Digger Diaries | May

Summer Is Coming. Can your garden take the heat?

With Daniel Smith, manager of Oktibbeha County Co-op in Starkville, MS

A large selection of beautiful plants are the focal point at Oktibbeha County Co-op's greenhouse

For many deep-south gardens, May is a month of transition. Warmer days help veggies ripen, but heat can slow down flowers. Pansies putter out, snapdragons shrivel, and even roses may revolt if the mercury climbs high enough. But that doesn't mean we have to settle for fewer blooms!

Daniel Smith knows what to do. He manages the Oktibbeha County Co-op in Starkville, Mississippi--where locals are serious about making things grow.

Below, find his professional tips for swapping cool-season annuals with pretty plants that like it hot. Plus--his go-to methods for growing summer vegetables in raised beds.

Oktibbeha County Co-op has a savvy client base, so the plants and soils they offer must cater to a more knowledgeable consumer.

Oktibbeha County is serious about growing plants.

As the proud home of Mississippi State University, Starkville is a town that celebrates agriculture. And it's not just the plant scientists and farmers. "Our master gardeners program is really big here," says Daniel. With a client base like that, he says his shoppers are "very educated" when it comes to plants and soil.

That's one reason the Co-op has carried Penick Organics products since 1997. Shoppers load up on pine and hardwood mulches, Loamate Soil Enricher (the Penick Organics soil amendment), Digger's Delight Potting Soil (in the pink bag for growing flowers), and Dan's Dirt, "which is really awesome for raised beds or even in the ground," says Daniel.

Behind the bustling rows of soil mixes, flowers, and vegetables is a seasoned staff. For more than three decades, their savvy customers have trusted them to help them make their gardens thrive, by answering questions like these:

Raised beds present their own set of challenges to keep the moisture right and grow healthy plants.

How to keep raised beds lush all summer?

"We get a lot of raised bed questions, "says Daniel. Specifically? "People want to know what kind of dirt they should add to raised beds," he says. Raised beds drain quickly, so keeping roots moist in the summer heat is the challenge. Over the years, they've honed their answers.

Manage moisture from below.

Moisture control plays a big role in the health of raised beds, especially for summer vegetables like tomatoes that depend on heat to ripen--but need the perfect balance between not drying out, and not having soggy "wet feet."

"We swapped a lot of our customers--they were buying the big-box, name-brand products. We swapped them to Dan's Dirt. They love it." It's a tip that comes from personal experience.

Dan's Dirt is the perfect soil for raised bed gardens. It grows beautiful, productive plants all summer. Mulching with Flower & Garden Mulch has two benefits. It acts as mulch during the growing season and can be tilled in as a soil amendment before the next planting.

Dan's Dirt is what Daniel uses at his own house, where he tends several beds of tomatoes, squash, beans, okra, and peppers. "I was using Miracle-Gro at one point to test the two, and I liked Dan's Dirt better. It holds just enough water, so you can control the moisture a little better."

Always mulch your veggies!

Besides soil composition, mulches are the next line of defense when it comes to making your raised beds wilt-resistant. A two-inch layer of mulch, like Penick Organics Flower & Garden Mulch, solves multiple problems.

First, mulch keeps water from evaporating too quickly. Second, it prevents the sun from depleting the nutrients in your soil. Third, mulch helps keep soil in place during strong summer thunderstorms!

Petunias can be planted in late spring after the danger of frost.

How to keep baskets and pots beautiful---after April?

Spring flowers fade quickly as temperatures rise. Daniel says the trick is to update our plant palette as the season progresses.

Everyone knows to trade pansies for petunias, but eventually, even petunias look puny. "When it gets really hot, swap petunias for vinca," Says Daniel. "You can get trailing vinca, something spiky to go in the middle, add some coleus and sweet potato vine," he says.

Here are even more of his go-to seasonal swap-outs:

Try These Heat-Friendly Swaps for Summer Pots & Hanging Baskets

Vinca is unfazed by heat and humidity of summer in the South.

• Swap violas and pansies for petunias and million bells for eye-popping blooms in contrasting sizes. For baskets in shady areas, choose shade tolerant flowers like impatiens and wax begonias instead.

• Swap petunias and million bells for vinca in high summer.

• Swap delicate sweet alyssum for gaura or euphorbia to enjoy the look of an airy cloud of flowers all year long.

Swap out ornamental cabbage, kale, and dusty miller for sweet potato vine, coleus, and caladiums.

• For height, swap snapdragons for geraniums, which also help repel those summer mosquitos!

  Ask for the most heat-tolerant varieties, like 'Caliente,' for the longest summer show. Or use trailing geraniums for a cascading effect.

  
  

  

  Geraniums add height to any container and provide lovely blooms in early summer.

  
  

• Swap mixed plantings for large statement ferns, like boston ferns or asparagus ferns, for a breezy, cool statement.

Ferns make a big statement and add breezy beauty to any porch or patio

Besides heat-smart plant choices, use a potting mix that regulates moisture and provides bloom-enhancing nutrients (like Digger's Delight Potting Soil!), and keep up the deadheading and watering. The love will show!

What do I do about [insert problem here]?

With rising heat comes higher chances of problems from pests or disease. The best remedy? Be ready for trouble before it comes! Daniel recommends keeping a few products at the ready so you can act quickly if something looks amiss. For example?

• "For tomatoes, make sure they get their lime or calcium to prevent that blossom-end rot," says Daniel.

• A spray bottle of organic neem oil can help you manage a wide range of hungry pests, so keep a bottle or two in your potting shed.

• Finally, "Make sure your soil is draining properly," says Daniel. "If it's too soggy, you can add Loamate Soil Enricher or sand to help it drain," he says.

So bring on the heat, and let the sun shine. The cool days of springtime can't stay with us forever. But with the right soil, and the right plants, there's no reason we can't enjoy a breathtaking bounty of flowers even as the days heat up.

Dig It? It's Grow Time!