Waco Gardening Tips: November

Red and Yellow Pansies Poster
by SuanSilverTree

 

 

November is a busy gardening month in Texas. 

Winter Flower Gardens
November is the transition month from warm season annuals, to cool season annuals.  Cool season annuals grow well from November to May, when it starts to get too hot for them. (Warm season annuals grow from April through Early November.)   This is the last month to start most cool season annuals from seed (you can start some as early as August), but you can plant transplants through February.  Here are some cool season annuals which grow well in Texas:

Alyssum*
Baby's Breath (annual)
Calendula*
Candytuft (annual)
Dahlberg Daisy
Delphinium**
Dianthus
Dusty Miller
English Daisy
Forget Me Not
Larkspur*
Nasturtium*
Nicotiana
Ornamental Cabbage and Kale
Pansy**
Petunia**
Poppies*
Snapdragon
Statice
Stock
Sweet Pea*
Viola

*Best Direct Seeded
**Better to Buy Transplants

Bulbs and Corms
You should also plant most of your spring bulbs this month.  Amaryllis bulbs should NOT be planted into the garden now as flowers can be damaged by colder weather.  Hybrid tulips and hyacinths will need to go into paper bags, nylon stocking, or net bags and put in the lower drawers of your refrigerator since Texas winters are not cold enough long enough to give them the proper chill they need to flower in the spring.


Trees, Shrubs, Roses
November is the best time to plant or transplant trees, shrubs and roses.  The ground is still warm from summer, encouraging growth, and they will have time to set down roots during the cold season, which here is gentler than the summer heat.

Vines and Groundcovers
November is also a good time to plant perennial vines and groundcovers.    Above the ground, you won't see any growth during the winter, but their roots will grow, giving them a stronger start in the spring.    The exception is tropical vines like Bougainvillea, which will die off if left un-attended.  You can try mulching them heavily (10 inches deep), which gives the roots a chance to survive...or just treat them like an annual and replant next year.  (Of course, if they're potted you should bring them inside for the winter).

This month is also a good time to dig, divide and transplant groundcovers.  

Vegetables and Herbs
Cabbage, celery, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, spinach, and Swiss chard can be planted as transplants this month.  Here in Zone 8 you can also plant you can plant carrots, spinach, and parsley from seed  (though Spinach may be a gamble).  Now, the Central Texas Community Gardening Manual they suggest growing Cilantro from August through September, but I've been doing some reading and a lot of Texas grow it in successive plantings during the winter, which seems to make a lot of sense since it goes to seed at temperatures over 75 degrees (and  I've read of a Pennsylvanian overwintering these, so if they can survive a Pennsylvania winter it certainly seems they should be able to survive Waco's modest cold snaps.  You can read more about growing wintertime cilantro in Texas here.

You should also harvest any basil you have while you still can, as leaves turn brown when night start approaching 40 degrees.



I'm no expert (yet).  My info for the above came from the following sources:  
Month to Month Gardening in Texas
Central Texas Community Gardening Manual
Melody's Gardening in Central Texas
Central Texas Horticulture
The Vegetable Gardener

Photo Flashback - September 2015

 

Every now and then I like to look old photos from the current month, several years back, and find one that I've never shared.   I don't remember what kind of flower this was but it looks prim and pretty by the fence. 

Waco Gardening Tips: SEPTEMBER

Herbs and veggies to plant this month.  

START SEEDS OUTDOORS

Arugula
Beets (by Sept 29)
Bok Choy
Broccoli (by Sept 11)
Carrots (by Sept 4)
Cauliflower (by Sept 4)
Celery (by Sept 4)
Chives (by Sept 18)
Collards (by Sept 14)
Dill (by Sept 18)
Fava Beans (Broad Beans) (by Sept 14)
Kale (by Sept 29)
Kohlrabi (by Sept 24)
Lettuce (wait until late Sept)
Mustard (first week of Sept)*
Oregano (Sept 4)

Peas (by Sept 9)
Parsnips (by Aug 12)
Radishes
Rosemary (by Sept 18)
Swiss Chard
Turnips)

The info for this month's planting guide came from the 2023  Farmer's Almanac planting guide for Waco, except for the part about mustard and Kale, which came from Month to Month Gardening in Texas.  



More planting tips. 

• This is the month to transplant iris and calla lily.  There's a great video on how to divide and transplant iris here.  (But if they don't absolutely need deviding, possibly wait until next year.)
  
  
  
• Plant broccoli and cauliflower seeds now. 
  
  
• Plant bulbing onions, bunching onions,  leeks, and shallots this month (cut off date for these is October 1).   Shallots sets are planted, not seeds.  The rest  should always be direct seeded into the garden, which is unfortunate considering this heat.
  
  
• Find out what other vegetables and herbs you can plant this month HERE.  But I'd hold off on anything that can still be planted next month, unless you want to seed indoors.  
  
  
• Providing some shade for your plants may help.  Dorris at FlipFlopGardener suggests plant umbrellas (and gives some nifty instructions on how to set them up.   I've used plastic flowers to shade my read seedlings until they were strong enough to grow without shade, and it worked well. 

I find most of my info about when to plant in the book Month to Month Gardening in Texas and at the Mother Earth News Website.

