Week 43 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Jay White

As I write this I am listening to the sounds of water dripping off my roof! I am also enjoying the lightning storm that is telling me more rain is on the way!. Thanks to a whole weekend of thunderstorms, I am hoping to do absolutely nothing in the garden! If you get rained in this weekend I recommend reading the latest issue of Texas Gardener. This issue is really good. Friend and co-blogger Patty Leander has an excellent article on growing microgreens. For those of us who need to grow something all year round, her excellent article tells you how to grow these flavorful (and pretty fancy) greens all winter long. If it is not raining on you this weekend there is plenty to do in your fall yard and garden.

Its been a while since I saw water dripping of the roof and the trees!

!!!!!!!CAUTION/AVISO!!!!!!

Sally walked out of our guest house this weekend and almost stepped on a young copperhead that was coming up the steps to meet her! Copperheads love hunting at dusk and they love pockets of high humidity. Right now they are breeding and trying to bulk up for winter. Since this is one of their most active times of the year you really need to wear sturdy boots and carry a stick when you are out in your yard and garden. Please be careful out there! Just FYI, if you get bitten by a copperhead you are probably going to be ok. If bitten, go to the hospital ASAP but know that, even though they are the most aggressive of the poisonous snakes in Texas, they are the least venomous.

Don’t fertilize your plants until they have developed their true leaves.

VEGETABLES

Plant root crops from seed – Last night I put out my second planting of beets. I also put out icicle radishes and three varieties of carrots (Danvers, Danvers Shorts and Cosmic Purple). You can still plant all root crops from seed plus chard, kale, collards and mustard greens.
Make Compost Tea- I do not recommend fertilizing any plant until it is past the cotyledon size. Once your brassicas, lettuces, spinach or root crops have their true leaves, feed them! When plants are small I really like foliar applications of compost tea. To make compost tea, add a cup of molasses to five gallons of rain water. Add an old sock that has been filled with compost and tied at the end. Place outside and stir twice a day for a week or ten days. Then pour directly on your plants or strain and apply with a sprayer.

The only thing cuter than my grandson is my grandson enjoying a playdate in a pumpkin patch!!!

ORNAMENTALS

Water your decorations! – Right now it is hard to find a yard a porch that does not have a big bunch of mums on it. Water the mums almost daily. To extend, or encourage their bloom, feed weekly with Miracle Grow mixed to 50% of the recommended rate.
Plant ryegrass now! – If you can beat the rain, this weekend will be a perfect time to over seed your lawn with rye.
Move plants – I need to move several little crepe myrtles that have popped up from seeds. Now is the best time to move them and all other perennials. For best results move perennials when they are small, take as many roots as possible, plant them slightly higher than they were in their original location and then water, water, water!

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Week 31 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Jay White

August 15 is right around the corner. Why do I mention that? Well, it is the first planting date for the fall garden. We are truly lucky to be able to garden in the fall. If you have never had a fall garden I highly recommend it. Fall temperatures make it much more comfortable to be outside. Bug and weed problems are greatly reduced and you can grow a wide variety of vegetables (some that will continue producing until you remove them to make room for the Spring garden). It is also the best time of the year to plant (or move) trees and shrubs.

Our friend Amy Hime captured this beautiful Texas sunset. Right now it is so hot I wait until about this time each evening to go into the garden!

Vegetables

Begin planning the fall garden– My friend and co-blogger Patty Leander creates the planting guides for the Travis County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension service. If you are wondering what to plant for the fall garden, check out her guide. Not only will it tell you what and when to plant, it will give you some ideas of different vegetables that do well in our area that you may not have tried before. Check out the guide here: Travis County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Vegetable Planting Guide
Solarize nematodes-Nematodes plague many of the plants we grow in Texas. Patty has a great post coming out this weekend about controlling them. One of her tips is to turn up the soil in your infected areas and let the July and August sun rid you of some future problems.
Mulch and water – Lots of veggies like melons, southern peas and okra are still producing. Producing vegetables need lots of water. Mulch them heavily now then water early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce water lost to evaporation.

