TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Planters' Almanac

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

PLANTERS' ALMANAC

What To Do This Month

Solarize garden soil: For fall vegetable gardens, cover the soil with clear plastic and use the sun's heat to kill pests.

Vegetable seeds: Plant vegetable seeds directly in the garden or seed bed. Sow no deeper than twice the seed's diameter. Contact your county extension service for a Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide.

Add organic matter to garden soil: Grass clippings, leaves, manure and compost are all suitable to add to garden soil. Till it in, wait two weeks and have the soil pH tested.

Remove flower heads: Remove old flower and seed heads from crape myrtles, annuals and perennials to encourage blooming.

Prune poinsettias: Lightly prune poinsettias for the last time. Flower buds initiate in October. Pruning after Sept. 10 results in small bracts (flowers) or no flowers at all.

What To Plant This Month

Bulbs: Aztec lily, butterfly lily, clivia, crinum, gladiolus, iris, moraea, society garlic, spider lily, walking iris

Vegetables: beans (pole), broccoli, celery, collards, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, onions (green and bulbing), pepper, pumpkin, Southern peas, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon

Outstanding flowering plants: allamanda, bird of paradise, crape myrtle, hibiscus, ixora, oleander, plumbago, thryallis

Annuals: coleus, impatiens, kalanchoe, marigold, melampodium, ornamental pepper, portulaca, salvia, torenia, vinca

Perennials: African iris, salvia, butterfly weed, chrysanthemum, false dragon head, four o'clock, gaillardia, gloriosa daisy, jacobinia, liatris, ruellia, verbena

Herbs and spices (from plants): basil, ginger, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme

Information from Hillsborough County Extension

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT