It's the Summer Garden Season!

My first summer in Houston, I filled my garden with the same plants I'd grown back in Virginia, already envisioning my children plucking cherry tomatoes from the vine on the 4th of July and harvesting cucumbers for their back-to-school snack.

That's when I learned the hard way that not all summer gardens are the same. I spent my summer rushing outside before sunrise to lug a hose around the garden, only to see my plants struggling by noon. No matter how much I watered, plants that had thrived in my old garden were wilting long before July and its triple-digit heat even hit.

If you've ever really struggled to keep plants alive in July or August, you were most likely growing the wrong plants for your climate. The number one key to summer gardening success is filling your garden with plants that will actually like your weather. That means we won't all be harvesting baskets of cherry tomatoes in July, and that's okay.

This is your guide to picking plants that will thrive in your summer garden and tending your garden when the temps spike in the 90s and above.

Choose Your Summer Garden Plants Based on Your Growing Season

We're not all growing in the same climate, so the best plants for your summer garden might look a bit different than mine. Plants, as I discovered that first summer in Houston, have temperature preferences and varying tolerances to heat.

To know which plants are best for your area, figure out whether you'll be experiencing a warm or hot season for the summer. Then, it's a simple matter of picking plants that like to grow in the appropriate season.

First, look up the average high temps in your town for the months of June, July, August, and September. If the average high for the month is between 65°F and 84°F, then you'll be in the warm season. If the average high is above 85°F, then you'll be in the hot season.

Let's look at how 3 different climates might experience warm and hot seasons.

Summer Gardening in Warm Climates

If you live in a warm climate like Houston, you'll experience a hot season from about June to mid-September. The hot season is so hot that many plants struggle. Fruiting plants like tomatoes and cucumbers won't be able to form fruit, and most of our leafy greens will bolt (go to seed).

During this time, you'll do best to remove warm season plants and fill your garden with only plants that can tolerate hotter temperatures. You might be able to keep warm season plants alive if you keep them well watered and cover them with shade cloth, but they won't produce and will likely get all stressed out. And stressed-out plants are a magnet for pests.

Once the temps finally begin to dip back into the 80s, you'll go back to the warm season for fall, and then it'll be your turn to grow many of the veggies we typically associate with summer gardening.

Summer Gardening in Mild Climates

I consider a climate like mine here in Nashville mild. We typically have about a month-long period in July or August when the temps spike a bit too high for warm season plants to be happy. Instead of completely transitioning to a hot season garden for this short time, you might just add some hot season plants throughout your garden. These plants will give you harvests until your warm season plants recover from the heat.

Summer Gardening in Cold Climates

Those of you in colder climates won't experience a true hot season, though you may, of course, have the occasional heat wave. You'll be in the warm growing season for the entire period between your last frost date and your first frost date. You likely won't experience hot weather for long enough to grow hot season plants all the way to maturity in their ideal temperature range. So it's best to stick with warm season plants, but there may be periods of time when these plants slow their production due to the heat.

The Best Warm Season Plants to Grow Over Summer

Warm season plants are probably the ones that come to mind when you picture a summer harvest basket. This is really the quintessential garden season.

Warm season plants shouldn't go into your garden until there's no chance of frost. You can begin to add warm season plants to your garden as your cool season plants like carrots and spinach finish up, but make sure to keep biennials like kale, Swiss chard, and parsley. They'll stick around for your warm season.

Let's look at the best plants to grow in the warm season.

The Best Fruiting Plants to Grow in Warm Weather

• beans
• cucumbers
• eggplant
• gourds
• melons
• peppers
• squash
• tomatoes
• tomatillos
• zucchini

The Best Leafy Greens to Grow in Warm Weather

• arugula
• kale
• mizuna
• mustard greens
• Swiss chard

The Best Herbs to Grow in Warm Weather

• basil
• lavender
• mint
• oregano
• rosemary
• sage
• thyme

The Best Hot Season Plants to Grow Over Summer

There are still plenty of yummy plants you can grow during even the hottest of summers. These heat-loving plants can tolerate high temperatures and even drought.

Let's look at the best plants to grow in the hot season.