Love this shot of our red bird house on our redbud in front of our red garage door. Photo by Amy Hime

Ornamentals

Remove “buggy” plants – My marigolds have been good this year and so have my gomphrena. However, they are now beginning to succumb to spider mites. Remove these plants and throw them away. Do not put them on the compost pile.
Weed beds thoroghly and re-mulch – The heat is slowing down the growth of many of our invasive weeds. Pull them now and mulch heavily to prepare for your fall plantings
It is not too late to replant zinnias, cockscomb, sunflowers and gomphrena from seeds.

Lovely mixed annual border at FDR’s grave site in Hyde park, New York

Trees and Lawns

Do not fertilize lawns until the temperatures come down a bit.
Let grass grow as high as you can stand it. A thick carpet keeps roots cool and actually helps to conserves water

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Week 27 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Jay White

This week has been declared “American Flowers Week”. The week is designed to promote and celebrate American flower growers, marketers and florists. Did you know that 80 to 90% of the cut flowers sold in the US come from overseas? Many find this fact shocking when I share it with them. If you would prefer to buy flowers that are fresher, grown in a more ecologically responsible manner and produced right here in the USA then be sure to check out the Slow Flowers website. Slow Flowers is a cooperative effort between American growers and florists that allow you to find local growers and the florists that use their flowers to fill your flower buying needs.

In honor of “American Flowers Week” this week’s tips focus on growing, harvesting and arranging your own beautiful “local” flowers.

Flowers grown at the proper spacing are healthier and produce more blooms that plants that are grown too close together.

Growing Tips

Plant at the recommended spacing on the package– Over planting is the biggest mistake most home gardeners make. Plants that are grown too close together do not get as large or produce as many flowers and they are much more susceptible to pests.
Weed and feed regularly – Most flowers are annuals. Because of this they need to get as much nutrition as possible during their one growing season. Feed monthly and weed regularly. The weeds will rob your soil of the moisture and nutrients that your flowers need.
Control most pests with a strong blast of water to the underside of their leaves – Most flowers are plagued by a variety of pests. Most are tiny little rascals (like mites and aphids) that hide under the leaves of plants. Because of this they are very difficult to control with your typical spray applications of pesticides. I use a tool called the Mitey Fine Mister. This wand attaches to my water hose and is designed to spray water with enough pressure to kill the pests without harming the plant.

Cut flowers early in the morning and keep them cool to extend their vase life

Harvest Tips

Cut flowers when buds are just beginning to open – If you cut most flowers when their buds are just beginning to open they will open in the vase. This will allow you to enjoy them much longer
Cut flowers in the morning- Flowers cut in the morning have the highest moisture content (this is called turgidity in the horticultural world) and look their best.
Strip leaves and immediately drop blooms into a plastic container that is full of clean, cool water
Get flowers inside as soon as possible-Your flowers begin to die as soon as they are cut. Heat speeds up their ultimate demise. Get them inside and into the air conditioning as soon as possible

Nothing says summer in the country like sunflowers in a homemade arrangement!

Arrangement Tips

Use more flowers! – My youngest daughter is an incredibly talented floral designer. I asked her why my arrangements do not look half as good as hers. She said it is because I do not use enough flowers. According to Whitney, when making floral arrangements, more is almost always better
Use more than flowers in your floral arrangements – While it is pretty easy to make a very pretty and presentable arrangement by grouping together lots of beautiful flowers, the really outstanding arrangements use other things to add interest. Lovely branches with interesting leaves are great fillers as are twisting garlic scapes, iris leaves, lemon grass and onion flowers. Fresh vegetables, wasp nests, bird nests, dried sunflower heads and dried poppy heads all add a bit of whimsy and surprise to your arrangements
Throw away the floral foam – As useful as it is, floral foam is not biodegradable. There are tons of “green” alternatives that you can choose to support your flowers. Sally and I have a small collection of antique floral frogs. You can also make a wire ball out of chicken wire that fits in the top of your vase. My daughter loves to use fresh fruit. She cuts a hole into a melon or squash and then wires wooden stakes to her stems. She then inserts the stakes and stems into the firm flesh and rinds of the fruit.

