Getting Ready for Fall Planting in the Southwest Garden
Planting in fall
Are you anxious for fall to arrive?
I certainly am!
Fall is my favorite season because of the holidays, cooler weather, and best of all – it is the best time of year to add new plants to the landscape.
Now you may have thought that spring was the best time of year to start planting and while you certainly can plant then, I’ll tell you why fall is better…
Planting in fall allows enough time for plants to grow a good root system before the heat of the next summer arrives.
Think about it – plants must have a good root system so that they can soak up enough water to handle the stress from intense heat and the dry conditions of summer.
If a plant is planted just before or during the summer months, they are focused on just hanging on until temperatures cool off. In many cases, they don’t make it.
The only exception to fall planting is with frost-tender plants such as bougainvillea, lantana, and yellow bells.
Because young plants are particularly susceptible to frost damage, or even death, it is best to wait until the danger of frost has passed to add these plants to your landscape.
Over the next couple of posts, I’ll share with you some other helpful tips to help you with selecting plants, how to tell if they are healthy, the best way to dig a hole, and finally – I’ll reveal my favorite plant nursery!
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On a personal note, I am going to be a grandma again 🙂
My second-oldest daughter, Rachele, is having her first baby, and my husband and I are flying to California to be there when she gets her ultrasound and finds out if she is having a boy or girl!
I can hardly wait…
New Perennial Discovery and a Baby
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Congratulations! How exciting! You'll have to post pictures when the new baby arrives!
As for fall… YES! October is absolutely, positively my favorite month here in Arizona. I love working in the garden and knowing that we have months and months ahead without the terrible heat! I'm sure the plants do too!
We've warmed up again, after a mild August – but that to mid-90's. I enjoy seeing Phx temps, makes me feel cool here! Fall's warmer soils than spring, without the furnace around the corner, so good for most plants.