Saturday, March 15, 2008

how does your garden grow?

I’m very lucky living in the southwest, spring arrives early here and because of our HOT summers our planting schedule whether its for flowers or vegetables is different then other parts of the U.S.

Unless you are a really dedicated gardener and can coax your garden to stay alive in 115º (46C) temperatures, most annual flowers and vegetable gardens are done by June, maybe July if you’re lucky. I love to garden but when it’s really hot I’ll give the plants the water they need and watch them from inside my house. They’re really on their own; they’ll sink or swim depending on their heartiness. Cruel I know but it’s hot.

We plant our ‘summer’ gardens in February and our ‘winter’ gardens in September. Strange but necessary in the southwest. Here are my typical plantings:

February
Flowers: pansies, petunias, viola, primrose, stock, and daisies.

Veggies: eggplant (Japanese & white (this one is new to me, will let you know how it turns out), jalapeno pepper, purple bell pepper, zucchini, red cherry tomatoes, small yellow tomato, string beans, and arugala (aka rucola/rocket).

Herbs: rosemary, basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, thyme, marjoram, and sage.

September
Flowers: pansies, petunias, snapdragons, sweet peas (planted in fall, bloom in spring).

Veggies: carrots, beets, lettuce (arugala and spinach), and onions.

Herbs: if they didn’t survive the summer heat then I replant the same fall herbs. The only one that is frost tender is the basil.

So blog readers – how does your garden grow? I would love to hear about your garden and what you grow. Do you have a green thumb?

I’ll post pictures when my laptop allows me (see previous post) so you can see the progress of my garden.

Now go out and play in some dirt.

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