Read It and Reap!

By Peggy Anne Dye Wells

April 15, 2023

This page is the web version of a guidebook that my bonus daughter, Peggy Wells, has written to help the reader select the best fruits and vegetables for your garden in the Gulf Coast Region. Until now, this guide has only been available in hard copy or digital format. The information contained here is so useful that we decided to make it readily available.

You will learn more about why Peggy decided to write this guide in the Introduction. Following the Introduction, you will find lists of the variety names for the Fruits and Vegetables that Peggy has found to be “tried and true” and is recommending as most suitable for our region. The information there is in both image form (which you can save and print) and in a drop-down list.

The items in the other sections of The Tables of Contents below are self-explanatory. Don’t miss the very special final one, Peggy’s Spring and Fall Vegetable Planting Guide Chart, which contains an image that can also be saved and printed.

We hope you will enjoy the read.

Judy Dye

Introduction

Gardening in the Gulf Coast Region can be a real challenge, especially for someone new to the area. Here, we are much more inclined to suffer extreme heat and subsequent drought periods than just about any other area in the United States. With a fairly long hurricane season, global warming, El Nino and urban sprawl contributing to our struggle, gardening has become even more complex in the new millennium. Strong winds, hail and pounding rain from a hurricane, tropical storm squalls or a good thunderstorm can devastate the best-tended garden in record time.

Oh yes, we do occasionally experience the sudden freezes that seem to last long enough to damage our tender Tropicals or newly transplanted tomatoes before the temperature climbs back up to 87 degrees. Temperature fluctuations of 40 degrees in a matter of a few hours are not uncommon along the Gulf Coast.

Still, all the challenges of weather, bugs and weeds don’t stop the die-hard gardeners that are environmentally concerned and determined to make the world a greener place, or those who are committed to feeding their family fresh, homegrown organic (I hope) vegetables and fruits. These same challenges don’t stop the Wildlife Gardener from replanting the butterfly or bird garden that was washed away in last night’s rain.

I am sure most of you are familiar with the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Reference is made to this map in my guidebook since it a very useful guide when buying seeds or plants if you are concerned about the MINIMUM temperature at which a particular plant will survive. All the seed packets/plants show this reference, as do the plant/seed order catalogs. If you use this information as your guide, you can grow just about anything in this area – right?? WRONG!!!

I have learned three valuable lessons in my years of Gulf Coast gardening:

One: Minimum temperatures are not my major concern Maximum temperatures and sun exposure are more important.
Two: Planting times recommended in the catalogs or on seed packets and plants from nurseries are frequently intended for the northern climates, hot the Gulf Coast area. Why? Many wholesale nurseries and seed/plant suppliers are located in the north and northeast and their marketing is focused on areas that experience milder summers and harsher winters than the Gulf Coast.
Three: Most retailers in the Gulf Coast area do not carry any of the varieties of vegetable or fruit seed or plants that are BEST suited to this region. Those that do carry them often have only a limited selection.

Oh yes – I guess I should add a fourth thing I have learned; When the tag or packet says to “Grow in Full Sun”, they darn sure aren’t talking about TEXAS SUN!!

Many gardeners, particularly beginners, do not know the names of the best, tested varieties for growing in the Gulf Coast Region. Having those names, you can evaluate the choices available to you locally or use the vast resources of the internet to search for a supplier. Hence the idea for this guidebook was born. If, like me, you have carefully tended many seeds or plants only to watch them promptly die, this book was written to guide you through the pitfalls.
The information contained in this booklet will help you to make better, more productive purchase decisions. If you are new to gardening in the Gulf Coast, you will discover one important thing (if you haven’t already!): Forget most of what you knew about gardening elsewhere in the United States – you are in for a bumpy but rewarding ride on the Gulf Coast!

I recently discussed the need for this vital information with a gardening expert from Houston. The expert said that many seminars and classes are offered which provide the information found in these pages. I do not dispute that – I have attended a few such events and they are valuable. By all means, learn all that you can. But if you are like me and your time is sacred, you would probably prefer to have this source book to guide you as you buy, then spend the time you save out in your garden.

You’ll find below a compact reference guide to get you growing with the best varieties available, ones that are tested and proven to be real winners in our gardens. When you use this guide, bear in mind that while new hybrids are introduced every year, this guide lists those standbys that have been relied on for years and years in the Gulf Coast. You will find them listed below.

Best Vegetables for the Gulf Coast Region and Best Fruits for the Gulf Coast Region.

I have devoted a section of this guide to Fall Gardening. Some natives know that fall can be our very best growing season; the days are shorter, the sun moves farther away, the earth is slowly cooling, and the growing season is longer than in the spring. This guidebook provides a chart of recommended planting dates for both spring and fall gardens. Remember – when you plant can be as important as what you plant.

A few words about the Heat Index Map:
The American Horticultural Society developed this map specifically for all the reasons I have mentioned. The information this map provides is as vital along the Gulf Coast as the Cold Hardiness Map is to other parts of the country, and it is oh so useful to us!
May you have a bountiful harvest!

Peggy Dye Wells

Best Vegetables for the Gulf Coast Region

Best Vegetables:

Pages: Click to Show or Hide

Click on a category of vegetable to expand or collapse list of varieties.

