Dormant Season
JUNE 13, 2023
It's warming up! Here in Houston we're headed into one of the hardest seasons to be successful in the garden - the heat makes it hard to get outside and tend, and it also takes a toll on plants.
Dive into my tried and true tips to keep your flower garden healthy through the summer:
01. Roses and Hot Summers
Even the hardiest roses will take a break in the heat of summer! Follow these tips to keep them healthy through the heat:
Follow the holiday schedule - feeding roses around Memorial Day and The Fourth of July. During the July feeding, make sure to use a fertilizer with a high FIRST number - encouraging green growth, not blooms.
Apply several inches of mulch. Personally, I use Nature’s Way Resources Finely Screened Leaf Mold Compost - but any weed-free mulch will decrease soil temperature and maintain the moisture level in your soil.
Leave as much foliage on the plant as possible. Try harvesting shorter stems, or switch to dead-heading blooms for the summer.
Wait until mid-September to complete a fall prune. This will stimulate new growth and strategically time a fall flush when temps start to cool off.
Don’t forget that you can hop into The Garden Rose Crash Course at any time and learn EVERY detail of how I plant and tend a thriving rose garden in the heat and extreme climate of Houston Texas.
02. Dahlias and dormancy
Dahlias will continue producing until we’re consistently breaking 90 degrees daily (thank goodness for this year’s cooler mornings!)
When dahlias do go dormant - do NOTHING to the plants until fall.
Come September, when temperatures start to fall, you can cut the stalks back to the soil level (or leave 2-3” of stem above the soil level if cutting right at the soil’s surface makes you nervous!). This will signal the tuber to make new shoots that will begin blooming throughout fall.
03. Heat Tolerant Varieties
If you’ve still got it in you, there are lots of blooming plants that won’t mind the heat at all! I’ll be adding the following to the garden in late June (and another batch in late July for fall bouquets):
sunflowers
zinnias
marigolds
cosmos
celosia
gomphrena
basil
I always prefer starting seeds indoors, hardening them off, and planting outside, but if that’s not in your repertoire, all of the above blooms can be direct sown.
If opting to direct sow, make sure to give seeds water morning and night to aid in germination!
If you’re in Houston, or a similar climate, and you’d like a resource that tells you exactly what to sow, when for year round blooms, grab The Cut Flower Confidence Calendar - a one-time investment with a lifetime of updates included!
04. When all else fails, head inside
Summer is a great time to take a break from gardening in Houston. Just like your plants, heat can be really hard on gardeners.
Use the hot summers to make a plan for your fall garden. Are you adding? Adjusting? How many ranunculus and anemone corms do you have space for?
I typically like to have my first round of Fall-Planted Hardy Annuals in the ground mid to late October, as well as any ranunculus or anemone corms I want blooming December-April. Don’t go overboard - you’ll need space for planting pre-chilled bulbs come December!
If you’re new to gardening, or want to up your game and add fancy flowers like ranunculus, anemones, tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, muscari, orlaya, corn cockle, foxglove, and more to your 2025-2026 garden, hop on the waitlist for this year’s Autumn Grow along - a six month course that will coach you through growing the very best flowers through bite-sized monthly lessons and daily back-pocket garden coaching!
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