Is it too late to plant now that it’s hot?

Q:  Is it too late to plant now that it’s hot?

A: Planting during the heat of summer is perfectly fine.  It just takes some extra attention to watering while the new plants root in.  I planted a large perennial bed last August, the hottest, driest month of the summer.  It is absolutely glorious this year.  Since the plants at the garden center are container grown, they have all their roots vs. a plant that has been dug out of a growing field and replanted with only a fraction of its root system in tact.  Container grown plants establish much more easily at virtually any time of year.  If you are too busy to be able to baby summer planted plants, simply wait for the cooler months of autumn.   Fall sales at the nursery are an added benefit.  Photo by Idelle Fisher from the Denver Front Range Wild One's Native Plant Swap

Keith Funk is handling our Q & A this year. You may have visited one of Keith’s Denver area gardens on a tour or know him from his years at Echter’s and now at Nick’s Garden Center. For 30 years he’s been heard every Saturday morning from 7-9 with fellow Wise Guy, Jim Borland, on the Garden Wise Radio Show on Legends 810AM.