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 22 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Jay White

I am getting a lot of questions about what to do about all of this rain. I really don’t know. According to the weather man we are experiencing “historical rain events”. This means that nobody really knows how all of this water is going to affect our yards and gardens. I am certain that if all of this moisture doesn’t kill our plants out right, we are going to have problems with fungus and mold and bugs once the sun comes out. The only advice I have right now is pray that all of these “historical rain events” end soon!

Planting time is slipping away. However you can still plant southern peas like crowder and black eyes.

Vegetables

Pick cucumbers regularly. With this much rain it is not unreasonable to expect to harvest every day
Make pickles with all of those cucumbers
You can still plant basil. If you have basil ready to harvest pick often and pick early in the morning when flavors are strongest
We are nearing the end of planting season but you can still plant sweet potatoes, lima beans, okra and southern peas. However, your planting window is closing.

Prune your climbing roses after they finish blooming

Ornamentals

Prune running roses after blooms fade. Train new growth onto or around structures
Feed roses and other blooming shrubs. Add compost monthly and blended fertilizers every six weeks
All of this rain is going to make fungal diseases a problem. Inspect roses regularly for black spot or powdery mildew. Treat with a fungicides easily found at your garden center.
All of this rain will leach nutrients from your potted plants. Now is a great time to replant, or at a minimum, fertilize them. I like to use a slow release fertilize like Osmocote so they are feed all summer long

Lawns

If you can stand it, do not mow until things dry out a bit, especially if you use a riding mower. The ground is so wet you can damage your lawn and your equipment.

This cool, wet weather has extended the time we have to plant small trees and shrubs.

Trees

Take advantage of the unusually cool temperatures and large amounts of water to plant small trees and shrubs. This extended planting season for trees and woody perennials is the only bright spot I can think of right now.
If you grow fruit trees in containers be sure and fertilize them regularly. Right now they have fruit so they need water and nutrients. Feed weekly with a liquid organic solution like compost tea. One of my favorite liquid organic applications is John’s Recipe from Lady Bug.

Tip of the Week – Week 8 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Jay White

Yesterday I received some amazing photos from my friend Bruce Leander. Bruce is an awesome photographer and a macro photography enthusiast. He does a lot of work at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. He sent me some very good macro shots of cedar trees (ash juniper) that are beginning to pollinate. While the pictures are incredible they are bad news for those of us that suffer from cedar fever. As his pictures clearly show, if you are not already suffering you will be soon! If you feel up to it (and the rain holds off) there are several things to be done in the garden this weekend.

Male parts of the ash juniper ready to release the pollen that will make so many of us sick in the next few days. Photo by Bruce Leander

Vegetables

This month, when temperatures are above 50 degrees, move your tomato, pepper and eggplant starts outside. Start slow by giving them only an hour or two of sunlight the first several days. Then gradually increase their time outside. This hardens the plants and will prevent sun scald when the go out permanently. Also, the outdoor breezes will help develop much stronger transplants.

As temperatures rise begin to harden off your tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants by taking them outside for a few hours each day.

Ornamentals

Give cool season color like pansies, violas and snap dragons a boost with a water soluble organic fertilizer or a fish emulsion and seaweed mix. Trim back your salvias, especially salvia greggii, to promote more blooms on thick, compact plants.

My favorite shot of my potager. Trim salvias back by half now to encourage flowering.

