Building a drought tolerant garden doesn’t necessarily start with the plants. Adding 4-6 inches of organic matter to the garden beds and then digging it in will do wonders for the roots and consequently what’s hooked up on top of them.

If you have a bed already established and amended, you still need to add organic matter to the top of the bed every year. When it comes to growing, you’re never finished with enriching the soil. Plants deplete so we have to repeat.

What will fall bring? Gardeners only have to wait for a change in the weather to feel the pull back outdoors. Some of you will be putting your garden to bed for the winter. Some of us tired gardeners will be planting a fall and winter garden. It’s time to plant a second crop here in the South.

Since moving to the South, I have felt compelled to garden year round just because I can. This year I’m almost as tired from the heat and drought as my poor vegetables. A small number of vegetables will comprise my winter garden. A few broccoli plants, Broccoli Packman Hybrid will go in as seed. So will another planting of green beans. 'Tenderette' has been a favorite of mine for some time.

One striking vegetable I saw in person in Seattle is the Romanesco Veronica, sometimes called Italian cauliflower. I must grow it just because of its unusual good looks. Its lumpy green head is as pretty on a table as any bouquet of flowers.

It’s also time to sow seeds of winter ornamental vegetables. I have a friend who plants beets in her winter flowerpots because the deep red foliage is so beautiful. Red Giant mustard, Pak-choi ‘Violetta’ hybrid, and Redbor Kale hybrid form the backbone of my winter garden. They give height and substance to the pansies and violas that sweep the beds for color. Another old standby, Swiss chard ‘Bright Lights’, with its multi-colored stems, has to brighten at least one of the winter pots.

So far, we are having a rainy August-most unusual, with cool (for us) 80+ degree days-more unusual. Now it’s time to get out and pull weeds, dig up the dead, and pat and pamper the survivors.

---Posted by Anne K Moore September 1, 2008---