Santa Fe Gardening in July

July 17, 2015 By Kendall McCumber

July Gardening Update:

With all of the rain this year, everyone has been busy fighting weeds. We also weathered the double hailstorm. The storm itself sent me into clean up mode. I cut the pumpkins back short because they were so beat up. It also inspired a major episode of rose pruning, cutting back datura (which had too much hail damage), and cutting back of catmint and salvias. Also thinning of my small trees began.

Things look different, but we look as if we are heading into round two of summer.

This is the time of year where it is easy to take our gardens for granted, and to let them go. The young love phase is over. The dog days are here. Weeds and insects are starting to win some battles and we pick out battles.

Even so, I love to head outside with my clippers every evening, even if it is just for a few minutes. I check out the abundant daisies that are smiling at me, as well as the daylilies showing their brief glory. The petunias that held on through the hail storm or are coming back are sweet and lovely as ever, and it’s been fun to watch my herbs get bigger. Tomatoes are a ways off, so why get too excited? Well, the hollychocks are coming in!

Our big harvests this week were the cherries and potatoes. I am hoping that we made some good space for other things. I had to reseed the beets because they were not in covered beds and the hail demolished them. So it will be a late summer for them, but I hope for the best. The grama grass has finally come in nicely in this warm wet summer and that is a treat too. Our honeysuckle continues to bloom and smell and we have expanded our trellis work to give it more support. The roses plug along despite being past their prime. What do we do in July without the delphiniums? Try ligiartis, an upright yellow spiky follower that takes the stage in many Santa Fe gardens for a few weeks. The day lilies are probably the apple of many a Santa Fe gardener’s eye these days. Desert Willow, when in a warm spot, will shine in late July. Don’t forget to rely on some of the classic Santa Fe shrubs, like Spanish Broom and Blue Mist Spirea. Bright red bee balm is another late July favorite.

While sometimes July seems to be a little bit of a lull as far as garden show stoppers, if we open our eyes, we will find just as many treats.