Best Plants to Plant Late Summer: Successful Florida Garden Jenny Graham, June 12, 2024June 11, 2024 Let’s face it, gardening in the summer months in Florida has it’s challenges. I often hear from new gardeners that they are struggling to grow food in the Florida heat. Let’s take a look at some solutions and the best plants to plant late summer in Florida. The Best Plants to Plant Late Summer in Florida This is where your local community can really shine. Finding other successful growers in your area can really up your gardening game. Going to your local markets, talking to friends who are gardening, or even searching on Instagram or YouTube can connect you with people that are successfully growing food in Florida, or wherever you may live. Jump to the Best Plants for Summer in Florida or Best Plants to Plant Late Summer By Zone Trying New Varieties for the Best Plants to Plant Late Summer Do a little exploring to see what other successful Florida gardeners are growing to give you some fresh ideas on what to grow in your own garden. Don’t be afraid to try new things. When it comes to Florida gardening, timing and what varieties you are planting really matter. As most Floridians know, Florida is just different. When it comes down to choosing the best plants to plant late summer in Florida, your choices will be a bit different from other areas in the region. Again, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel here, just tap into those successful local folks for encouragement. Where to Shop for the Best Plants and Seeds in Florida Shopping at your locally owned nurseries and farmers markets are a great place to start when choosing the best plants to plant late summer in Florida. One of my favorite places to buy locally adapted seeds for Florida is a little seed company, doing big things, called Seed the Stars. Kelli & Ryan steward a collection of locally trialed, regionally appropriate, organically grown Florida seeds selected from STAR varieties. Each season they trial new varieties to see if they are worthy of being added to the collection. You can see their gardens and what they are growing by following them on their Instagram @seedthestars. The Best Plants to Plant Late Summer Will Be Happy in the Heat You can be assured that all of the seeds in their seed packets will “wake up” happy to be in sunny Florida. Besides having great seeds, they also make garden planning a little easier by putting out a monthly collection of what to grow in Florida. While their list was created specifically for Central Florida, most of it is suitable for all of Florida. However, some of the perennials will need frost protection if grown in North Florida. What to Avoid When Choosing What to Plant Late Summer in Florida Time and time again, I see new gardens fail simply because they shopped at the big box stores to buy seedlings. Often times, the plants that these stores carry are not the best varieties for Florida gardening. These chain stores are shipping the same varieties to different zones and climates. This is the reason you will often see cool-season vegetables, like brussels sprouts, on the shelf come early spring at the big box stores in Florida. If you’ve gardened in Florida, you know that brussels sprouts would never thrive in spring and summer here, but planted in the northern, cooler weather they will thrive. Shopping local will save you time and money while supporting small businesses within your community. What to Grow in Florida During the Summer Growing Season? Believe it or not, you can successfully grow food in Florida during the summer growing season. There are a ton of heat loving annuals, herbs, and edible perennials you can add to your garden. What to Grow in June in Florida Fruit: Cherry Tomatoes, Bitter melon, Chayote, Eggplant, Peppers, Luffa, Okra, Roselle, Winter Squash Leafy Greens: Amaranth, Egyptian Spinach, Malabar Spinach, Perpetual Spinach, Jewels of Opar, Surinam Spinach, Lagos Spinach, Sesame, Chipilin Legumes: Southern Peas, Yard Long Beans, Butterfly Pea, Winged Pea, Lablab, Pigeon Pea, Peanuts, Groundnuts Fresh Herbs and Flowers: Basil, King of Bitters, Lemon Grass, Agastache, Spilanthes, Marigolds, Asters, Cosmos, Zinnia, Tropical Sage, Salvias Root Vegetables: Cassava, Jicama, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Sunchokes Perennials: Canna Edulis, Edible Hibiscus, Boniato, Cassava, Chaya, Cranberry Hibiscus, Ginger, Galangal, Katuk, Longevity Spinach, Malanga, Moringa, Okinawa Spinach, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Sugar Cane, Taro, Tindora, Turmeric, Water Chestnuts What to grow in July in Florida Fruit: Bitter Melon, Chayote, Luffa, Okra, Roselle, Winter Squash Leafy