Lawns

Even though your sprinkler system has been off for the winter now is the time to turn it on and inspect it. Turn on each zone and look for leaks, cracked heads or misaligned heads. If you can fix the issues yourself you will save yourself some money and many gallons of water this summer. If you can’t fix issues yourself remember that it is much easier to book an irrigation specialist in February than it is in June.

An incredible shot of lichen on an oak limb by my friend Bruce Leander of Austin

Trees and Shrubs

Since we have already mentioned cedar (ash juniper) troubles, now is the time to get control of another one of their big problem – bagworms. Bagworms are interesting creatures. The female moth never leaves the foliage covered torpedo shaped case. She has no eyes, legs or wings and cannot eat. In fact, she looks more like a maggot than a moth. The male mates with her through the open end of the cocoon. After mating she dies with thousands of eggs inside her. The eggs hatch and the babies emerge THROUGH the mother. They climb out of the cocoon and the wind blows them to other trees. They then spin their cocoons and the process starts all over.

Bagworms are a serious problem for conifers (and some deciduous trees as well). A severe infestation can permanently disfigure the tree and it will never recover. You can control this problem by removing cocoons whenever you see them, especially now as mating will soon occur in zone 9. For serious infestations spray a bt product (organic) or dust with sevin.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

I share my posts on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 5 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Jay White

Between the threat of rain and the Super Bowl it may be hard to get out into the garden this weekend. However, Thursday is supposed to be gorgeous and Friday will be nice. If you can get outside on those days here are some tasks that can be done now:

Vegetables

Right now is a great time to plant your salad fixings. While lettuce (check out my in depth discussion of growing lettuce here)and spinach are the stars, don’t forget that the supporting players like radishes, beets, carrots, kale and mustard greens also can also be planted now. These quick growing greens will be ready for harvest in about 45 days. At that time you will be ready to thin your onions and use them in the salad.

Now is a great time to replant lettuce. My favorites are buttercrisp and black seeded Simpson

Right now is also a good time to start adding compost to your beds. I sprinkle a couple of inches over the areas I am going to plant in March and cover with spoiled hay. It is not warm enough for the compost to start breaking down. However, in conjunction with the hay, it acts as a great mulch that will suppress many spring weeds. It will also feed the worms that will begin taking it down into the soil for you.

Ornamentals

As you know I am a big supporter of field grown flower farmers. Right now my friend Mike at Prickly Pair Farm is planting ammi, stattice and dianthus under cover. You can start the same flowers indoors now. Growing from seed is the best way I know to have a ton of flowers for spring planting without spending a ton of money.

Right now is a great time to begin adding compost to the beds that you will be planting in the March

Lawns

I have a couple hundred daffodils planted in my yard. As I walked around yesterday looking to see if they had broken ground I noticed lots of some very bad weeds beginning to make a stand. Dandelions and thistles are beginning to come on strong. These are easy to take care of with a good sharp hoe. However, my true weed nemesis is Queen Anne’s Lace. Queen Anne’s Lace is actually wild carrot. Right now it is forming its cluster of leaves on the ground. I leave it alone until it sends up its flower stalk then I pull it up, white carrot root and all.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

This post has been shared on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. Tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 4 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Jay White

We got over an inch of rain at my house last night. We are expected to get another inch today. I am thankful but I hope the sun comes out tomorrow. If it is not too muddy there are tons of tasks to take care of this weekend. Here are some of the things I am doing:

Vegetables

Week 4 in the Zone 9 garden is a very busy time. It is time to replant all of your brassicas. The brassica family includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and others. Click on each veggie above to read Patty Leander’s tips for growing the best brassicas possible.

Patty also wrote a great post about sugar snap peas. It is time to plant those as well. This year she has had great luck with “Amish” heirlooms. Get all the info you need to succeed with peas by reading her post “Make Room for Cool Season Peas”.

Week four is also the time to plant potatoes. The two varieties that do best for me are Red LaSoda and white Kennebecks. Buy now, cut into pieces preserving the eyes and allow to cure for a week or so before planting. Check out my post “Growing Potatoes” to learn all the other tips and tricks you need.

