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16 Vegetables and Herbs to Plant in July

by Posted in Kitchen Renovation

July is not too late to plant garden vegetables and herbs despite the wrong perception. Many edibles, including vegetables and herbs, can be planted even up to late in the month. It’s a great time for planting since temperatures are more moderate and rainfall is still abundant.

Here are some of the garden vegetables and herbs you may want to plant in your vegetable garden during July:

1. Green Beans

Green beans are a common fixture in many gardeners’ summertime tables. Because they grow quickly, they can be planted in warm weather, unlike their counterparts pole beans. Many bush beans have a maturity date of only 60 to 70 days, meaning that planting early in July will be ready to go no later than mid-September. If you have a late first frost date, then planting at the end of July will give you a great harvest.


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2. Beets

Beets are a great vegetable to plant in July. They have a long growing season and can be harvested until the first frost. Beet seeds are small and should be planted 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows 18 inches apart. You have lots of time for planting beet plants in early to mid July in zone 4. These root vegetables are cold hardy and taste even better after the cool weather starts in the fall.

3. Summer Squash

Plant summer squash seeds in well-drained fertile soil that has been amended with compost or other organic matter. This is a hot weather loving plant that you can start in your garden in zones 9 and 10.  Plant the seedlings 12 inches apart and water regularly. The flowers should pollinate themselves, so you don’t have to worry about bees.

Summer Squash
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There are different types of squash that are beginner-friendly. You can plant zucchini, pattypan, and crookneck squash in July and still get a good harvest in late summer and fall. Zucchini planted in early July will start producing in early September until frost kills off the plants. You will have a smaller harvest than spring plantings but you’ll have fewer problems with garden pests.

4. Cucumbers

Cucumbers like rich, well-drained soil and do best when the pH level is between 6.0 and 7.0. Space the plants 24 to 36 inches apart in rows 6 feet apart. You can plant cucumber seeds in July, but you’ll get an earlier harvest if you transplant seedlings that have been started indoors or purchase plants from a garden center. A second planting at this time of the year will yield a small early fall crop.

Cucumbers
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Water the plants regularly, but don’t over-water them, especially when the fruit is developing. Cucumbers are very sensitive to an uneven water supply. Look for varieties that produce early, and make sure you plant them in full sun. You may also provide frost protection in the early fall.

5. Green Onions

Green onions are a cool-weather crop that can be planted in early July. You can plant the seeds in rows or clusters, and they don’t need to be spaced very far apart. The plants will grow best if you keep the soil moist but not wet. They can tolerate light frosts and continue to grow until the temperature drops too low.

Green Onions
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While it’s too late to plant bulb onions, you still have a lot of time for growing green onions. These onions are ready to harvest in only 60 days, but you can harvest them sooner. You can also use the cut and come again to cut off the greens and let the plant regrow. This is a bit faster than starting new onions by seed.

6. Kale and Swiss Chard

These two vegetables are similar; they can be used interchangeably in most recipes. Both plants grow well during the summer and provide you with small green leaves to eat through September and October. The plants can surprise you by producing delicious yellow flowers and later red berries.

Plant it by seed or transplant in July, and it will be ready to start harvesting baby greens in just a few weeks. But if you want the sweetest leaves, wait until the fall after a few light frosts have touched it. This makes the leaves taste super sweet.

7. Carrots

It’s never too late to plant carrots in your garden. These vegetables will mature in about 70-80 days and can be stored in the ground over winter to be harvested as needed. They are a great source of beta carotene, vitamin A, and fiber. 

Carrots
Image credit: https://www.almanac.com/

Plant them by seed or transplant in early July, and they will be ready to start harvesting. Keep the soil good and moist as it can dry out quickly in the summer heat. Choose carrot varieties that mature in 60 days so you can have late summer and early fall harvest. Carrot seed will germinate faster in warm soil but mature in cool fall temperatures, providing you with super sweet carrots to enjoy.

8. Sweet Corn

July is the time to plant sweet corn in your fall garden. These vegetables will mature in about 60 days and can be stored in the ground over winter to be harvested as needed. They are a great source of dietary fiber, thiamin, and vitamin B6. Sweet corn loves heat, so a crop planted in early July will quickly start if you keep it well-watered. Early harvest goes with a 60-day variety, and you’ll have sweet corn starting in early September.

