We are finally getting some sunny weather without daily rains and the weather feels a lot like early May instead of early June in Oklahoma. As dry as we have been in Oklahoma the last few years and as much as so many have prayed for rain it takes a lot for us to be happy about June days when it is not raining. We have been so moist and have received rains so regularly that we have rarely had to water our gardens, flower beds and decorative containers this spring season. With the sun taking the lead over the rains now and with the temperatures warming up we will need to start paying attention to the water needs of our plants and mulching to reduce future watering.
The weather is still very mild and we still have time to plant and enjoy most of the 2015 growing season with newly planted Oklahoma warm season vegetables, ornamental annuals and perennials. We have about five months of growing season left before our first frost of winter. There is still time to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, black eyed peas, okra, pumpkins, watermelons and cantaloupe to get a good harvest yet this year.
It has been so wet that many Oklahomans have not done their usual spring planting of blooming annuals like petunias, periwinkle, impatiens, begonias, caladiums, sweet potato vines and hundreds of other crops. As a result, Oklahoma garden centers and nurseries are still bursting at the seams with crops and inventory that needs to find a good Oklahoma home. Please consider a visit to your local nursery or garden center to select the trees, shrubs, annuals or perennials you need to beautify your home. We have great growing conditions this year after the bountiful rains that have recharged our top soils as well as our sub-soils. New plantings should be happier and take off quicker than in any recent year. Everyone has observed how green our lawns, trees and plants are this year with the cooler moist conditions. As it warms up we will need to be more diligent about watering and mulching and may need to fertilize some to replace food that has leached further into the earth or has been used by our fast growing plant materials.
If you ended up with standing water you may have lost some plants to suffocation or rotting out. Often plants may have been weakened by an excess of the water they normally crave. Some plants develop fungus or disease problems in the cool, wet conditions like we experienced the last few weeks. You can take a sample of your plant problem to your local garden center or county extension office to diagnose the problem and help select the proper fungicide to battle the problem fungus or disease. With the good moisture in our soils from earlier rains combined with nice sunshine now we should get some wonderful plant growth in the next few weeks and we expect some great gardens later this summer and fall.
Take advantage of this rare extended planting season and go select more plants to add to your yard so you can watch the miracles of nature growing at your house. It is rare for June gardeners to enjoy the kind of selection still available at local nurseries and garden centers. There are lots of plants still waiting to be adopted by a happy home.
Rodd's Seeds of Wisdom 