GARDENING
by Jack Hardy
This is the mature point of the vegetable growing season. In other words, it's all downhill from here.
We can expect a few more months of production, especially from established plants, but we must begin to think about summer conditions. Those vegetable seeds specially produced for tropical regions are the ones we should depend upon from here on in. Most cherry tomato varieties do well in summer conditions and it's now I start to sow them, along with Summertaste, a proven tropical tomato from Yates Seed Company. Most sweet pepper plants will last into summer. Eggplant is another trooper that will, with care, give reduced but useful crops.
February is often quoted as the prime month for watermelon sowing. Summer heat is required for full ripening and sweetness and seeds sown now will have warmth in abundance.
Kept some of those Christmas poinsettias? Prune them severely and plant them in full sun where they will need at least 6 feet of space to flex their muscles. Although we value poinsettias for their seasonal show, their leaves make fine shrubbery throughout the summer months.
If you haven't pruned your sugar apple and soursop trees, do it now before the springtime surge. Fruit is only produced on new branches and pruning Annonas encourages new growth.
If you are planting flowering beds for summer, choose the old established favourites like petunias, vincas, zinnias, cosmos and pentas. TheyÕll give you good shows without much maintenance and heartbreak. Don't forget, you impatiens lovers, that New Guinea varieties with darker leaves are tolerant of our summer heat. Dark leafed begonia plants are also more tolerant of heat then green-leafed varieties.
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