9. Peppermint Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is a veggie garden superstar that thrives in the spring, summer, fall garden, and even longer with a cold frame or tunnel protection. It’s perfect for pots, gardens, and electric pink and white striped stems topped with deep green, ruffly foliage. Plant a fresh crop in mid summer for loads of baby leaves in early autumn to late some plants mature for a late-season harvest.

Peppermint Swiss Chard
Image credit: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/

10. Market Express Baby Turnip

This fast-maturing turnip is bred for high yields of uniform, golf ball size roots. The skin is thin, and the flesh is creamy white and well textured. They are delicious when eaten raw and fresh from the garden or used in salads, slaws, and stir-fries. They thrive in late summer and early fall gardens.

11. Radishes

There are several types of radishes: spring, summer, daikon, black, and China rose. The most common type is the spring radish, a small, round, red root that can be eaten raw or cooked. Summer radishes are larger than spring radishes and have white or pale green skin with a crisp, white flesh.

They are perfect for eating raw or added to salads. Daikon radishes are large, white, and tapered with a mild flavor. They are often used in stir-fries, soups, and pickles. Black radishes are small, round, and black with a peppery flavor.

12. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a yam that can grow up to two feet. They have a dark green exterior and creamy white flesh inside. Sweet potatoes can tolerate light shade, but sunny areas produce the best yields. You can also grow sweet potato plants in pots if you want better yields during this season.

13. Imperial Green Spinach

Imperial Green spinach is one of the best leafy greens that grow best in the heat of summer. It has thick, dark green leaves for salad greens or cooking. It’s an excellent choice for late summer sowing as the plants are both heat tolerant and bolt resistant. They are also resistant to common spinach diseases like downy mildew. The deep green, arrowed shaped leaves are held upright on sturdy stems, making picking a snap.

14. Bulldog Collard Greens

Bulldog collard greens are a very flavorful variety of collard greens. The plants grow 2 to 3 feet tall and have many large, strong leaves. They are resistant to heat, shade, insects, and disease, making them extremely easy to grow. 

They can tolerate almost any condition; they even tolerate some flooding. Direct seed in the garden or give plants a head start indoors under grow lights, moving them to the garden about 50 days before the first fall frost.

15. Lettuce

In late July, lettuce is a cool-weather crop that can be directly seeded in the garden. Sow lettuce seeds thinly in rows and then thin to 8-12 inches apart. Lettuce varieties include romaine, butterhead, iceberg, and looseleaf.

16. Peas

Peas are a great choice to start in July for a fall harvest in zone 3. Opt for snow peas because they can be harvested any size and sooner than shell peas. Peas planted in the summer will yield half of what you normally get from spring-planted pea if you have shortfalls. So keep that in mind when planting and double the amount for larger yields.

FAQs about Vegetables and Herbs to Plant in July

Is July too late to plant vegetables and herbs?

No, July is a great time to plant vegetables and herbs. Many cool-weather crops can be planted in July, including lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage.

How late can you grow cucumbers?

You can grow cucumbers from late spring to late fall, depending on your climate. They need plenty of room in the garden, so if you’re lacking space, plant them on raised beds, trellis or try compact bush varieties.

Final Thought about Vegetables and Herbs to Plant in July

As you can see, there are many vegetables and herbs that you can still plant in July. You’ll enjoy fresh vegetables during the fall months with time to harvest.

 

The post 16 Vegetables and Herbs to Plant in July appeared first on Kitchen Infinity.

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12 Shrubs with White Flowers

by Posted in Kitchen Services

Are you looking for plants to brighten your dark spaces? Well, white flowering shrubs may be the perfect solution for you. Not only do they look great in your garden, but also produce a wonderful fragrance.

As an element design, these white flowering shrubs convey purity and they’re often used as the foundation for moon gardens, designed to be enjoyed in the evening. Some flowering shrubs are even valued for the spring color they bring to the garden. 