The Best Fruiting Plants to Grow in Warm Weather

• Armenian cucumbers
• black-eyed peas
• crowder peas (AKA cowpeas)
• eggplant
• hot peppers
• lima beans
• luffa gourds
• melons
• okra
• suyo long cucumbers
• tomatillos

The Best Leafy Greens to Grow in Warm Weather

• arugula (replant frequently)
• malabar spinach
• mizuna
• New Zealand spinach

The Best Herbs to Grow in Warm Weather

• basil
• lavender
• mint
• oregano
• rosemary
• sage
• thyme

The Best Summer Garden Flowers to Grow

There are many beautiful yet super hardy flowers you can grow over summer that can stand the heat. I love to put these flowers on the edges of my raised beds and in my pollinator garden to fill my summer garden with color and attract all the pollinators.

Here's a list of flowers that won't wilt on a hot summer day:

• African blue basil
• angelonia (AKA summer snapdragons)
• marigolds
• Thai basil
• vincas (AKA periwinkles)
• zinnias

Growing the right plants for your climate goes a long way, but here are a couple more summer gardening tips to help you beat the heat this summer.

Summer Gardening Tip #1

Water Plants Deeply

The soil in raised beds and containers can dry out really fast on bright summer days, leaving the roots of your plants parched.

The best way to water your garden on hot days (and throughout the year) is long and slow. It's better to give your plants one deep drink of water every few days than several shallow sips every day (though at the peak of summer heat, you might have to water daily no matter what). Deep watering encourages your plants to send down their roots to look for nutrients and water (good), instead of keeping them close to the surface (bad).

The easiest way to water your plants long and slow is by setting up a drip irrigation system on a timer.

You'll know you need to water your plants more if the soil is cracked or pulling away from the sides of the container. Wilting leaves, of course, are the classic sign of thirsty plants.

How Often to Water Your Vegetable Garden in the Summer

How often and how much you should water your summer garden depends on a number of different factors (like your evaporation rate) and can vary from day to day. You'll likely need to water more frequently and for longer periods of time during the hottest summer months, potentially even twice a day during heat waves.

Check on your garden every day and be ready to add some H2O if you see signs of under-watering.

Summer Gardening Tip #2

Water Early in the Morning

The best time to water your garden in the summer is early in the morning. That way, your plants will feel prepared for the heat of the day to come. You'll also lose less water to evaporation. 

The worst time to water your plants is the middle of the day. If your plants look parched, wait until the sun is less intense to give them a nice, cool drink.

Summer Gardening Tip #3

Cover Your Garden with Shade Cloth

Protect your warm season plants from too much sun and temps above 85°F by covering them with shade cloth. This type of garden cover filters out a percentage of sunlight to lower the temperature underneath and keep the soil several degrees cooler (which, in turn, helps retain moisture). Your plants will still have enough light to grow but not so much that they'll suffer from sun scald and dry soil. The shade cloth also allows air to circulate and water (should it happen to rain) to reach your plants.

Using a shade cloth can prevent your warm season plants from bolting in the heat by at least a few weeks. Just be sure to tent you shade cloth over your garden using PVC pipes or garden hoops.

If you don't plan to cover your garden, try planting seedlings where they'll get afternoon shade from taller plants to help them out a bit.  

Summer Gardening Tip #4

Cover Your Garden Soil with Plant Material

Bare soil dries out really fast on hot days, which is why many gardeners swear by mulch. I've just never been a fan of mulch, even for summer gardening. Mulch gives pests a place to hide and takes up valuable planting space.

Instead of putting mulch in empty areas, keep your garden filled with plants so that there are no empty spots. The foliage will shade the soil to help retain moisture and keep it nice and cool. Basically, even though you'll have more plants in your garden, you'll actually need to water less. This is one of the main benefits of intensive planting.

Bush beans and cowpeas are great plants to use for soil coverage over summer. You get to harvest beans from a small space that would otherwise just be covered in mulch!

Summer Gardening Tip #5

Keep Your Soil Healthy

Key nutrients in your garden soil can help your plants recover from hot days. If you're setting up your garden for summer, make sure to fill your raised beds with the best possible soil. Before you plant your summer veggies, add a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost to the soil surface. (I'm a huge fan of mushroom compost). Compost not only replenishes soil nutrients, it can also help retain moisture.

Keep Your Garden Filled This Summer

As long as you plant the right plants for your season, your kitchen garden will be filled with so many beautiful plants and delicious things to harvest from June through September.

Here's to a wonderful summer growing season!