KUSA - I'm scratching my head. Last year, we experienced one of the hottest and driest seasons on record. This year may go down as one of the coolest and wettest. Successful gardening relies on using past precedent to help steer through the season. The path hasn't been very clear this summer.
I'm not complaining. I'm grateful my water bill has been as low as the average temperatures. Drought wears out plants and gardeners. It's just that many plants haven't performed according to expectations.
Most plants have profited from the cool, damp weather. From roses to spinach, and from pansies to trees, the weather has been a bonus. When we examine the tree rings from 2009, we'll most likely find a wide one, indicating a year of vigorous growth. That is, of course, unless they got hammered repeatedly by hail or yanked from the ground by straight line winds.
The plants that have benefited least from the unusual weather have been heat-loving tropical and sub-tropical ones. Annuals, vegetables and patio plants fall into two categories: cool season and warm season. Normally, the cool season plants fizzle in summer heat, thriving best in cooler mountain climates. And by contrast, warm season plants normally thrive during a hot summer along the Front Range.
With hot weather confined largely to other regions, performance has been less than expected. Low night time temperatures are probably to blame. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil, squash, cucumbers, beans and other warm-season annuals and herbs won't set any records for yield in my garden.
Ornamental plants that are also failing to put on as vigorous show as they normally do include impatiens, cannas, zinnias, marigolds, salvia, coleus, cosmos and sweet potato vine. All are native to warm regions such as Mexico and South America.
Are there long term implications from this cool, wet summer? Probably not. We can chalk this up as a good year for our trees, shrubs, perennials and lawns. Even xeriscape plants that thrive with little or no supplemental moisture are thriving exceedingly well. Even a cactus can benefit from a break from the heat and drought.
Is there anything to do now to take advantage of this unusual weather? Yes. Although I usually wait until early fall to sow final crops of radish, lettuce, spinach and other greens, I'm doing it now. The seeds will germinate very rapidly (even in just a day or two), develop quickly and produce throughout the fall. Hopefully they'll coincide with my late crop of tomatoes.
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