Greens: Amaranth, Egyptian Spinach, Ethiopian Kale, Malabar Spinach, Perpetual Spinach, Jewels of Opar, Surinam Spinach, Lagos Spinach, Sesame, Chilipin Legumes: Southern Peas, Yard Long Beans, Butterfly Pea, Winged Pea, Lablab, Pigeon Pea, Groundnuts Fresh Herbs and Flowers: Basil, Papalo, Quilquina, King of Bitters, Lemon Grass, Agastache, Spilanthes, Ashwaganda, Marigolds, Cosmo, Zinnia, Tropical Sage, Salvias. Root Vegetables: Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Cassava Perennials: Canna Edulis, Edible Hibiscus, Boniato, Cassava, Chaya, Cranberry Hibiscus, Ginger, Galangal, Katuk, Longevity Spinach, Malanga, Moringa, Okinawa Spinach, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Sugar Cane, Taro, Tindora, Turmeric, Water Chestnuts. What to Grow in August in Florida Fruit: Okra, Watermelon, Summer Squash, Winter Squash Leafy Greens: Amaranth, Ethiopian Kale, Malabar Spinach, Jewels of Opar, Surinam Spinach, Lagos Spinach, Sesame Legumes: Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Southern Peas, Yard Long Beans, Butterfly Peas, Winged Pea, Lablab, Pigeon Pea, Groundnuts Fresh Herbs and Flowers: Basil, Papalo, Quilquina, KIng of Bitters, Lemon Grass, Agastache, Spilanthes, Ashwaganda, Marigolds, Cosmo, Zinnia, Sunflower, Celosia, Tropical Sage, Salvias Root Vegetables: Sweet Potatoes Perennials: Canna Edulis, Edible Hibiscus, Cassava, Chaya, Cranberry Hibiscus, Katuk, Longevity Spinach, Moringa, Okinawa Spinach, Pineapple, Sugar Cane, Taro, Tindora Sow Locally Adapted Seeds for the Best Garden Seeking out seeds that are locally adapted, like from Seed the Stars, will also set you up for a successful growing season in Florida. In addition, another fantastic resource for what to sow in your Florida garden is the UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions page. What Are the Best Plants to Plant Late Summer for Cover Crops? Sunn Hemp Legumes Marigolds Why Plant a Cover Crop ? Perhaps you have decided to give a portion of your garden a rest or not garden at all in the late summer. There are several cover crops you can plant that need very little attention from you that will benefit your garden soil. First, planting a cover crop protects the soil from the late summer sun, protecting the beneficial life in the soil. Second, they help regulate the soil temperature, moisture, and will help feed the soil. Legumes, like peas and sunn hemp, are nitrogen fixers. Additionally, cover crops will keep all those weeds and grasses out of your garden beds. How do Nitrogen Fixers Work? According to Newswise, “Roots are colonized by a bacteria called Rhizobium. These bacteria pull nitrogen from the air after becoming established inside the root nodules in a process called nitrogen fixation. This leaves the soil with more nitrogen, a necessary nutrient for plants, than before the sunn hemp was grown.” Planting sunn hemp in the late summer garden to use as a chop and drop is an excellent way to prepare your garden for the next growing season. How You Can Help Your Late Summer Garden Survive the Heat Having a successful Florida garden in our hot and humid climate is possible. Growing heat loving plants is the first key to success. Drought tolerant varieties are also an excellent quality to look for when growing in the Florida summer heat. Tips for Success for Gardening in the Summer Heat I have found that watering early in the morning, and also in the evening for certain crops, will help plants make it through the hot growing season. Furthermore, having a nice thick layer of mulch will also help your garden throughout the summer months by conserving moisture in the soil and keeping weeds and grass at bay. Add Shade Cloth to Your Garden Another game changer for my full sun, Florida garden was adding shade cloth, as I love to grow things like cucumbers and tomatoes, which can be tricky in Florida. I started growing my cucumbers and tomatoes under 50% shade cloth a couple years ago and it has made a big difference. Giving them a little bit of shade when the sun is directly over head has extended the growing season a bit and helped to conserve moisture in the soil. Preparing the Garden Preparing your garden beds for a successful growing season is also key to having a productive garden. I like to start by tarping my garden beds, or a new garden plot, about 4-6 weeks in advance. This will kill any weeds or grasses that are in your garden beds, making them easier to remove once you uncover the area. For a brand new garden I do prefer to do an initial till of the area. This will make it a little easier to form your inground rows. If you do not want to till, or don’t have access to a tiller, a few simple passes with a broad fork