September Gardening In The Low Desert

It may not seem like it but this month is the ideal time for starting a fall garden. Yes, I know, it's just too hot still to be messing around outside, especially for this old gal , but sometime this month it will start to feel like fall with a little early morning cool.

You can plant early maturing corn (around 60 days), like 'Early Sunglow', and beans around Labor Day and it should give you a harvest for Thanksgiving, weather permitting. You can also plant a late crop of summer squash and if you have a warm spot against a wall, you might want to try a late crop of tomatoes and green peppers. Wait until the temp drops below 100 and provide transplants and seedlings with a little shade. Remember to prepare your soil well and add some type of soil sulfur, phosphorous and organic matter such as compost or any good commercial product. Sow lettuce and cabbage-family members (such as broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts) in flats now for transplanting into the garden in Oct. We may not particularly look forward to planting while it's hot but this heat can't last forever, can it? It only seems like it!

This is also a good time to plant wildflowers and other annuals and set out perennial plants. The warmth of the soil and the rains we hope to get, will get them growing in a hurry. Don't forget containers with combinations of perennials and annuals. Continue to plant perennials from seed. Start seeds of carnations, columbine, coreopsis, feverfew, gailardia, hardy asters, hollyhocks, lupines, penstemmons, phlox, Shasta daisies, statice, and yarrow. They'll be ready for transplanting in about eight weeks.

Fall is a great time to plant trees and shrubs, giving special attention to the eventual size, and to what care they will need. See July and August 1998 articles for information on landscape styles and plant characteristics. A good general overall plan will be like a road map for plant placement but you can always 'detour' if you find a better route. One of the best things about gardening is that you can always change your mind - pretty important to some of us who always want to be changing things. Just remember, mature shrubs and trees aren't easy to move.

Choose any bulbs you want to force into bloom for Christmas, for yourself or for gifts. Tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and narcissus are some of the more common ones and aren't difficult to force. They will need to be refrigerated for about six weeks or so, so plan accordingly.

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