Green Thumb Congratulations! You survived another summer in which the sidewalk could fry an egg and your golf cart seat could leave a brand. October has arrived with temperatures a human can stand in, and it’s time to plant! This is prime planting season in the low desert. While the rest of the country rakes leaves and sighs, we get to put things in the ground on purpose.
Short on space? Patios and courtyards suit containers and raised beds, which also dodge caliche, the cement- like mineral layer beneath much of our soil that has ended more gardening careers than any heat wave. Water like a nervous parent. New plants are needy. Water often at first, then ease off. Keep a bedsheet handy. First frost usually holds off until late fall or winter, but tender plants like petunias appreciate a blanket on chilly nights. Check the guidelines. Before turning the front yard into a cabbage farm, review the community’s landscape rules. Nobody wants a strongly worded letter about kale. Plant now, and by spring you’ll have color, salad and serious bragging rights. Your tomatoes will return in a few months. They are resting.
Start with color, because you’ve earned it. Pansies, violas, snapdragons, petunias, alyssum and dianthus love cool weather and bloom until spring. Pots on the patio or by the front door will welcome returning winter residents better than any casserole. Vegetables that cooperate. Leave tomato dreams for later. Fall belongs to leafy greens and root crops. Sow lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets and radishes, and set out broccoli, cauliflower, kale and cabbage transplants. Radishes sprout in days, making them the golden retriever of vegetables. Carrots take their sweet time and test your character.
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Estrella Publishing - The Grove magazine
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