Waco Gardening Tips: AUGUST

Field of Sunflowers Poster Print by PerennialGardens

Flowers and Bulbs
August is the last chance to plant the dormant bulbs of late summer and fall blooming lycoris  and fall crocus (Colchicum), which begin blooming in September.  August is also a good time to buy and plant Salvias.

Roses and Shrubs
You should prune your roses this month to get them ready for the fall blooming season. The exception is ramblers, climbers, and some varieties of old garden roses, which bloom on growth made the year before prolifically in spring and early summer. These should only be pruned now if absolutely necessary now (it's better to prune these type of roses earlier in the summer). Now is a really bad time to plant roses and shrubs, as the August heat is almost certain to kill new transplants.

Trees
This month is your last chance to plant palm trees, which will need time to get established before the cold. The heat makes this a bad time to plant other types of trees.

Vegetables and Herbs
Even though the weather is hot, there are many vegetables you can plant this month.   September 1st is the last day you can plant cabbage, swiss chard, and bush beans and still expect a yield before the frost.  Find out what other plants are good to plant this month in our are here.


I'm just an amateur gardener...not an expert. Most of the information above came from the book Month to Month Gardening in Texas.

Waco Planting Tips for Late June, Early July

• The first week of July is the last chance to plant okra, luffa, and peanuts.
  
  
• Transplants of Tomatoes and Peppers should be planted no later than July 4th.
  
  
• Plant pumpkins now through early July for Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns.
  
  
• There are many other herbs and vegetables you can plant this month!  Find out what you can plant HERE.

(I found these tips in the book Month to Month Gardening in Texas).

Planting Tips: June

If you want to plant pumpkins for Halloween, you need to start early! Pumpkins take three to four months to mature, so you want to plant from June to early July, depending on the variety you're planting and how big you want your pumpkin (the longer they grow, the bigger they get!).  Learn more about planting pumpkins here.

Waco Garden Calendar: April

1. Cantaloupes, 2. Collards, 3. Corn, 4. Cucumber, 5. Cushaw (and Pumpkins) 6. Eggplant, 7. Melons (honeydew), 8. Lima Beans, 9. Luffa, 10. Malabar Spinach, 11. Okra, 12. Peppers, 13. Pumpkin., 14. Snapbeans (19), 15. Southern Peas, 16. Summer Squash, 17. Sweet Potatoes, 18. Swiss Chard, 19. Tomato* 20. Watermelon

*On tomatoes plant transplants (too late to plant from seed)

These are all plants which are great for planting in April here in Texas.  I've been learning all about the best time to plant different plants from a book called Month-to-Month Gardening in Texas.  I wish I had gotten this book years ago...it's teaching me so much about Texas gardening that I really was absolutely clueless on!  I knew Texas had two growing seasons but I really didn't understand when the seasons started or ended.  It turns out I trying to grow nearly everything at the wrong time!  I'm going to try to share tips from the book each month (but there's so much info, I couldn't even begin to share it all).   They also share what else you need to do each month (when to fertilize, aerate your soil, tackle weeds, etc.). 

But, if you just want info on what veggies and herbs to plant each month, you can also get that information online here.  That's a good resource for  other states too.

---

I found the photos for my mosaic on Flickr, and the photographers were nice enough to offer up for use through Creative Commons (click on the links to see the photos larger).  Yes, the Sountern Peas (ie cowpeas) in that picture are blighted (that was just a hard one to find, so I took what I could get.)

I'm linking up at the gardening linkies at Living More, Spending Less and Ramblings of a Christian Mom.  Also linking up at Mosaic Monday.

INDOOR GAME: Laundry Basket Ball

This fun game was useful during hot Texas summers, but I figured I'd share it now, with so many cooped up due to Covid-19.  Hope you all find it as fun as we did.


MATERIALS

• Laundry Basket
• Large Ball (beach ball or rubber/plastic ball best...avoid hard balls)
• Masking Tape or Washi Tape
• A blank wall

SET UP

1.  Set an empty laundry basket against a blank wall (remove any glass picture frames or similar items from the wall...posters can stay).

2.  3 to 5 feet away from the basket (or further if you have room), put a short line of masking tape or washi tape on the floor (paralel to blank wall)



GAME PLAY

1.  One player at a time will guard the basket.   Their goal is to keep others from throwing the ball into the basket.   Toddlers and very young children may stand, others should kneel in front of the basket while guarding.  The ball may be hit back or caught, but if caught it must be thrown back immediately.

2.   All other player lines up behind the tape.   Whoever is in the front will try to throw the ball into the basket (younger children may stand, older children must kneel).   When the ball is blocked/returned by the "guard" those in the back can help to grab and return it to the person throwing.

3.  Once someone throws the ball in the basket, they become the new goalie, and the current goalie goes to the end of the line behind the tape.  You may make a 1 minute time limit to get a basket if that becomes an issue (in which case the person throwing would go to the back of the line and give the next child a turn). 

4.  Children may keep their own score of how many baskets they got, but I've found scores aren't really necessary. 

5.   Game plays until a certain score is reached, or until everyone is worn out. 

Photo Flashback: 2016

This week in 2016 I saw this car...it wasn't just the color that caught my eye.

but what was written on the side of it....