Green Valley Gardeners: Let’s celebrate July!

July really is a month of celebration. We celebrate our nation’s birthday … and we celebrate the arrival of what we hope will be a good monsoon season in the desert. A “good” monsoon is defined as one with lots of needed rain.

Mid-July usually finds the monsoon season in full swing. Resulting humidity can give the garden an almost jungle-like feel. Ocotillo are again leafing out and preparing to bloom. Texas rangers, Arizona yellow bells, red bird of paradise, sages, and all of the justicias gush with blossoms, thanks to the humidity.

There is still time to take steps to utilize rainwater as it pours off the roof. Gutters can direct the rain to flow into barrels under downspouts, so it can later be used for potted plants. Forming soil berms will direct the water to shallow basins constructed around trees and shrubs. These basins are especially valuable for such high-water users as citrus trees.

Rainwater provides a “healthy drink” for plants. Not only is it salt-free, but it also may contain sulfur, potash and other nutrients. During the monsoon storms, lightning converts atmospheric nitrogen into a nitrogen solution that plants can absorb. Have you noticed how quickly the desert greens after a lightning storm, even if there is very little rain?

There is still time to do some planting in the garden. Put even a very few pumpkin seeds into your garden, and you should have pumpkins to harvest before frost. Most varieties mature in 100 to 120 days. If not, you will have enjoyed the beautiful bright flowers, and watched them magically turn into tiny green globes. It is not too late to plant cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, gourds, and squash.

If you are not interested in a vegetable garden, there are a number of flowers that may be planted this month for summer color. Heat-tolerant examples are: cosmos, globe amaranth, agastache, gaillardia, lisianthus, marigold, four o’clock, gazania, portulaca and zinnia.

Drought-tolerant trees and shrubs such as acacia, desert ironwood, feather bush, and Texas ebony can be planted now. July is a good time to put out accent plants such as agave, aloe, ocotillo, cactus and yucca. However, be careful to provide afternoon shade or a shade-cloth covering to prevent sunburn.

Palm trees do best when planted now. This is also the time to fertilize palms with a dry or granular palm food available in most hardwares and garden centers. Water thoroughly, then apply the fertilizer in a band around the trunk, 1-foot out. Afterward, slowly water the material into the soil. Recommended amounts are shown on the package.

Oleander gall may now appear as a knobby growth on the limbs of oleander. Although not serious, it can be removed by pruning the limb away and discarding it. Make sure to disinfect your pruning shears with a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water before you use them again.

Watch for white cottony masses called cochineal scale on prickly pear. Wash them off frequently with strong jets of water to keep their numbers under control.

It is amazing how fast weeds grow this month! Pre-emergence weedkiller can be applied before regular rains begin. It will wait in the soil 4 to 5 weeks for weed seeds to begin swelling after a good rain. However, even a week after the seedlings begin to show, pre-emergence weedkiller will not work. Follow label instructions carefully.

Whether a gardener or not, July is a month of important terms such as dewpoint, anvil heads, Doppler radar, filling washes, thunder boomers…and an accompanying curious, sweet scent. A July afternoon sky can be quite dramatic. First the dark thickening clouds, then the dancing lightning, the rolling thunder, and finally… celebrate the rain!

Mary Kidnocker is a Master Gardener who writes frequently about the subject from a local perspective. Her columns are featured Sundays. She is president of The Green Valley Gardeners.