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Best Fruits for the Gulf Coast Region

Best Fruits:

Pages: Click to Show or Hide

Click on a category of fruit to expand or collapse its list of varieties.

Fall Gardening

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Many would argue that fall in Texas is a much better growing season than spring. Anyone who is new to our climate would probably not understand this. Let me explain; First of all, when you live in an area that receives an average 120 days a year of temperatures above 86 degrees, you figure that is going to essentially be from spring through summer. Not that we don’t get above 86 degrees in the fall (even in the winter), but spring turns to summer in a flash and then we get those grueling temperatures until mid to late September, so we actually have a pretty short growing season in the spring in Texas.

An advantage to having a fall/winter garden is a little longer growing season, the temperatures are a little cooler, the sun won’t scorch your vegetables, the days are a little shorter, the danger of frost is still a distance away, pests are on the decline – and you can bear to get outside again to work in your garden.

(We’re trying to create a more pleasing display – please skip this test table.)

Texas Summer

The following was floating around on the internet a while back, and still is Oh So True!

• You discover in July it only takes two fingers to drive your car.
• You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.
• You make sun tea instantly.
• You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
• You notice the best parking place is determined by shade, not distance.
• Hotter water comes from the cold water tap than the hot one.
• It’s noon in July, kids are on summer vacation and not one person is moving on the streets.
• Sunscreen is sold year-round and kept at the front of the checkout counter.
• A formula less than 30SPF is a joke and you only wear that to go to the corner store.
• Hot air balloons can’t go up.
• No one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car.
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear: What if I get knocked out and lay on the pavement and cook to death?
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

Need I say more?

Listed below are vegetables you can plant in the fall that should do as well as (if not better than) those planted in the spring:

Be sure to refer to this chart for the recommended planting dates for fall gardens: (Vegetable Garden Planting Guide.)

Disease Resistant Variety Codes

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• V – Resists Verticillium wilt
• F – Resists Fusarium wilt
• N – Resists Nematodes
• T – Resists Tobacco Mosaic Virus

When you purchase seeds or plants, these symbols are included in the name of the vegetable/fruit. For example: “Big Boy VFN“, etc.

These codes are going to be found only on hybridized seeds. If you save seeds from hybrids and replant them, chances are they won’t “come true” or be like the original plant, which means they will probably be inferior.

By comparison, seeds from inbred varieties can be saved and successfully replanted.

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

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The usefulness of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map for making climate-appropriate plant selections is widely known and accepted. Plant and seed suppliers typically include the USDA zone designation with plants they market. The zone or zones designated as appropriate for your plant can be located on this map. These zones are the areas in North America where the minimum temperatures do not drop below the degree that your plant can tolerate.

AHS Plant Heat-Zone Map

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The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map has good information, no doubt, but we have long contended that gardeners along the Gulf Coast have an even greater need to be informed about the MAXIMUM temperatures specific plants will tolerate. Heat stress can damage a plant as much as the cold can – it is just a slower process.

The American Horticultural Society (AHS), in cooperation with Meteorological Evaluation Services Co., Inc., has compiled years of data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) to create the plant Heat-Zone Map seen above. This map contains precisely the heat tolerance information that is so important to Gulf Coast gardeners. Increasingly, the plants and seeds you purchase are likely to be classified both by their Hardiness Zone and by their Heat Zone.

Please note that the AHS Heat-Zone map assumes the disignated plant is receiving adequate water at its roots. High Gulf Coast temperatures cause rapid evaporation, therefore good mulching and soil preparation practices are essential for successful green gardening in the Gulf Coast region.

Spring and Fall Vegetable Planting Guide

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Included below is a compact, comprehensive guide to spring and fall vegetable gardening in the Gulf Coast Region, Zones 7-11. This chart contains the following information for a list of common garden vegetables:

• Amount to plant
• Planting depth
• Plant spacing
• Plant height
• Planting time for spring and fall
• Maturation time
• Harvest season length
• Average yield

Seed packets and catalogs pertain to such a wide range of growing conditions that the information they contain is somewhat bewildering. When making your seed and plant choices, it will help you to know the following terminology.

Determinate vs. Indeterminate: A plant is determinate if it produces all of its fruit in a short period of time and then stops. A plant is indeterminate if it grows and bears continuously until frost.

Bush vs. Pole: A bush variety grows low and compact while a pole variety grows long and usually needs support.

Direct-Sow: A seed labeled direct-sow should be planted and allowed to germinate where it will grow (no transplanting).

Cool-Season: These plants grow well in spring or fall and do poorly in the summer heat.

In my many years of gardening, I have found that some of life’s greatest pleasures come from starting my own seedlings. While preparing this guidebook for release, I started a bunch of seeds indoors. By all means, try this at least once in your life. Like me, you will come to understand that knowledge and true pleasure will be the fruits of your experience!

Spring and Fall Vegetable Planting Guide Chart

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Acknowledgements

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Thanks to:

• Texas Department of Agriculture
• The American Horticultural Society
• Texas A&M University
• Harris County Extension Agency
• U.S. Department of Agriculture