It’s definitely time to plan what you are going to grow for the summer garden. I picked my top 5 favorites in each category: flowers, vegetables and herbs.

Flowers:
I like easy flowers that produce loads of blooms! These types are called cut and come again in the farming biz. This means that when you cut the flower, it will produce another and so on and so on. You can plant multiple successions of these crops if you like. Flower farmers do this because we like to change up the colors. Also it protects us against disease- we know we have another crop waiting if one goes down. Lastly, production farming asks a lot of plant so we cut off of them for 4 weeks or so and then start cutting from the next one so we don’t tax the plants. However, the home gardener may be just fine with one crop all summer and fall. Or you may decide you want pastels in early summer but bright rich orange and pinks in the fall. So without further adieu:

1. Zinnias- These are the staple of most cut flower gardens but especially here in the South. Zinnias love our hot weather and take it like a champ! I particularly like the Oklahoma varieties. They are smaller in size but have the best colors in my opinion. However, if big blooms spark your interest, then try the Benary series. Benary zinnias may cost a bit more but they are bred to be more disease resistant.
- Planting/Growing: Direct seed once the soil has warmed (late April here in the Upstate). Space 9-12” apart. If you live in a windy area, stake or net your plants once they get 12-18” tall. Cut the blooms when the stem is strong and stiff — when the flower doesn’t wobble at the end of the stem when you shake it. Cut long stems, especially at first (around the length of your arm). This seems like you are taking off half the plant at first but a really deep cut will cause the plant to branch and also keeps the height manageable. The more your cut zinnias, the more they bloom!

2. Cosmos- I couldn’t imagine a summer without cosmos. They flutter in the breeze like butterflies! They are one of my top 3 favorite summer blooms (right there along with dahlias and celosia). Cosmos come in shades of white, pink, red, orange and yellow. They also come in shorter heights (Sonata series) which are great for the landscape - 2’ high. Also you can get the taller cutting types such as the Double click series or my favorites, the Sensation series — they live up to their name! I’m a classic white cosmos girl- I love Sensation Purity- my fav! The Versailles series is worth it too for some of the darker colors and interesting variegated varieties.
- Planting and Growing- Exactly like Zinnias so see above. Harvesting is different though. You’ll still want to harvest a long stem but for best vase life, harvest when you see the first petal crack from the bud for the single petal types. For the double click series, harvest when they are about 1/3 open. The flowers will continue to open in the vase and get bigger and bigger. Harvesting this way gets the blooms before the bees pollinate them and ensure you get a week worth’s of vase life. If the pollen has begun to get dusty in the center, then the bloom has gone way past it’s optimal point and won’t last more than 2 days in a vase. If you miss harvesting for a few days, then just go through and cut off all the old blooms. Then cut the cracked buds the next day.

3. Dahlias- You knew they had to be on the list right? Dahlias are grown from tubers. You’ll want to plant cut flower varieties if you want to enjoy them in the vase. There are shorter landscape types that you will often see sold in pots at the big box stores. These are pretty but won’t give you long cutting stems.
-Planting and Growing- I plant anytime from our last frost until early June. Plant the tuber a generous inch under the soil if you have heavy clay, deeper if your soil is sandy (up to a few inches). Don’t water until you see the tuber sprouting. Then give it a deep drink once a week, maybe more if weather is dry. Cut the plant back to 3-4 leaf pairs when it is about 18” tall. Once the plant begins to bloom, give it more water but make sure it’s draining— don’t let it sit in wet soggy soil. Harvest blooms when they are 1/3-1/2 open. Place them in a cool dark room for a few hours to hydrate. Dahlias also love flower food in the water if you have it.

4. Sunflowers- These can be cut and come again or single stem. Single stem varieties last longer in the vase but you only get one cut per plant and then it’s done. Look for varieties that are hybrids or say pollenless- these won’t drop yellow pollen all over your table once cut. Don’t worry- they still attract bees even though they say pollenless. Branching sunflowers will give you several blooms at the expense of stem length. Stems are often short. My suggestion is to plant both: branching to give you a show in your garden, single stems for your vase. My favorites are Pro Cut Gold (single) or Pro Cut Plum (single) or Strawberry Blonde (branching). Direct seed once the soil has warmed. Space 12” for branching types and 6” for single stems.

5. Marigolds and Celosia- so I’m cheating and giving you two here. Marigolds are easier to grow but I like celosia more. Marigolds are grown just like celosia and cosmos. Pretty much any variety is good—- just look at the stem length, some are short, some are tall. But marigolds make a great cut flower and have excellent vase life.
Celosia— I once grew 26 varieties in a season so to say I love it is an understatement. However, it can be a bit tricky to get started. First make sure you get a tall cutting variety if you want to use it as a cut flower. What you see in the big box stores are usually short landscape types. I like the flamingo series- it comes in blush and purple. Easy to grow- big lush plants that produce a lot of stems. Also there are different types- plumes, spikes, and combs (the brain ones). So loads to choose from. You can direct seed it (but it needs to be very warm) or start it inside from plug trays or soil blocks. Space it 9-12”, pinch it to cause branching (unless it’s a comb type- don’t pinch those). You harvest it when the stem is fairly stiff and the flower head is a nice usable size. You’ll know if you harvest too early b/c it’ll wilt on you. Harvesting requires a bit of trial and error b/c it’s hard to describe in words the exact stage. But try it a few times and you’ll figure it out.