Here are 10 common shrubs with white flowers:

1. Japanese Andromeda

Japanese Andromeda is a flowering shrub that can grow up to 5 feet tall, with white flowers. It’s very fragrant and looks great when combined with other plants. The plant can also be shaped into a hedge or it can be grown as a single specimen. 


Image credit: https://www.gardenia.net/

This is a white flowering shrub with drooping clusters of small bell-shaped flowers. The early spring blooming shrub white clusters look like lily of the valley flowers. The benefits of growing this plant include evergreen foliage offering winter interest, leaves that offer attractive red color and an early bloom period.

Also known as Japanese Pieris, this evergreen flowering shrub grows between 9 and 12 feet tall and up to 8 feet wide. To enjoy the attractive white flowering shrubs, grow Japanese Andromeda in full sun to partial shade. With the right care, this shrub will indeed form part of your gorgeous flower garden

2. Rose of Sharon

Also known as Althea, this is a large shrub or small tree that typically grows 8 to 12 feet tall but takes pruning well. It blooms from mid-summer to frost, with clusters of trumpet-shaped white flowers. 

Rose of Sharon
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This is a hibiscus to grow if others fail you. And if you want an earlier show, try one of the cultivars with variegated foliage. This upright shrub brings late-season color to the yard, making it a darling to many gardeners. Honeybees also love their big flowers.

3. Annabelle Hydrangea

Annabelle hydrangea is a summer bloomer that will flourish with dozens of large, bushy bloomers comprising a multitude of smaller, delicate blooms of any hydrangea. Annabelle hydrangea is loved by gardeners because its blooms are quite large and last from early summer through autumn. It prefers full sun to part shade and blooms well in zones 3 to 7.

4. Mock Orange

The mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius) is an easy to grow shrub that is perfect for novice gardeners. This shrub grows in zones 4 through 8 and blooms heavily in early to midsummer with clusters of sweetly fragrant white flowers. It does best in full sun but can tolerate light shade.

Mock Orange
Image credit: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/

Smooth mock orange can become overgrown quickly, so a rejuvenation pruning and hard pruning that cuts the bush back low to the ground is a good idea every few years. Soil needs include well drained and loamy soil while it thrives in full sun to part shade.

5. White Lilac Bushes

Lilacs (Syringa) are popular shrub choices for the garden due to their beautiful, long-lasting flowers and strong fragrance. They are an early flowering shrub that offers up large blooms in spring.

Lilacs flower in shades of white, pink and purple depending on the variety, with both single and double blooms available. White lilac flowers grow up to 8 feet long.

White Lilac Bushes
Image credit: https://www.pahls.com/

The white flowering lilac shrubs grow between 8 and 15 feet tall and up to 12 feet wide. Large lilac shrubs are ideal for summer privacy screens or hedges. If you have a small garden or container garden, opt for beautiful white blossoms of various dwarf varieties of lilac.

6. Korean Spice Viburnum

Korean spice viburnum is an example of a shrub that boasts of early spring flowers and fall colors. It has pink buds that open to become clusters of white flowers. It’s named after its fragrance, which contains a combination of sweetness and sharpness. 

You can opt to grow doublefile viburnum if you don’t like the touch of pink that its white flowers retain. The doublefile type has white pure flowers but lacks the scent of Korean spice.

Yearly feeding with an acid-enhanced fertilizer will help improve its flowering if your soil lacks the acidity preferred by Korean spice viburnum. Mulching the base of the shrub with pine needles can also improve soil acidity. USDA growing zones 4 to 7 and prefers average, moist soil, acidic and well draining soil.

7. White Spirea Shrubs

White spirea shrubs are deciduous shrubs that typically have a height and spread of 3 to 4 feet. They have arching branches with white flowers in late spring to early summer. The flowers are followed by fruit which is attractive to birds. 

White Lilac Bushes
Image credit: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/

Some outstanding white blooming spirea varieties include garland spirea, bridal wreath spirea and Korean spirea. With their abundant white flower clusters, they brighten up spring and summer gardens. 

