, so check the surrounding soil every couple of days. Established trees and large shrubs only need supplemental watering during periods of drought, but newly planted trees should be watered frequently and deeply until they reach 2 to 3 years of age. Soaker or drip hoses are best used to keep your woody plants watered properly.

Be sure to abide by your city's water restriction guidelines!

Fertilization and plant nutrients are often a mystery for many newbie gardeners...and experienced gardener's alike. While I find soil biochemistry and nutrient analysis fascinating, I'll bet that my soil chemistry books would substitute for sleeping pills for most. I get so many questions about fertilization and plant nutrients, I thought I'd start a series of plant nutrient profiles in order of importance. Don't worry, you won't have to read a thesis; I'll keep it simple and break it down easy so you can take the info and run with it in your own garden.

The third nutrient in the series: Potassium (K)

What does Potassium do? Potassium promotes flowers and fruits. Potassium helps with the formation of flowers and fruit, but it's also necessary for toughening growth, resistance to pests and diseases and drought and cold tolerance. Potassium deficiency is usually a problem on light sandy soils and is indicated by brown scorching on the leaves and curling of leaf tips.

When do I use Potassium? You can apply Potassium, or Potash (water soluble form of Potassium) in small amounts throughout the growing season, especially to veggie gardens and fruit crops. It is commonly applied to gardens, lawns and orchards as part of a balanced fertilizer. Greensand is a good organic amendment that includes Potash.

So, to keep it simple: Potassium = Flowers, Fruits & Vigor