Southwest October Garden To-Do List

Hello , October . We ’ve been ( not so patiently ) wait for you ! Your cooler day temperature make for a fantastic calendar month of gardening . We highly recommend planting anything and everything this calendar month .

works trees and shrubs . Thewarm soil temperatures left over from summertime heat couple with nerveless temperature above ground helper to create the ideal condition forplanting Tree and bush . tree in little 5 to 15 - gallon containers run to adjust faster than those in great containers . Planting now allows for plant to acclimatise before the colder even temperature of winter arrive . Think about addingvelvet mesquit ( Prosopisspp . and cvs . , Zones 6 - 11 ) , desert ironwood tree ( Olneya tesota , Zones 9 - 11 ) , or blue palo verde ( Parkinsonia florida , Zones 8 - 10 ) to your landscape and look out them flourish .

Plant perennial . Now , is also the perfect time to plant perennials such as Mexican Banksia integrifolia ( Justicia spicigera , Zones 9 - 11),penstemons ( Penstemonspp . and cvs . , Zones 3 - 9 ) , vervain ( Verbenaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4 - 11 ) , and otherlate - season wondersfor some wintertime coloration . Just be sure to provide adequate drain and amended soil to avoid root buncombe . These newly installed plants will treasure the less harsh temperatures and will hopefully repay you with some beautiful blooms and foliation .

Bring legal tender plant deep down . It is possible that in the month of October , you ’ll ask to commence watching the eve temperatures to assure that they are not dropping too low-spirited for some of our more sensitive plant . Although many can withstand some cold , succulents such as desert rose ( genus Adenium obesum , Zones 10 - 11 ) , pencil cactus ( Euphorbia tirucallii , Zones 9 - 11 ) , and Madagascar palm tree ( Pachypodiumspp . and cvs . , Zones 9 - 11 ) should be fetch indoors , when possible , to protect them from the cold .

Refresh container plantings . Your local garden center or nursery should be packed to the brim with nerveless - time of year flowers which mean it ’s time to get rid of your warm - season flowers . Freshening up our containers always seems like a bite of a chore , but it ’s always so rewarding to bestow new life and color to them . It feels like a welcome invitation to the cooler temperatures and unexampled season . You should have easy access to cool weather fillers such as petunias , pansies , snapdragon ( Antirrhinum majus , Zones 7 - 10 ) , and sweet genus Alyssum ( Lobularia maritima , one-year ) to name a few . Have some fun and comprise tonic of colour . For more ideas on cool - time of year container designs , translate onhere .

Sow seeds for next class . October is also the perfect meter to think ahead ; it ’s clip to sow in seeds . Think of wildflowers and annuals such as desert lupin ( Lupinus sparsiflorus , one-year ) , desert Campanula rotundifolia ( Phacelia campanularia , yearly ) , and snapdragons . There are several method that unlike gardeners swear by . Many favor the wet sand method . Using this technique , you ’ll place some sand , a second of water , and your seeds into a bucket . blend it around and simply toss the cum out into your desired beds . The wet Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin is mean to defend the seed down and allow them a bit of tribute while they germinate . This technique can be a bit less prosperous than another seed software prognosticate hydroseeding . Hydroseeding involves creating a slurry of seed , water , and mulch or grime . This technique is sound out to help the seed better last out in place and the mulch is said to help oneself with moisture retentiveness . But no matter what you do , just be certain to spread some wildflower seeds . They are such a beautiful natural endowment when they come to living .

Sheila Schultz and Laurel Startzel are a mother - daughter dyad who founded Denver Dirty Girls Container Gardening while living in Denver and have continued their job since moving to Tucson , Arizona .

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Install some perennials for pops of winter color in your landscape and containers, such as this ‘Donalena Pink Heart’ verbena. Photo: Steve Aitken

Add some young blue palo verdes to your landscape now and watch them tower over you in a few years. Photo: Laurel Startzel

October provides the perfect weather for planting perennials like ‘Sunburst Ruby’ penstemon (Penstemon x mexicanus ‘Sunburst Ruby’, Zones 6-9). Photo: Steve Aitken