The upright, rounded shrubs grow between 3 and 9 feet tall, depending on the variety. If you’re growing in containers, consider varieties such as spirea thunbergia, birchleaf spirea and white meadowsweet spirea. Their soil requirements range from medium moisture soil to well draining soil and do well in full sun.

8. Camellia Shrubs with White Flowers

The Japanese camellia is a broadleaf evergreen with showy white flowers that bloom from late until early spring. The early blooming double flowers grow 3 feet to 6 feet wide and consist of up to 2o tightly growing petals in a peony flower like shape. Their stunning flowers complement the lush foliage.

Species of the white flowering shrubs grow various sizes of showy flowers with some being as small as 1.5 feet. The shrubs with their white flowers grow well in containers and shrub borders create beautiful fragrant flowers.

9. Azaleas

Azaleas are another class of abundant white blooming shrubs that are ideal for garden borders or hedges. They bloom in early spring or late spring, depending on the variety. The great white varieties include Northern hi lights, Pleasant White, Delaware Valley White, Cascade White and Bloom a Thon White.

Azaleas
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Hardiness zones and sizes depend on variety as some are suitable for most climates from zones 3 to 9 and from sizes ranging from 2 to 3 feet to 15 feet. Azaleas are excellent in woodland settings. 

Their foliage is unremarkable after the flowers have faded, although some varieties have pleasing fall colors. Unless your soil has the natural acidity preferred by azaleas, feed them with an acid-enhanced fertilizer formulated for acid-loving plants such as rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas.

Their color varieties range from white, lavender, purple, orange, peach, pink and red. Grow this plant in full sun to part shade and soil needs include rich, medium moisture and well drained soil. It also prefers acidic soil.

10. Hibiscus Syriacus

This plant is a deciduous shrub that typically grows 6 to 10 feet tall and as wide. It has an upright growth habit with arching branches. White flowering shrubs with yellow centers appear in late summer to early fall. Plant in partial sun to part shade and soil that is moist, well-drained, and has some organic matter.

11. Snows of Kilimanjaro

This plant is a large tropical shrub that typically grows 6 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 16feet wide. It has an upright growth habit with arching branches. White flowers with yellow centers appear in late summer to early fall. 

As a member of the Euphorbia genus, it’s related to that Christmas favorite. Its alternate common name is known as little Christmas flower. As with poinsettias, flowering comes into bloom as days shorten. When the fragrant white flowers emerge, the bush reminds of a giant snowball.

To promote that snowball look, give the plant a severe pruning back in early spring, then another in early summer. When pruning, make sure you wear gloves because you may be allergic to its milky sap. It Grows in zones 10 to 13 and prefers full sun to part shade. Soil needs include medium moisture to well drained soil.

12. Dwarf Deutzia

This plant also has a great look for the winter months. Its leaves are smaller and more along those of perennials. The flowers will emerge in spring as do those from the shrub form. 

Dwarf Deutzia
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What makes it special despite being a shrub is that it can function as a ground cover because it stays so short and is wider than it is tall, approximately 2 feet tall with a spread of 5 feet. It’s a late spring bloomer with small but fragrant bell-shaped flowers. 

The foliage on the dwarf variety turns an attractive burgundy in the fall. It needs regular pruning because their branches are fairly short-lived. Soil needs include medium moisture soil and good tolerance for clay soil. Grows in hardiness zones 5 to 8 and thrives in full sun to part shade.

FAQs about Recommended White Flowering Shrubs

What is a shrub with white flowers?

Pieris Japonica, also known as the Japanese Andromeda, is another evergreen, spring-blooming shrub with white flowers and a beautiful scent. It’s easy to grow and has the added benefit of being deer resistant.

Why do these shrubs have white flowers?

The shrubs with white flowers have this color because they contain a lot of anthocyanins. This is a type of pigment that is responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors found in many flowers and fruits. These white flowers enable them to light up a garden in the springtime.

Final Thought on Recommended Shrubs with White Flowers

As you can see, there are several shrubs that can help brighten your garden in the springtime. If you’re looking for plants that will bloom white flowers, then be sure to consider these options. Not only are they beautiful, but they’re also easy to grow and maintain. So, what are you waiting for? Start planting today!

 

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