Gardening is work. The scope of this work is proportionate to the techniques and scope of the gardening work. Large gardens are likely to require significant labor. Fruit trees, roses, and vegetables need more specialized work than lawns and wildflowers. Seasonal changes require a strict schedule. It never ends. It’s ironic that so many enjoy gardening in order to relax.
In some climates, gardening is less of a job in the harshest winter weather. Nobody wants to be outside in rough weather anyway. That’s no excuse here where the garden stays active all year round. Maybe that’s a disadvantage of this mild climate. In addition, seasonal changes, no matter how mild or slow, are reliably continuous.
Another summer month remains. That seems like enough time to stick to the summer gardening schedule and maybe take some time to relax. However, it is already time to prepare for fall gardening. Gardening should be as efficient as the seasons go on. Season planning makes this process easier. In just a month it will be autumn.
Annuals and bedding plants in the warm season are still in season. Most stay until the cool weather in autumn or maybe until the first frost of the season. Nonetheless, the cool season annuals for autumn begin to grow from seeds around now. If you start early enough, they can be planted in the garden at the right time to replace their counterparts in the warm season.
The same goes for vegetables. Many warm season vegetables can produce until frost. One last corn phase should still have time to mature. In the meantime, some cool season vegetables can grow from seeds. Broccoli, cabbage and larger varieties can start in cell packs or flats. With no-till, root vegetables may have to wait for space in the garden.
Some of the many plants that bloom for most of the summer will bloom less later in the summer, although the weather remains favorable for bloom. Some prefer to divert resources for seed production when the days get shorter. Old-fashioned oleander with a fragrant flower can get shabby with seeds. Modern sterile species are scented but bloom until cool weather. It’s a good time to collect seeds from flowers that are early seasonal.
Highlight: four o’clock
Most who enjoy four o’clock, miribilis jalapa, don’t grow it on purpose. It tends to sneak into gardens from the outside and then bloom too gorgeously to be undesirable. It naturalizes itself, but not aggressive enough to be a weed. New seedlings develop bulbous roots in the first year. They regenerate to produce abundant seeds as early as the second year.
The flowers are supposed to be opened at 4 a.m. They can open earlier in warm or humid weather. They stay open all night, maybe part of the morning. The flower color ranges from white, yellow, orange, red and many shades of pink. Flowers can be streaked or spotted with the other colors. Individual plants can bloom in different colors.
Mature plants at four o’clock do not grow much taller than a meter. You could spread out twice as wide. Lush, light green foliage is quite full, obscuring unexpectedly soft and lanky stems with gnarled knots. Flowering lasts for most of summer, but decreases with increasing seed development in late summer. All growth above ground succumbs to frost.
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