Cauliflower doesn’t have to be white! Try some of the colored varieties. Photo by Bruce Leander

Ornamentals

Patty’s latest post reminded me that it is time to cut back your cannas (and ginger). Cut them to the ground. Here’s another canna tip. When they start blooming, cut their flower stalks out at the base of the plant. This will encourage them to bloom more.

It is also a good time to trim up woody perennials. My bougainvillea has shed its leaves so it is ready for its annual haircut. Trim up other deciduous vines like coral honeysuckle, cross vine and wisteria.

If you want lots of flowers in early spring, start their seeds now. Two years ago I grew 100 marigold transplants. My beds never looked better. This weekend is a good time to start marigolds, petunias, begonias, periwinkles and many others.

Fruit

It is still a good time to plant bare root fruit trees. It is also a great time to plant container grown fruit trees. Container grown fruit trees can be planted anytime of the year but they will root in and become established quicker if you plant them now.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

This post has been shared on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. Tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 3 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Jay White

There are two things that really need to be done in January in the lower two thirds of our state–starting tomato, pepper and egg plant seeds for transplant and planting asparagus. It is also time to start pruning fruit trees, grapes and perennial ornamentals that have been killed by the freeze.

Vegetables

I don’t want to sound like a nag, but this week is THE PERFECT TIME to plant your tomato seeds. You can also start your pepper and eggplant seeds too. Eggplant will germinate much like the tomato seeds but be prepared to give you pepper seeds a little extra time to sprout.

Besides tomatoes, asparagus is my absolute favorite vegetable to grow and eat. Plant year old crowns now. My favorite is the heirloom “Mary Washington”. However, I have had much luck with many varieties of the “Jersey” series. For more information on planting asparagus check out my post “Growing Asparagus”.

When planting, spread the roots of asparagus crowns over a mound of compost

Ornamentals

Now that we have had a freeze, it is time to trim back some of our perennials. Clumping grasses can be cut back to about ten inches. If your grass clumps did not bloom this year consider dividing them in February. Salvias can be cut back to half of their size. Root Beer plant (Hoja Santo) can be cut to the ground.

Cut clumping grasses back to 10 to 12 inches

Fruit

January and February are the best times to plant bare root fruit trees. Plant them at the depth they were grown. Determine this depth by noticing where the color changes at the top of the roots and the bottom of the trunk.

January is also a good time to prune fruit trees and grapes in the lower two thirds of our state.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

This post has been shared on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. Tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

January is good time to prune fruit trees. Definitely do a little research before you start cutting.

New Feature for the New Year

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Jay White

Happy New Year! 2014 was the best year ever for the blog. I am truly grateful that you chose to get some of your garden tips from The Masters of Horticulture!

Photo by Bruce Leander

Each year I look for ways to make the blog more useful to all of my fellow organic gardeners. This year I am going to do a weekly “Tip of the Week” feature on the blog. This idea came to me when a Texas Gardener reader contacted me about doing a weekly radio segment that would let Houston area gardeners know what they needed to be doing in their gardens each week of the year. I thought this was a great idea. However, since horticulture is just a hobby for me, I referred the reader to one of the best organic gardeners in the state. Bart Brechter is the Curator of Gardens for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. He runs the incredibly beautiful gardens at Bayou Bend and he does it organically. He also hosts the “Our Garden View” blog.

Bart did a couple of episodes and then the radio changed formats and dropped the segment. While we were both disappointed, we really thought the radio station was on to something. We both feel that a weekly tip list is a great tool for all gardeners. So, we have decided to work together to provide these weekly tips to our readers. Starting this week, he and I will begin posting weekly tips that will let you know what you can or should be doing in the garden that weekend. Be sure to check out the tips on both blogs. Bart and I are different types of gardeners. By reading both sets of tips you will get a good variety of ideas to try in your own Central Texas Gardens.

Photo by Bruce Leander