Bright Orange Nasturtium by Audreyjm529
A month or so a go I received a reader question which went something like this: “I have a brown thumb. What can I grow in my Arizona garden.” From, Melissa in the Desert.
Melissa, I’m happy to report that there are lots and lots of things you can grow in your Arizona Garden. Since I know you are concerned about your gardening abilities, let’s start with something easy.
Easy Flowers for Arizona
Nasturtiums are one of the easiest annual flowers to grow. They actually prefer poor soil and they are edible, if you like things peppery. According to what I’ve read, they will grow just fine in your Arizona garden. Nasturtium seeds can be planted from August to October in Arizona. Marigolds are another easy choice. Some varieties of marigold flowers can be eaten. Neither of these plants are native, which I usually prefer, but they are both easy, useful choices.
Vegetable Growing in Arizona
If you want to try an easy vegetable, I’d recommend waiting until September and trying lettuce and/or anything in the cabbage family. A fairly wide range of vegetable seeds can be sown in Arizona in the late summer and early fall. You can find a full list of suitable flowers and vegetables and information on how to grow them in the Phoenix Gardening Calendar.
Soil Preparation
I remember you also asked about soil preparation and whether you could do container gardening, because your soil is so hard to work. The nasturtiums should grow happily in whatever soil you have. The vegetables will be more particular. In my experience it is difficult to be successful growing plants in containers in a hot and arid climate. My own back deck is a sun trap and too hot to keep the soil moist, even with the use of special potting compost mixes.
Plant Into Pots in the Ground
My best suggestion is to get one or two large terracotta pots (here is a link to a local store which sells them) to use but rather than sitting them on the surface of the ground, dig them in so that the rim ends up at ground level. You can fill them with potting compost as you would if they were above the ground. Once the seeds germinate you can mulch the compost surface to help keep the soil moist. This is what I’d do for container gardening here and I think it should work for you.
Learning to Garden
Your next step up would be to learn no-till gardening. Since that is more work perhaps you’d appreciate some success first using the pots. To really learn to garden it’s important to find some local people to learn from, to swap seeds and plants with, and to take your questions to. You might consider contacting a gardening club and you can find one through The Arizona Garden Clubs. Another great source of information is the University of Arizona Extension Service.
Melissa, before you it know your brown thumb will develop a little tinge of green and then you’ll have flowers and food from your garden.
If you enjoyed this you might like:
- The Edible Flower Garden – includes information on both nasturtiums and marigolds, with recipes.
- Good Gardening
- Beansprouts in a Jar – a gardening project anyone can manage. They’re tasty and nutritious too!
Reader questions are welcomed. I don’t give any guarantees on how quickly I will respond, but I will respond.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!! As you know, I’m in Arizona and I have a brown thumb but the kiddos have been really wanting to get a garden started. Our soil is not very plant friendly but I love the idea of burying the terracotta pots! I’ve been telling the kids we’ll plant soon, it looks like I was right since you’ve mentioned September.
I’ll have to take some pictures of the process and fingers crossed my brown thumb turns green(er).
Great idea to take pictures. I look forward to seeing some
You might get yourself a watering can too when you’re out getting the pots. I fill mine up inside any time I’m running the water hot and this gives me enough water to use every day — no waste! Those seeds will need regular watering at first.