(Really) Frost-safe planting

I actually went out on March 1 to get info for the "First Frost-Safe 5" item on plants you could put in the ground on or after March 11.The scene: A rainy afternoon on a cool pre-spring day on Johns Island. Perfect for cat-naps.

The 5-gimmick: I asked Chad Dausener, a "plant propagator" at Pete's Herbs, to give me five plants you could put in the ground around March 11, which is what I'd heard was the frost-safe date for this zone. But Dausener said they looked at things differently on this locally owned farm: "We don't consider it really frost-safe until April 15." As evidence, he cited a recent season marred by a surprise frost in the first week of April.

Which brings us (as so few garden topics do) to a Dirty Harry quote: "So you gotta decide: Do I feel lucky?"

What I wound up with was a hybrid: A "non-gambler's 5" for the March 9 edition... and then I'll come back in April and check with some other nursery for spring/summer vegetables to start setting out when things are really, really frost-safe.

Chad's picks (and remember: click the image to see it full-size):

Olive tree: It's too humid for these to produce fruit here (although apparently there's some guy on Folly Beach who gets an annual crop somehow), but the tree makes a great evergreen tree or shrub. It's nicely formed as a tree and can reach 15 to 20 feet. On the other hand, if you want a shrub, it prunes and bushes well. The advantage to planting it now: It will get a head-start on establishing its roots for the summer growing season.

Farfugium ("Leopard plant"): A shade-loving, evergreen perennial to put alongside structures or plant under low trees. It sends up a central bloom stalk in the fall, but the real reason gardeners choose this one is its colorful, yellow-spotted leaves. Starting it now gives it a longer growing season, and it can get up to 1.5 feet in the first year before topping out at 2.5 feet and getting bushier.

Doone Valley Thyme: A variegated thyme, Doone Valley is green and yellow, with red creeping into its color scheme in winter. Chad likes it because it's a lemon-scented, lemon-flavored variety of the popular herb. This evergreen perennial is low-growing, will creep along edges and borders and loves to be cut back (which is nice, because you want to cook with this stuff). No room to garden? This requires good drainage, so it loves pots and raised beds.

Redboor Kale: This variety is listed as a cool-season annual, but it's been known to come back for several years before petering out. It looks nice in a colorful flower bed, though it will bolt in summer. The added bonus: it's a highly nutritious green. Individual leaves can be steamed, stir-fried or tossed in a salad. Treat this one right and you could wind up with crops in the spring, fall and winter. Said Chad: "This one can take the heat."

Chervil: Another cool-season annual, chervil is an herb/green that likes full-to-partial sun. Add it to salads for a mild tarragon/parsley flavor, or use it to flavor soups, fish and chicken. If you plant it now it will last into June, but not much longer.

Honorable mentions
Goodwin Creek lavender: Like most lavenders, this one can be kind of picky in the Lowcountry climate, which runs a bit too sticky for lavender's liking. Pot it and set it out where it can drain nicely, then don't overwater it when things get hot.

Rosemary: This is tough stuff that comes in multiple varieties, but the question to ask is "Creeping or bushy?" Some rosemary will spread like a groundcover, while other varieties will turn into a stout shrub in just a few seasons. I bought both kinds from Pete's in January, and they're all doing fine.

Red Giant mustard: This is quite the impressive green. It's colorful, enormous, likes cool weather and Chad says it offers a wasabi-style kick to salads. I'm sold.

Italian parsley: Frost bites the tender leaves of this kitchen-garden green, but it's about time to put it in. You'll be taking cuttings off it for months.

Arugula: It was a close call between arugula and chervil for Chad, but he chose the less-well known green/herb because ... well, because it wasn't as commonly appreciated, I think. In a sense, you can consider arugula and chervil a proxy for a whole bunch of cool-season salad greens. Get what you like, put them in a salad garden, and enjoy the salad days of May and June.

Seeds, etc.
Another option to consider: If you're planting salad plants in mid-March, you might want to put in a mixture of greenhouse-established plants and directly propagated seeds. In fact, you could plant salad-plant seeds directly into your garden every couple of weeks for the next month, establishing waves of fresh cool-season greens to be harvested and enjoyed. Plant lettuces, nasturtiums, arugula, red giant mustard and kale this way.

No, none of these annuals do well in the summer. But the good news here is that instead of one cool season, we've got two or three.

Comments

[Pam]

I love it! Personally - I'd say 'feel lucky' and 'be safe' - with the former, the worst thing that can happen to you is that you have to replant! And if you're lucky - you'll have all sorts of great stuff earlier than everybody else and you can brag about it to friends, family, and even strangers. I think you should do another 5 things to plant once April 15th rolls around...or 5 best antique roses? or 5 best camellias? I'm seeing a periodic garden theme here, and if you need a guest blogger, just ask (plus, you know how I feel about Pete's!). I do believe that I need a Leopard plant (or two or three) today...that whole plant therapy thing.