September 01st, 2025

[RSS | Roof Overhang Rain Patterns]

Stupice fruits still firm, despite raggedy vine, so I'll keep watering until they're barely soft and fully ripe. Newly seeded beans. Second set of seeds are coming up. They'll soon catch up with the growth of the first set. Chard plant still putting out tender new leaves. Persimmons slowly ripening. Conadria fig ripening. Amaryllis belladonna in bright pink. Haemanthus coccineus, paintbrush lily. Note two additional bloom shoots near base. This is why we love bulbs -- plant them once, and get repeat propagation and bloom for years after! Plectranthus blue. Oxblood lily, schoolhouse lily, Rhodophiala bifida Crinum lily. Cane begonia blooming. Plumeria. Plumeria brilliant pink-red. Even a late-blooming Amaryllis!​

We almost got all the way through August without a heat spell, and then it landed with a vengeance, although nowhere near as bad as we’ve had in the past (remember 113 degrees on July 10, 2018 or 115 degrees on September 6, 2020?). In the meantime, we had some nice veggies and flowers to delight our tastebuds and flower vases. I always consider September to be the transition month from summer’s heat to fall and winter’s chill, but since we never know what weather patterns will prevail over the next two months, I prefer to sow and transplant for both seasons. If the weather continues to be summerish, I’ll plant more beans, cucumbers, and squash – although I’ll make a point of choosing varieties that’ll mature fruit in a minimum of days to catch whatever warmth still remains. On the other hand, since I know the weather will ultimately turn chilly, I’ll plant all of my overwintering cool-season crops like beets, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, chives, collards, endive, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, green onions, short-day bulb onions (like Grano, Granex, and Walla Walla), parsley (the flat-leaf type is more winter-hardy than the curly one), parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach, and turnips. With this technique, regardless of which way the weather actually goes, I’ll have some yummies to harvest from the garden. And, in another month, I’ll resow or transplant more of the cool-season veggies with perhaps greater success in their germinating and surviving than now in this hot-hot-hot weather.