SUNSET JULY/AUGUST 2019 35 --IDEA WE LOVE
Heat-tolerant
containers
Once summer begins to sizzle it can be tough to keep up with
watering container gardens. Stoneware pots hold in heat and
moisture dries quickly. When you’re thinking about setting up
a container garden, choose plants that love dry environments, such
as succulents and cactus. This container garden showcases fan aloe
(Aloe plicatilis). Succulents and cactus can handle the heat and even
thrive in it. Other distinctive, heat-tolerant plants for containers
include Aeonium ‘Sunburst’, Agave ‘Blue Flame’, rock purslane,
Echeveria ‘Imbricata’, and Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’.
hydrangeas, marguerites,
mums, and verbenas can be
grown from cuttings. Root them
in a mix of milled peat, sand,
and garden soil. Provide filtered
light and keep medium moist for
about a month until they are
established.Keep citrus and avocado trees
well watered through the sum-
mer. Build a basin for water to
soak in deeply, starting 1 foot
away from the trunk.Place melons and squash onto
aluminum pie plates, cans, bas-
kets, or boards to protect them
from snails and slugs. Water
and fertilize melon plants
deeply once a week for juicy,
fleshy fruits, but stop irrigating
them about a week before har-
vest so their sugars concentrate.HARVEST
Pick ripe beans, cucum-
bers, eggplants, peppers,
squash, and tomatoes at least
every other day to encourage
further production.Pinch back herbs to encourage
branching and use the clippings
either fresh or dried. Their flavor
is at its peak just beforeblossoms appear. Cut early in
the morning after the dew has
dried but before the fragrant
oils dissipate in the heat. If you
can smell them, it’s too late.Southwest
PLANT
For fragrance, try bee
brush (Aloysia gratissima) for its
potent vanilla-scented florets on
an airy 10-foot-tall shrub. Or
look for creosote bush (Larrea
tridentata)—it has tiny yellow
flowers, plus leaves that exude
a distinctive scent after desert
storms. Both are natives with
rangy habits, so be sure to give
them plenty of room and site
them at the wild margins of a
garden.Plant seeds or seedlings of fiery
hot ‘Chiltepin’ chiles early in the
month. The easy-to-grow plants
produce pea-size chiles that are
great for cooking.For prolifically blooming sum-
mer shrubs, consider yellow
bells varieties ‘Gold Star’
(Tecoma stans ‘Gold Star’)
and ‘Sunrise’ (T. ‘Sunrise’).
Intermingle with Texas ranger
shrubs (Leucophyllum) fora free-flowering purple-and-
yellow summer shrub planting.The big, showy plants in the
mallow family flourish in hot
and sticky monsoon conditions.
Perennial hibiscus (H. moscheu-
tos), or rose-mallow, reaches
6 to 8 feet tall and comes in
a rainbow of hues. Or try
‘Big Momma’ Turk’s cap, a
perennial that grows 4 to 6 feet
tall and wide.MAINTAIN
Feed grapevines and
palm trees with all-purpose
fertilizer.Rejuvenate tired and leggy
tomatoes by pruning them back
by two-thirds. This will encour-
age new growth and fruit to
set in late summer and fall.
Weekly additions of balanced
organic fertilizer will also
increase yields.Cousin Itt
Little River
Wattle
This striking evergreen
lights up dark areas of
the garden with its bright
chartreuse foliage.
Though it can take sun,
the finely textured foli-
age will look best if
planted in a spot where
it gets partial shade.
Once established, this
plant doesn’t need a lot
of water. It’s just as
beautiful massed on hill-
sides as it is featured in
a rock garden. Cousin Itt
will reach 2 to 3 feet tall
and 4 to 6 feet wide.