|
|
  |
|---|
Being a native Northwesterner, I start to wilt when the temperatures get into the upper 80s, but my tomatoes, bean, cucumbers and squash are enjoying the heat. This year I was eating fruit off all of them by mid-July and it looks like we are headed for a bumper crop. The only challenge is to keep them watered.
While harvesting is the big activity this month, don’t forget to keep planting. You can still plant beets and turnips for fall and winter eating. (‘Lutz Green Leaf’ is a good winter beet cultivar.) Likewise, lettuce and radishes can be sown this month for late summer and autumn salads. (The romaine types hold up better than most to fall cold and wet.)
Don’t forget those leafy green vegetables that nutrition experts all agree are so good for us. Mustard, spinach and Swiss chard can all go into the ground right through August.
If you didn’t get a veggie garden planted this year, you can still enjoy garden-fresh produce by buying directly from a farmer. Guides to the locations of farmers markets and U-pick farms are available at the WSU Extension office and most public libraries.
Harvesting Tree
Fruits
We get questions every year about when to harvest tree fruits. Stone fruit is
easy; just leave it on the tree until the flesh is still firm, but has a bit
of give. Then taste test one for sweetness and you will know whether it is time
to pick.
Pears are trickier. You can’t let them ripen on the tree or they will develop gritty cells and the area around the core will get mushy. Mature pears will turn lighter yellow green, the flesh will be a little springy when squeezed, and the seeds will be brown. Stems will separate easily from the limb with an upward twist. Ripening will occur in a few days at normal house temperatures or you can hold most varieties for a few weeks at 30-32ºF.
Apples need to be fully colored and will be starting to drop on their own. The taste should be juicy and sweet, with a little tartness, but no strong astringency. With the heat we have had, my Yellow Transparent and Gravenstein apples have all been harvested. I need to plant a late variety, such as Spartan, Liberty, Jonagold or Mutsu, since they tend to be better keepers.
In the Flower Garden
Groom your plants regularly by cutting off faded flowers before they have a
chance to form seed heads. Keep watering and fertilizing to keep annuals flowering
and to encourage rebloom on perennials.
Many early-blooming perennials can be divided this month, if they have become crowded. Lilies, both true lilies and daylilies, can be dug, divided and replanted after blooming. Work a little compost and fertilizer into the soil and don’t let their bulbs or roots dry out.
Cut bearded iris foliage to about 6 inches. To divide them, cut apart the rhizomes, keeping healthy outer ones and throwing away old, inner ones. Allow them to dry and callus for a day in a shady spot. Then replant in a sunny location with the top of the rhizomes just at the soil surface.
This is a good time to step back and critique your landscape. Does it have the summer blahs. Try liatris for a splash of purple in August and colchicum or autumn crocus to extend the purple into fall. Gladiolas are glorious now and schizostylis will be up next month looking like dainty baby glads.
My dahlias have started blooming and won’t quit until we get frost. There are so many color, heights, forms, etc. of dahlias that there is almost always a way to work a few into a landscape for color and for cut flowers.
This is also the
time to analyze where you need a tree, shrub or vine to shade your patio or
help keep the house cool. I will tell you about some of my favorites next month.
Hortsense: Managing plant problems with Integrated Pest Management
