GARDENING IN THE EARLY SUMMER

Vegetables and Herbs

Provide water as needed for cool weather crops that are still hanging on. Harvest them promptly since most will not tolerate the heat that is about to arrive. Set out tomatoes, pepper and eggplant. Stake or cage early tomatoes. Now is the time to direct seed bush & pole beans, cucumbers, melons and squash. Direct seed dill. Basil is best begun indoors and transplanted. Sow a second crop from seeds of these herbs flower.

Flowers

Continue planting hot weather annual favorites such as impatiens, marigolds, portulacas, vincas, sunflowers and zinnias. Pinch back chrysanthemums to make them bushy. Plant dahlias, caladiums and other semitropical bulbs. Now the soil is warm and south-facing walls heat up try fast growing annual vines such as hyacinth bean vines, black-eyed susan vines and morning glories on trellises. If needed prune azaleas, forsythias and other shrubs that bloomed in the spring. Cut back bougainvillea vines that are too big to manage.

Fruits

Thin tree fruits so the green fruits are at least 4 inches apart. Fertilize berries and begin irrigating them. Mulch strawberries heavily.

Source: Warm-Climate Gardening by Barbara Pleasant