November Gardening In The Low Desert 1999

Hey low desert dwellers, here is our 'second spring', the time of year we endure the summers for. Shorter days and cooler temperatures make November one of the best months for gardening. Nurseries will still have bulbs, cool season flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees to plant now. Vegetables that can be planted now include asparagus, collards, kale, leeks, lettuce, mustard, onion, garlic, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips. Frost tolerant vegetables include beets broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, parsnip, and winter squash. Frost tolerant flowers include Bells of Ireland, calendula, coreopsis, rudbeckia, snapdragon, stock, and sweet peas and the flowers that are very cold hardy include cornflower, ornamental cabbage, pansy primrose, and violet. Wildflowers can still be planted this month as well.

For your own enjoyment, and for lovely gifts, force bulbs of crocus, daffodils, Dutch iris, hyacinths and tulips. See the article on November gardening in the desert 1997 for details.

During the summer, hanging baskets require so much moisture that it's hardly worth the effort but now, with cooler temperatures, hanging baskets planted with flowers or even tiny tomatoes are easy to care for. Try any cool weather flower such as sweet peas, petunias, pansies, impatiens, etc. And speaking of sweet peas, this is the time to plant them, they will provide fragrant blooms all winter. Grow up a trellis, fence, palm trees or grow the low-growing kind that don't climb. One idea I saw in a magazine was to grow sweet peas on an old artificial Christmas tree.

For citrus and other fruit tree care, see my article on gardening in the desert November 1997.

For rose care, see low desert gardening article November 1998.

Cacti and succulents do very well in the desert and potted separately or in groups, are very attractive. See my article on gardening In the low desert, November 1998.

For composting, making cuttings and other information, see the November 1998 article.

This time of year is a good time to consider attractive ways of gardening other than flowers. Raised beds can be constructed of many different kinds of materials to enhance your yard and make attractive displays of your vegetables and herbs. Some vegetables and herbs, such as asparagus, dill, coriander, lovage and many others are very pretty and some of us think that all vegetables and herbs are pretty. Consider mixing vegetables, herbs and flowers for the best possible use of space but put those things in each bed which have similar needs. Some of the materials for constructing raised beds include, block, stone, wood of many kinds, even sewer pipe set on ends or wood covered with stucco. Peeled logs can be used horizontally or cut and set on end. The advantages to raised beds are ease of caring for them, control over the soil mixture which is used and using them to enhance the beauty of your yard. These beds don't necessarily have to be constructed in box shapes but may be free form or designed to fit the contours of an area. You may even want to include a small shrub.

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