or pitch fork will loosen the soil enough to make the ground more workable. For my garden rows that are already established, I prefer to loosen them with a broad fork. Building Soil Structure for a Successful Garden Not tilling at the beginning of every growing season, helps maintain the structure of the soil. Building good soil structure is another key factor to having a successful garden. Good soil will be full of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and microbes which will help decompose organic matter making nutrients and moisture more readily available to plant roots. Add Organic Materials to Help Build Soil Structure A soil that has good structure, acts kind of like a sponge, with the ability to absorb nutrients and water, while still draining efficiently. I like to add several inches of homemade compost and lots of chop and drop matter to the sandy soils, often found in Florida. This will help improve the structure of the soil and feed the next round of plants and life in the soil. Use a Garden Planner Clyde’s Garden Planner is a vegetable planting guide which presents gardening tasks in a time-phased format. It uses a horizontal calendar so you can see the entire planting, growing, and harvesting period at a glance. Clyde’s garden planner shows the perfect time for indoor & outdoor planting, relative to your local spring and fall frost dates for 22 commonly grown garden vegetables. Since frost dates and the number of days in a growing season vary, the RED frost line slides. This makes Clyde’s chart is useful in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere, where frost dates are critical in growing successfully. Best Plants to Plant Late Summer to Prepare for Fall in Florida Part of the mid to late summer gardening routine in my Florida garden is starting seedlings for the fall garden. For a fall crop of tomatoes, peppers, groundcherries, eggplant, and tomatillo in Florida, you’ll want to start these seeds either indoors or in the dappled shade in the month of July. Thinking ahead to the cool-season crops, you can start seeds in August for Arugula, Asian Greens, Mustards, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale, and Kohlrabi. My best advice for Florida home gardens is to NOT skip your cool weather crops. Fall and winter gardening in Florida is amazing. The cooler temperatures bring less heat, humidity, pests, disease, weeds, and grasses to the garden making it a much more enjoyable time to garden in Florida. When to Plant Early Fall Vegetables for a Fall Harvest After you have amended those garden beds with some fresh compost, it’s time to plant the fall veggies. Remember those seeds you started in July and August? Those young plants should be ready to put out into the fall garden in early September, just be sure to give them plenty of time to harden off. I plant my cool-season vegetables under shade cloth, just like my tomatoes and cucumbers in early summer. Let’s face it, the Florida sun can still be pretty intense in the fall vegetable garden, which can cause cool-season vegetables to bolt early. Usually by late September, I will have the majority of my fall and winter garden planted, with the exception of anything that I will be succession sowing into late fall for second crops Use Succession Planting To Harvest all Summer Long As you can see, some of the best plants to plant late summer in Florida are also on the list for early summer. Some may even take you into early fall, like southern peas, beans, okra, and herbs to name a few. Planning out ahead of time on which plants you can succession sow is a great way to harvest fresh vegetables all summer long. Planting these crops every two to three weeks will keep the food coming in from the garden to your table. Cool-season and Warm-season Crops Here in Florida, we do have the option of growing cool-season and warm-season crops together. For instance, in the fall and winter garden, before our first frost, you’ll find me growing another round of tomatoes and cucumbers, often with more success than the spring and summer garden. Just keep your first frost date in mind and be ready for fried green tomatoes if frost happens to come earlier than expected. Know the Average Frost Date in Your Area Knowing your first and last frost dates for your area will help you plan what to plant and when. You can find your frost date by entering your zip code into the Old Farmers Almanac Frost Date Calculator. