Herself’s Houston Garden

The Houston Chronicle had an interesting gardening column this week. It was about what to plant for a fall crop of vegetables.

The end of July is when you plant tomatoes for a fall crop.

Green beans, pea pods and summer squash get planted in Sept.

Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and other cool weather crops can be planted any time between Sept. and January.

Lettuce can be planted between October and spring.

Spinach should be sown in late October or early November.

Onions should wait until January.

But more recently I attended a lecture by Bill Welch on Fall Vegetable gardening in Houston, here are some tips for you:

- Use some ( a lot ) of mushroom compost, I’m told it’s easy to find.

- Use small tomatoes for fall crops, cherries for instance

- Thin early, thin often for root vegetables, especially radishes and carrots

- Look for early hybrids, the shorter days hurt even though our temperatures stay warm. You can get short day varieties for onions, they’ll do well here.

- Spinach needs deep soil and you’ll likely need to add calcium and lots of nitrogen

- Carrots don’t do well here, sweeter varieties do the best if you are going to plant some

- Artichokes do well in the fall, but are very frost sensitive

- Last summer’s peppers will reflower and fruit for you in the fall

- Last summer’s tomatoes will not do so well, pull ‘em up, be sure to give the roots a once over to check for nematodes.

More information:
A bountiful harvest, Clip and save planting guide

The rain let up enough this week that I could spend more than a few minutes in the garden in one spot with out sinking in the mud up to my knees. So I took advantage of solid ground and began to beat back the jasmine. I usually give all the vines a severe pruning right after they flower. The jasmine has escaped up till now and it has also escaped up the pine tree about 30′. The bottom 15′ or so is clear now. It’ll take some more work to get the top part back under control.

I went into Houston proper yesterday and visited a friend and wandered about the city some. We went by Another Place in Time and Buchanan’s. Both are excellent nurseries. Another Place in Time had several orchids, nepenthenes, and assorted other tropical plants. Buchanan’s is larger and also had a wonderful selection of tropicals. I purchased a Giant Dutchman’s Pipe there. That’s been on my plant wish list for several months.

We also went down to the Waugh Bat Colony to see the bats come out at dusk. There is parking on Allen near the fountain. You’ll know you are in the right place by the smell. It was really cool to see them all come out. As the sun sets you start to see a few flying under the bridge. They dart and flitter about far too quickly to get a good shot with the camera. Bats coming out grow in number and it is as if someone poked a stick in a hornets nest. By dark there are thousands of flying critters swarming and darting about. Some head in groups down the river, others seemed content to dart about under the bridge. It’s worth a trip to see if you are in and about Houston at dusk.

I fell in love with these tall spiky plants the first time I saw them. We had been here about a year and I was wandering through the mansion district down the road to see what they had growing. I saw agapanthus lining pond gardens and also mixed into beds with foxglove, delphinium and sweet peas. Mixed in with other tall flowering plants they give gardens a fairy tale feel.

I put one in along the edge of my swale garden last year and it bloomed. This year the deer ate it before it had a chance to bloom. I’ll have to add some out back where the deer can’t get to them. The bloom late spring, June, down here.

They prefer full sun but will grow in part shade. And they prefer well drained soil most of the year. They are drought resistant once established. But in the spring when flower shoots appear, water them frequently and do not allow them to dry out while flowers are forming or they are in bloom.

Usually they are used to border driveways or gardens.  Keep them well watered in the summer and don’t worry about them in the cooler months.

New plants may take up to three years to bloom while they get established. Divide the plants every 4 or 5 years in the fall. Once established they should naturalize ( fill in an area )

More information:
Agapanthus africanus
Agapanthus friends

Tiny looking isn’t it? Well it was when I planted it and for the first year. It has really taken off this past month. I picked this eucalyptus up at the Mercer March Mart. This picture is from then. The eucalyputus has grown a couple of inches in the past few months. It should grow to between 15′ to 60′ tall with a 10′-15′ spread. It should also grow very rapidly. I’ll post pictures again next year so you can see the difference.

Eucalyptus is evergreen; flowers appear in July and August but are tiny and not noticeable.

Leaves are round now but will get longer as the plant gets older, most eucalyptus begin with round leaves. Older leaves will turn red and drop off.

Any soil will do, sand, peat, clay eucalyptus loves them all.

Eucalyptus prefers lots of rain but is drought tolerant once established. But it really does not like to dry out.

Ecucalyptus must have lots of sun. It will not tolerate shade.

If frost damaged it should grow back from the roots. Young trees need wind protection.

Eucalyptus is considered a fire hazard in some places like California where it grows in dense clusters. The clusters shut out other plant life. The eucalyptus sheds leaves and bark and all are covered with oil. At home in your garden you’ll be cleaning out all the leaves so it should not be a problem for you.

Eucalyptus grows native all over Australia except in its driest deserts.

More Information:
The Eucalyptus of California