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| Photo Credit: All-American Selections |
| Profusion Cherry zinnia, an All-America Selections Award Winner, is perfect for Southern California’s hot, dry summers. |
There’s a saying in Southern California that if you don’t like the weather, just wait a day or two. Take Spring 2008, for example: A few days in early April had temperatures soaring into the high 90s – and it even hit 100 degrees in parts of Orange County. Then the marine layer on the Pacific moved in and brought with it foggy mornings and temps in the more reasonable mid-70s. While that’s just spring weather here in SoCal, it’s also nature’s way of warning us that summer is just around the corner – and that means you need to get planting now before it’s just too hot!
Late April and on through May is the time to get out into your garden, plan and plant. Get those annual flowers in and a few perennials that love the heat – and let’s not forget those delicious summer vegetables! For a good start with annuals, look to the tried-and-true dwarf marigolds and zinnias. Most can be grown from seed now, but some you’ll find as started plants in the garden center or nursery. When it comes to marigolds, look for Aurora seeds – they’re your best bet, giving you compact plants and double flowers in colors that include gold, yellow and a bicolor that’s red and yellow. Good single-flowered types of marigolds also can be seeded now, so give Disco Mix a try. Another reliable double variety is the Janie series that includes orange, red, gold, yellow and a bicolor that’s mahogany with a red center – you’ll probably find even find these as started plants! | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: All-American Selections | | Gaillardias like the summer heat, bring beauty in the garden and make terrific cutflowers. |
Dwarf zinnias are quick to grow if seeded early, and one of the best is the spreading Profusion series. These All-America Selections Award Winners come in colors of cherry, white and orange. The Profusions spread to about 2 feet and will get about a foot tall. Don’t forget to look for the seed of a couple of oldies, too: ‘Old Mexico’ zinnia, with bicolored blooms edged in mahogany with gold and orange centers, and Persian Carpet zinnia, a bicolor in mahogany and red around 13-16 inches tall that’s a great summer performer. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: All-America Selections | | All coneflowers do well in our hottest season. |
If these plants aren’t your cup of tea, there are plenty of other choices that pack a colorful summer punch! Look for started plants of tall asters – Crego and Seastar are good varieties. Or start seed of Gaillardia, commonly called blanket flower, or tall and dwarf plumed celosia. And don’t forget the tall and weird-looking cockscomb celosia. All the coneflowers, including Rudbeckia hirta (gloriosa daisy), Echinacea and Ratibida columnifera (Mexican hat), can also be grown from seed or started plants, and they flourish in summer’s heat.
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| Tips |
- If you’re worried it’s too late to get anything in the ground, try planting starter plants instead of growing from seed. This gives your plants a little more time to get established before the onslaught of summer’s heat.
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| Facts |
- Midsummer is often too late to plant any annuals, perennials and summer vegetables in climates similar to Southern California. The weather simply makes it too difficult for your plants to get established – not to mention it’s just too hot to garden!
- Don’t garden just by what the local garden centers are offering. Even if there are some cool-weather stragglers on the shelves, don’t buy them – they’ll only wither in summer’s heat.
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| Resources |
- We’d love to see how your garden’s growing! Visit our forums and share pictures of your green thumb accomplishments with our Learn2Grow community!
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