Sally Scalera: Here's what to do in your Brevard yard during the heat of June
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June is typically hot and steamy, but that doesn't mean yard work takes a holiday.
The days are longer, too, so remember to get outside early in the morning, work in the shade through the day or wait until the evening hours to get things done.
Brevard Discovery Garden sale. The Brevard Discovery Garden will be open 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, June 25, to showcase our new caladium bed that was created from caladium bulbs donated by Happiness Farms Caladiums in Lake Placid.
We will also have donated caladium bulbs, caladium combination pots, bromeliads, Apache blackberry plants and a variety of other plants available for purchase.
There will be a free class on establishing a new garden, along with planting and maintaining both caladiums and blackberry plants. The class will be 10-11 a.m. To sign up, go to caladiumsandblackberries.eventbrite.com or just show up.
To stay up to date on this event, follow our Brevard Discovery Garden at facebook.com/BrevardDiscoveryGarden. The garden is at 3695 Lake Drive, Cocoa.
Grow Your Own Food series. Calling everyone who likes to eat! The Be Healthy: Grow Your Own Food four-week series is scheduled for Mondays, July 18, through Aug. 8. Two class times are offered each Monday, a morning class from 10-11:30 a.m. and another from 6-7:30 p.m.
Learn how to grow vegetables, herbs and even fruit corps in containers or the ground, so you can grow nutritious food at home, even if you only have a balcony or patio. Each $45 ticket includes handouts and seeds of some heirloom vegetables, culinary herbs and flowers. Couples, friends and families can learn together and share the notebook and seeds.
For more information on what is covered and to register, go to bhgyof2022morningclass.eventbrite.com or bhgyof2022nightclass.eventbrite.com. Call Adrienne at 321-633-1702 ext. 52315 for help.
Fertilizer ban starts. The fertilizer ban goes into effect on Wednesday, June 1, for the entire county, including all the municipalities. The ordinance bans the application of nitrogen and phosphorus to landscapes and vegetables gardens. The ban is in affect from June 1 through Sept. 30.
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Save the baby critters. Wait one more month before pruning of palms and trees, if possible, because baby wildlife may still be present.
Colorful plants for summer shade. Now that summer is here, shade feels wonderful. Colorful plants that grow well in shady locations include coleus, impatiens, wax begonias, caladium, anglewing begonias, dusty miller and crossandra.
Full sun summer flowers. If you are interested in adding flowers to your landscape, plants that can handle full sun through the summer are floss flower (Ageratum), amaranth, asters, vinca (or periwinkle), celosia, coleus, coreopsis, cosmos, dahlia, dahlberg daisy, lisianthus, gallardia, gazania, Gerbera daisy, kalanchoe, sunflowers, gomphrena, melampodium, lobelia, portulaca, blue salvia, red salvia, marigolds and zinnias.
Prolong bloom time. For annual flowers like red salvia, marigolds and zinnias, the blooming period can be prolonged by dead-heading the faded flowers. After an annual plant flowers, it produces seeds and then dies. Deadheading the faded flowers keeps plants blooming longer and looking better. Marigolds are very easy to deadhead as the faded flowers pop right off when pulled.
Herbs to plant now. Some herbs that can be planted now include basil, chives, dill, marjoram, mint, oregano, sage, Mexican tarragon, rosemary and thyme.
Vegetables that enjoy the heat. Vegetables that can be planted now and will survive the hot summer are Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, calabaza, Jerusalem artichoke, chayote, jicama, okra, Southern peas, Seminole pumpkin, cassava, sweet potatoes and winged beans.
Feed the soil. After planting any new plant, both in the ground or in a container, be sure to do the following two things.
First, re-mineralize the soil by applying a rock or volcanic powder (i.e., Azomite, etc.) around the plants. This will provide important trace elements that will increase the nutrition of food crops and improve plant health.
Next, inoculate the plants with beneficial soil microbes using a liquid inoculum that has a large variety of bacteria and both endo and ectomycorrhizae. The microorganisms will help your plants grow. For more information on this topic, email me at sasc@ufl.edu.
Go bananas. If you are growing bananas, cut the stalk of bananas off when the first hand (row of bananas) begins to turn yellow, and hang it in a shady spot to ripen. You can then chop off the top of the stalk, just below the leaves, and cut the leaves and trunk into pieces, scattering them around the base of the plant to add more organic matter to the soil. The trunk can be chopped up, and dropped around the base of the plants, a few months later to add additional organic matter to the soil.
Shop the farmers market. The Brevard County Farmers Market is from 3-6 p.m. every Thursday at the Wickham Park Pavilion in Melbourne, and from 3-6 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays of the month across from Titusville Welcome Center, 419 S. Hopkins Ave. Come check out all the vendors and the delicious food and products they have for sale. To find out more, check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/brevardcountyfarmersmarket.
Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences. Email sasc@ufl.edu.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: June's heat means Central Florida yard work is best done early
