Herself’s Houston Garden

We certainly know about hot weather down here in Houston. This is the first year I’ve lost plants to the heat, and they were lost early on.

Leaf scorch can be bacterial or it can be caused by dry windy conditions. There is no hope for plants with the bacterial leaf scorch. For those with it caused by windy, dry conditions you can help. Plants take up moisture through the roots and disperse it to the leaves where some of it is evaporated to cool the plant. On windy days more moisture is lost from the leaves. Plants need to be able to take up more moisture faster to replace it. You’ll see leaf tips turn brown and it can progress turning all the leaves all brown before stems wilt and the plant dies. More water is the answer to this. Water regularly and deeply so plants can reach water deep down in the soil.

Too much sunlight will turn your leaves from green to white. If you see leaves bleaching out provide those plants with more shade.

Fertilize less in July and Aug. The plant can’t handle the heat and new, rapid growth. I fertilize heaviest in the spring and the fall and not at all in the summer and winter. But summer thunderstorms can rapidly deplete what little nutrients we have in our soil. If you see yellow leaves with green veins add some iron and nitrogen to your soil. Half the recommended strength is best for summer fertilizing.

Mulch. Mulch greatly cuts down on water loss and it helps keep those roots just a little bit cooler. In time it will break down and add badly needed organic matter to the soil.

If plants are wilted in the afternoon and the ground is not damp, give those particular plans a deep watering with your garden hose. Let it trickle out slowly for a long time.

No matter where you live, your trees are trying to maintain a leaf temperature of about 70′F. There is every reason to think that other plants do the same. This is the temperature at which photosynthesis takes place. The control of the temperature is done through water uptake. So give your plants the water they need and keep things well mulched.

See also:
How hot weather effects plants
From Canada to Caribbean: Tree leaves control their temperature

Asparagus - Jan 15->Feb 15th

Beans ( lima and snap ) - March 1->April 7th and Sept 1->Sept 21

Beets - Feb 1->28 & Sept 21->Oct 15th

Broccoli - Jan 21->Feb21 & Sept 15th ->Oct 15th

Cabbage - Jan 21->Feb 21 & Sept 15th ->Oct 15th

Cantalope - March 21->Jun 30th

Cauliflower - Jan 21->Feb 21 & Sept 15->Oct 15th

Carrots- Oct 15->Nov 15th

Collards - Jan 21->Feb 15th & Sept 15->Nov 1

Corn - Mar 1->March 31

Cucumber - Mar 21->Apr 30

Eggplant - March 21->Jul 7th

Kohlrabi - Jan 21->Feb 28th & Sept 21->Oct 31

Lettuce - Jan 21->Feb 28th & Oct 7->Nov 30

Muskmelon or Watermelon - March 21->Jun 30th

Okra - Apr 1st->Jul 31st

Onions - Jan 15->Feb 15

Peas, snap - Sept 21->Oct 15th

Peppers - March 15->April 30th

Potatoes - Feb 1->Feb 15th

Pumpkin - Mar 15->Jul 15

Radish -> Feb 1 -> Mar 7th & Sept 1->Nov 15th

Southern peas - Apr 1->Aug 21

Spinach - Oct 1->Nov 15th

Squash - Mar 15th ->Apr 30

Sweet potatoes - Apr 1->Jul 15th

Swiss Chard - Jan 21->Feb 15 & Sept 21->Nov 7

Tomatoes - Mar 1->Mar 31

Turnip - Feb 1 ->Feb 28th

See also:
Houston Vegetable Garden Blog
Urban Harvest, Success with vegetables requires timing

• I recently attended a talk on ‘Water Savers in the Landscape’ by Linda Gay of Mercer. I’m not a big fan of ornamental grasses but there were several useful tidbits in the talk so I thought I’d cover them in one entry for those of you who do enjoy ornamental grasses.

Many ornamental grasses do not require added water. At least not in Houston. And many traditional xeriscape plants can’t handle Houston’s 50″ a year of rainfall.  So give them a thought while you are browsing through this winter’s garden catalogs.

Grasses go dormant in the winter here and many benefit from a hard pruning ( cut them right back almost to the ground ) late fall. But there are exceptions so be sure to see what is recommended for your grass.

Here are a few of the recommended grasses for the Houston area and some interesting tips on them:

Giant Reed ( Arundo dona variegata ) This comes in plain and variegated and can reach 18′ in height. It grows well near water and in well drained soil. If you have a variegated form you must cut it to the ground once a year to maintain the variegation.

Dwarf Pampas Grass ( Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’ ) You’re all familiar with this grass I’m sure. It was one of the first ones homeowners started incorporating into landscapes. Be aware that mice like to nest in it and you should cut it back in the fall to evict them. Leaves are razor like so wear leather gloves and body armor to prune.

Porcupine Grass (Miscanthus sinensis ( ‘Caberet’, ‘Cosmopolitian’ and ‘Strictus’)) all do well here ) Caberet can reach 6′ and needs to be trimmed or the stalks will lay down and look unattractive. Cosmopolitian is variegated and won’t flop on you. Strictus is more erect and spiky than the other two.

Sugar cane - I did plant some of this last fall and I love it. If you cut the canes you will have a nice upright grass cluster. Egads, I can’t imagine doing that, I like the canes better than the grass. They are very bamboo like. But do as suits you.

Muhly ( Muhlenbergia ( lindheimeri and dumosa ) ) Lindheimeri has blue green grass and dumosa has bamboo like culms ( but quite narrow ) Do not cut dumosa back! Leave it be and in the spring new leaves will push the dead brown ones off the plant. If you cut it back it will take a long time to recover.

Millet ( Setaria italica ) is the ornament grass that shows up every where as a decoration in the fall. It can reach 4′ tall.

Palm grass ( Setaria palmifolia ) maxes out at about 2′ tall. It reseeds itself and can take over an area so give it plenty of room. If you are cutting it back wear leather gloves and body armor. The soft hair on the leaves act like cactus spikes and will embed themselves in you and shred you. They are so fine you will likely not even notice them going in to your flesh.

On your grasses regular lawn fertilizer does just fine provided it is not a ‘weed and feed’ variety.

I was reading my favorite garden forum the other night and ran across a thread on coffee grounds. While they proved unsuccessful for germinating seeds several people used them as soil in potted plants.

They also reported success propagating things like roses and other shrub like plants. Branches were cut, lower leaves removed, rooting hormone applied and then potted in used coffee grounds. All people doing experiments reported seedlings did better in coffee than in soil.

Used coffee grounds act as a mild fertilizer ~( 4, 1, 3 ).

The caffeine in coffee is thought to be a neurotoxin to several unpleasant little critters in your soil such as slugs. I found reports stating they both helped and harmed nematodes. Nothing conclusive either way there.

Grounds are acidic so are a great mulch for your acid loving pants.

More information:
Coffee as a planting medium
Coffee grounds perk up compost pile with nitrogen