Inside: Now that it’s officially summer, you might think it’s too late to plant your garden. We think otherwise! Follow our late summer adventures as we turn over soil, sow some seeds, and tuck plants into the good green earth!
Why the Late Summer Garden
Back in February when Mom gave her garden talk, she happened to mention the best garden she ever raised was planted in June. I’d never heard her say that before, but my experience had been similar. One of the two best gardens I ever had came from a garden hastily planted in the month of June. (The other best garden year ironically happened by throwing caution to the wind and planting in March, but that’s a post for another day.)
This year the perfect opportunity presented itself for the late summer garden. An April planting of cabbage and cauliflower only yielded bunny food, and the cruciferous crops that survived the rabbit buffet refused to develop heads in the too warm late spring. May was a blur of activity, and my time seemed to evaporate like rain on a hot day. While I managed to transplant a few tomatoes into my raised bed, my outdoor table overflowed with flowers, herbs, and vegetables waiting to find a home in the dirt. I did what I could, but once I turned the calendar page to June, I found myself still potting flowers and sticking plants into the ground. And I still had seeds I wanted to plant. That’s when I decided purposely planting a late summer garden was a great idea for a post.
Where to Start
So maybe you find yourself in the same situation. Your late spring was too cold or too busy or too . . . gone. Now summer is in full force and you feel you’ve missed out on the growing season. Not necessarily. The first place to start is to find out–if you don’t already know–your average first frost date. That will show you how many days you have left for your plants to grow. I found a helpful website that will tell you that information when you type in your zip code.
When I entered my zip, Dave’s Garden told me my average risk of frost dates ranged from October 10 – April 21, and almost certainly I will experience frost between October 24 – April 5. As a seasoned gardener, I am quite familiar with these dates already, but in the interest of testing the site, I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate it was for my area, even taking into consideration the microclimate quirks of my yard.
Once you learn your first frost date, you can make your list of what you’d like to plant, bearing in mind the amount of days to harvest. Also, you want to leave some time between frost and harvest, as plants like corn, tomatoes, or beans won’t ripen all in one day, of course. I suggest leaving about a two-week period before frost at the very least. It’s also helpful to prioritize the plants on your list for what needs planting first, particularly if you only have a certain amount of time to garden each day.
For example, the longer sweet potatoes have to grow, the bigger the spuds. Many gardening resources suggest 120 days for them. I’ve had them in the ground for a couple of weeks now, so they’ll have plenty of time to mature. However, I do have some more slips in a water jar, waiting on me, and it’s a reasonable bet that planting them within the next few days will get me potatoes in the fall. Most of the time we end up having our frost the third week of October, so I’m willing to risk it. Beyond that, I can dig them up before frost, and they’ll just be smaller. Considering I’ve grown five pounders in four months’ time, a regular-sized sweet potato is not beyond the realm of what is possible.
My Late Summer Garden
So let’s bring it home. What have I planted this month? A couple of tomato seeds, pickling cucumbers–mine just popped out of the ground while folks around me are already harvesting theirs–winter squash, watermelon, and sweet potatoes. I still need to put in a few herbs and start cabbage and cauliflower for the fall. (Right on target with those, actually.)
I’ve also planted flowers because I have a lot of old seed packets I wanted to use up, and in the interest of gardening experimentation, I wanted to see what would happen. In large plastic pots, I scattered wild flower seeds and forget-me-nots. In another pot I planted profusion zinnias. I also sowed more zinnias directly into a couple of flower beds. I’ll have to wait a while before I see the blooms, but I’ll still have plenty of time to enjoy their beauty.
Benefits of Late Planting
The year I planted my garden late, I had low expectations, and I actually felt like I had failed as a gardener. But that was before the results. Was I happily surprised! While seeds and transplants arrived to their soil beds late for my neck of the woods, the long, warm-hot days of June helped many of the plants to nearly catch up. They didn’t suffer cold nights or slow starts because of adjusting to their new environment. I also noticed that with the corn, the corn earworms didn’t show up for the late season. Pests also left my cole crops alone–no green worms eating through layers of my cabbage. And when it came to preserving the harvest, I had more time in the fall to process the veggies and can pickles–and in a cooler kitchen! Another benefit worth mentioning? Plants go on sale, so you might find some bargains and maybe try something new.
If you’ve come to the garden late this season, don’t throw in the trowel just yet. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) Scale back if you must, but don’t deprive yourself of the joy of gardening. Choose a few plants that are the most important to you, even if it’s just a pot of begonias or a container of tomatoes by the front steps. And if you have more time, by all means, plant to your heart’s content! You might just be pleasantly surprised come late summer!
Have you ever planted a late summer garden? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Gardening Advice from a Thirty-year Greenhouse Veteran