Okay! I have finally gotten a back porch. Okay, it is really a covered patio, but I like the thought of a porch more. :)
I plan to build up a short wall of concrete blocks along the east side (kind of NE, really), in kind of steps, with four or five at one end down to one at the other end. The lower blocks will be placed so the breeze can still go through, but the top ones will be upright so I can fill them with dirt and plant something. What I am thinking is portulaca for color, thyme for cooking, and maybe nasturtiums to add to salads. They will get full morning sun and that is about it.
Advice? Ideas? The fear is the roots will bake, of course.
Thanks!
Thoughts appreciated on what to plant
Isn't it too hot out here for nasturtiums? (No idea, of course, but I would be happy if they would grow here. I thought they were a cool weather New England kind of plant.)
Probably a bad idea for the concrete blocks, but I plant them all over my veggie garden and they do well until it gets so hot you don't care what the garden is doing anyway. (Yay, Texas.) They were my grandma's favorite flower; she grew them all the time in Missouri.
I love them too--there are a few old threads about them around here somewhere!
My Nasturtiums last from about Oct.-May here. They are so pretty! Phlox or moss rose could be a good color sub once the nasturtiums die back.
sweetmommy, it never occurred to me to plant them in the fall. Duh. But for now, I have Texas tarragon, purslane, Tabasco peppers, oregano, and thyme. We shall see what makes it and what doesn't.
And the nasturtiums are on the list for fall!
Brigidlily, You know that Purselane is good in salads too? I read that somewhere, not long ago & tried it. It was pretty good!
Glad I read this thread I am more into fall gardening every year so the Nasturtiums are really sounding great if I start from seed how much lead time is needed before transplanting???
grits-Sorry, I don't know. I just put the seeds directly out in my gardens in late Sept.
Sweetmommy I ate some of my Purselanes too. Sort of taste like Okra I think. lol
So Mommy if you start yours from seed ,directly into the ground in late September that likely means I could start the first of September,think I will try both ways direct seeding and some in my little starter bed as i would like to have some as porch plants ..Sorry bridiglilly I do have a real porch with a tin roof and a wooden floor and a porch railing..but if I put many more plants on that railing my DW is likely to use the Round-up on them and me
grits-sounds right to me. But NOOOOO throw her Round Up away! Distilled vinegar will work just as effectively and not pollute our ground water. Monsanto owns Round Up and is doing all of the GMOs to resist it. Please don't let your DW drink the Kool-Aid and mess with nature! Okay, rant over....
I have some nasturtiums growing in a pot in the shade since January but they dont bloom very much now. I successfully rooted in water a piece I accidenally broke off while weed-eating and it is blooming indoors under light. I ususally plant in the fall like pansies. It is just too hot for them past early spring here.
Backing up a bit, yes, I eat purslane! Also nasturtiums; nice and peppery in a salad. Also chickweed, though it is already too hot for that now.
I am going to start some nasturtium seeds inside in the next week or so, just to see what happens, then direct sow in September as well. Of course it will still be summer then.
When I grew them in New England, I always direct-sowed them (nasturtiums) where I wanted them to grow. Not too much fertilizer, or you'll get leaves and not flowers. What a great idea, plant them in September!!! Maybe would that work with Sweet Peas and leettuce and such, or not so much?
carrie you will adapt to our ways ,fall gardening is really great we get more rain and hardly any insects to worry over and the Cole crops will produce well into winter or in the case of last so called winter they will finally bolt well into summer kale ,mustard ,turnips some fall peas and I plant a winter radish from Johnnies seeds that is really good gets big without getting woody rhutabagas do good for some people not so much for me ..
LOL thanks. I don't think I can get DH to eat a radish OR a rutabaga. Maybe broccoli or something he's used to--spinach? Not a chance with RUTABAGA! I would have had to start when he was two years old.
I remember telling my kids we were giants eating trees. They showed down on the broccoli, and still do.
LOL. I had to laugh, Carrie. My folks are from East Texas and grew up eating rutabagas and turnips. Every holiday meal that comes along, my dad thinks he has to have his rutabagas, and my mom obliges him. But no one else will go in their house while she's cooking them. :)
Carrie Ive had good luck with broccoli, lettuce, snow peas, chard, radishes, carrots, beets all planted in September and it's a zone hotter here than where you are. Fall is the best garden I have. In the summer, about all I can grow are cantaloupes, cucumbers, beans and peas.
Do you start the seeds indoors earlier, or direct sow outside in September, steadycam3?
I sowed them outside but you could start them inside if you prefer. It's just so easy to sow outdoors because it is hot and they germinate and grow fast. One year I planted outside in large pots and transplanted to my square foot garden. Ive grown lettuces, cilantro and raddichio in pots so I can move them into the shade in late spring to keep them sweet a little longer. I grow beets mostly for the greens and Ive gotten some very large beets that I just kept going and going to use the greens.
Now, I love beets, not the greens but the beets themselves. Yeah, brigidlily, I think every mom tries that (except maybe the president who hated broccoli, remember). We all like broccoli, though. Right now it's so hot and the stuff is all lost and DH is asleep already--too tired to eat!