Vegetables:
First rule of thumb when growing veggies— grow what you like to eat! And maybe try one new thing ;)
My top 5:
1. Tomatoes- I really like cherry tomatoes but large slicers are nice too. But I eat cherry tomatoes like candy during the summer. Sungold and Supersweet 100 are my favs- they produce heavily all summer long. They also start easy from seed or you can usually find plants of them. They are common varieties that are dependable! For large slicers, I like Cherokee Purple, Striped German, and Brandywine. Tomatoes and dahlias actually have a lot of similarities in their growth habits- both need staking, they are voracious feeders once in fruit or flower. They also like a good bit of water and good drainage. You can sow tomato seeds now or get plants in a few weeks. Plant mid- April in the Upstate of South Carolina area.
2. Peppers- I like growing my own peppers- always feels like a money saver to me. Beautiful sweet peppers can be so expensive in the store. I’m afraid I’m not that much help when it comes to hot peppers b/c I’ve never grown anything hotter than a jalapeño. But I love sweet peppers- California Wonder, Marconi, Golden Cal, and many others are great varieties. The purple Islander pepper is a good heavy producer. You can try from seed but they do take around 8-10 weeks before they are ready for transplant. I usually just buy plants b/c I seem to always miss the seeding date. Plant out after last frost. Stake when you plant them b/c they can fall over easily. Also something I notice every year- Peppers pause when it gets hot. If you plant early enough, you’ll get a nice flush and then not much of anything until fall. When it gets really hot mid summer, it’s hard for the plants to give continued growth so they slow down and this means less flower production so less fruit. But keep them watered and they’ll give you a nice flush in fall.
3. Cukes/Squash/Zucchini- I’m lumping all these together b/c they are the same plant family and have similar growth habits. You can direct seed or start transplants- either works. Squash and zucchini are ground dwellers while cukes love a trellis (there are a few zucchini types that will grow vertically so check your variety). Planting a few successions of these is good in our area b/c they are susceptible to squash vine borers. The SBV is an awful pest that bores into the stem and then chews it up on the inside and pushes out a sawdust looking matter and slowly kills off your plant. I like to plant these as early as I can (right after last frost) so that they get well established before the SBV comes around. Also rotate where you plant these in your garden if you get SVB b/c the borers overwinter in the soil. Good varieties- Cukes— Suyo Long (spiny but sweet), Squash: Yellow crookneck, Zuch: Fordhook or Green Bush.
4. Okra- You either love it or hate it. In my household, we are huge fried okra fans. So I always grow a nice crop of okra. Direct seeded or transplants- either works. Space at least 9-12” apart— they get big. I really like the purple okra- tall strong plants and really pretty. It turns green when cooked but I love the purple color. Variety: Burgundy
5. Beans- Fresh green beans take me back to my childhood. Hours spent picking in my grandparents garden before we were allowed to swim. I grow bush and pole types. Bush beans are grown close together 6-12” apart and will flush a big harvest and occasionally a second one. I usually rip mine out after 3-4 weeks of harvesting and plant something else. By that point the pole beans are ready (they take longer). I like rattlesnake for pole beans, bush: dragon tongue, contender, roma. Direct seed beans- no need to start ahead of time, too easy to just direct seed.
**Special mention of Sweet Corn:
I’m not including this in my top 5 b/c it does take a bit of room to grow. But I love some good sweet corn. The important thing to know is that corn is wind pollinated. This means you need to grow it in blocks of at least 4 rows wide and not one long row. You can do a 4x8’ section and still get a good crop. I like Silver Queen the best. It’s what my grandfather grew and you just can’t replace it- it’s the best!

Herbs:

You can’t have a veggie garden without a few herbs. You have to be cruel to be kind to herbs. The rougher you treat them, the more they thrive. I like basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme the best. Sometimes I’ll grow a cool season crop of cilantro and parsley but they don’t like our hot summers. The other 4 are champs in hot weather and all but basil are perennial here in zone 7b. Good drainage, average soil and just ignore them a bit and they will thrive.

Few resources for seeds:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: www.rareseeds.com
Johnny’s Seeds- www.johnnyseeds.com
Renee’s Garden- www.reneeesgarden.com
Botanical Interests- www.botanicalinterests.com

We will also have most of this stuff in our online plant sale beginning Friday, March 19, 2021.

**Quick note- Due to the huge surge of new gardeners during the Covid-19 pandemic, order times are much longer at most seed shops.

Tags: vegetables, flowers, herbs

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