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, “A frost date is the average date of the last light freeze in spring or the first light freeze in fall. The classification of freeze temperatures is based on their effect on plants: Light freeze: 29° to 32°F (-1.7° to 0°C)—tender plants are killed. Moderate freeze: 25° to 28°F (-3.9° to -2.2°C)—widely destructive to most vegetation. Severe freeze: 24°F (-4.4°C) and colder—heavy damage to most garden plants. Note that frost dates are only an estimate based on historical climate data and are not set in stone. The probability of a frost occurring after the spring frost date or before the fall frost date is 30%, which means that there is still a chance of frost occurring before or after the given dates!” Protecting Warm-Season Crops from Frost If you have some plants in the ground that do not tolerate frost well, there are a few things you can do to help see them through a quick frost. First off, be sure your plants are heavily mulched. Mulch will help conserve and regulate soil temperatures, as well as moisture, preventing ground freezes. Be sure to water your plants well just before a frost. The soil will stay slightly warmer in a frost with moist, mulched soil. Protecting Warm-Season Crops By Covering Additionally, covering your plants with a frost cloth or row covers will help keep the frost off the foliage throughout the night. Our friends up north often use cold frames to protect crops in cool temperatures of early winter. Bundle up for the cold weather, right at sunrise, and head out to uncover your plants. Water the foliage to remove any frost before the sun hits your plants. Hopefully this will get your warm weather crops through a quick frost. It is unlikely they would survive a freeze. Best Plants to Plant Late Summer by Zones Every growing zone will differ in what you can plant to have a successful garden. Here are the best plants to plant late summer, Florida and beyond. Best Plants to Plant Late Summer Zones 3-6 snap beans carrots cabbage endive broad beans broccoli brussels sprouts cabbage chicory cress endive green onions kohlrabi leeks leaf lettuce & heading lettuce onions parsnip perennial herbs radish rhubarb rutabaga shallots spinach swiss chard turnips Best Plants to Plant Late Summer Zones 7-8 green beans beetroot broccoli brussels sprouts cabbage carrots cauliflower celery chicory cress endive green onions kohlrabi leeks leaf lettuce & heading lettuce mustard greens onions parsnip peas perennial herbs potatoes radish rhubarb rutabaga shallots swiss chard turnips Best Plants to Plant Late Summer Zones 9-12 (tropical and sub tropical regions) Here’s more of a general list of crops that are the best plants to plant late summer in your tropical to sub tropical regions. Just be sure to pay attention to frost dates for each zone, as some of these crops can handle a light frost and some cannot. Additionally, some of these crops are cool weather crops. They may appreciate some shade until the weather cools off a bit. artichoke suckers amaranth basil beans beetroot broccoli cabbage cape gooseberry carrots celery Chinese cabbage cucumber eggplant leaf lettuce (in the shade) melon okra parsnips perennial herbs potatoes pumpkin radish root crops, like sweet potatoes and yams rutabaga southern peas summer & winter squash sweet corn sweet potatoes swiss chard tomatoes tropical spinach turnips watermelon zucchini The Best Plants to Plant Late Summer in Florida and Beyond Now that you know the best plants to plant late summer, go find your local gardening community, lay out a garden plan, and get your garden beds amended so you can have a successful gardening season growing locally adapted seeds and plants. Not only you Florida gardeners, but for all the other plant lovers out there too, as I know everyone isn’t lucky enough to live in the Sunshine State! You may also enjoy reading 28 Herbs to Plant in Fall: Now is the Perfect Time to Plan Happy Homesteading and Gardening (No Matter Where You Are) Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm Jenny and her family have been homesteading for over 20 years. They are currently farming on their 10 acre Florida farm, that they built from the ground up, 8 years ago, growing 100% of their meat and a lot of their vegetables. From their small herd of Aberdeen Angus Cattle, Pastured Poultry, Sheep, and seasonal pigs, they are able to raise enough meat for the family while selling extra to the community. All the while, striving to butcher at home, as much as possible, and use the bits and pieces of their harvest by preserving food, making bone broth, and (Jenny’s favorite) tanning all kinds of hides! Sources: seedthestars.etsy.com https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates Plants https://www.newswise.com/articles/what-is-sunn-hemp-and-how-is-it-used-in-agronomy#:~:text=Sunn%20hemp%20is%20a%20legume,a%20process%20called%20nitrogen%20fixation. Gardening Homesteading