By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

We know that after June 21st the days start to get shorter. We think of July 4th as the middle of summer and much too late to start any plants. Actually, if you’re a plant, summer is just perfect growing weather.  August means peak soil warmth and warm nights – a perfect combo for putting down roots. For your plants it’s “beach season.” 

Many of our warm season annuals, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds and even dahlias, want to wait until the soil is warm. They are native to Central America and are designed to germinate when the soil hits 70 degrees fahrenheit and the days are long. Think summer solstice, not spring frost. They are engineered to thrive in peak summer light. So, forget seed starting stress, skip the milk jugs. The nursery grown zinnias peaked in June and are getting scraggly. Plant these warm soil lovers now for late summer color. Really, they will pop up in days and bloom in a month. They will be taller, tougher and have better flowers than the ones that were rushed into early growth. Plant a few every week to have blooms till frost. 

If you have had problems with potato bugs, plant your spuds now. They won’t get as large as an early crop, but they will be healthier, no bugs. As soon as they bloom you can ‘tickle them’. You haven’t heard of that? Just stick your finger into the dirt around the plant till you feel a spud. “Tickle” it out and have new potatoes for dinner. It actually doesn’t reduce the crop that much and you can enjoy new potatoes all summer. When you dig them, after the vines die, let them rest in a cool dark place before you store them, dirt and all, for the winter. Never wash spuds before you store them. They keep better dirty. 

If you like cabbage type plants, you can plant them later too. Broccoli and cauliflower now. In mid-August plant Bok choy, Napa cabbage and Pak choy – they will pop up quickly and love the cooler weather. One trick with cabbage and cauliflower—when you cut the head, don’t pull the root out. They will develop small heads all around the stalk. Just bite sized. 

When the temperature hits 90 F, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes just stop doing much of anything. They just don’t like very hot weather. That is the kind of weather gardeners should stay in the air-conditioning and read about gardening. Of course, weeds just love that kind of weather, especially as we have had lots of rain. Don’t let them get ahead of you. Leaving weeds to go to seed makes for four times as many to deal with when the weather does cool off. Keep deadheading to keep your flowers blooming. 

Do not cut the leaves off your irises. They need them to feed their roots for next year’s blooms. Only cut them off if you are digging them up to share. Try to do your gardening before 11 AM. Late in the evening works too, but that is also the time mosquitoes are most active and Bunkey is least active. He will be pulling weeds that are very well established by the time he gets to them. He hates hot weather. It’s a good thing his gardens are well mulched.