Why these plants might be the toughest perennials of all

Joshua Siskin offers five weekly tips for gardeners.

Five things to do in the garden this week:

1. Alice Formiga, writing on the reneesgarden.com website expounds on the best time to harvest vegetable crops. She writes, “With few exceptions, vegetables are best harvested in the cool morning hours so that they stay crisp and store longer. Harvested too late, they become limp and wilt quickly, having evaporated much of their moisture and absorbed the midday heat. This is especially important for leafy greens like lettuce, chard, and fresh herbs such as parsley and basil. It also applies to crisp fruiting vegetables like peas, and anything in the cabbage gamily like broccoli and radishes.”

2. The first two weeks in October are probably the most favorable time to plant in Southern California. While benefiting from soil still warm from summer heat, days are cool. Conditions are perfect for germinating seeds of leaf and root vegetables, cole crops, and peas. Green manure crops such as clover also germinate reliably now. If you have a patch of clover and wish to increase it, you can achieve that goal by digging up pieces and planting them in bare ground. I have done this successfully by excavating six-inch by six-inch chunks of clover “sod” to a depth of three inches or so. If these chunks are taken from within a swath of clover, the bare spots created by their removal will quickly be filled in this time of year by the surrounding clover.

3. Pansies are the toughest fall/winter annuals and may be the toughest annual flowers of all. Planted in October, they have been known to still be flowering in July. You will need to deadhead – remove wilted flowers – almost daily to keep them blooming. They will also do best in half-day sun although full sun exposure is fine, even if it shortens their garden life. What you don’t want to do is plant pansies in the same garden spot year after year. If you do, they will eventually be killed by the Rhizoctonia fungus, which can persist in the soil for years. You therefore want to rotate your pansies with other annuals, just like farmers – and astute backyard vegetable gardeners – rotate their crops. To avoid this fungus issue, plant violas, pansy cousins commonly known as Johnny-jump-ups. Their flowers look like pansies only are less than half the size. Another benefit of violas is that they self-sow, something that pansies seldom do in our part of the world.

4. Leaf lettuces are the easiest to grow but certain head lettuces are much tastier. I refer to Bibb and Buttercrunch varieties, which are classified at Butterhead or loose head types. Four Seasons is another Butterhead that, as its name implies, can be grown throughout the year. It has a delicate, mouthwatering flavor. For Caesar salads, you will want to grow crunchy Romaine types, with elongated heads. The best head lettuce to grow for resistance to bolting – flower production when the weather turns warm – are crisphead varieties such as Summertime and Mission, which may also be planted throughout the year.

5. Although there is much to-do this time of year regarding fall-planted, spring-flowering bulbs, a summer-flowering bulb that requires no maintenance whatsoever can be planted at this time too. I refer to the belladonna lily or naked lady (Amaryllis belladonna). It sends up foliage in the winter which is completely dead by the time flower stalks emerge in early summer. Thus, naked lady refers to the fact that its pink flowers, which bloom in profusion once the bulbs begin to spread, are bereft of foliage and thus completely exposed to ogling eyes.

Please send your questions and comments to joshua@perfectplants.com.