Things That Thrive in July!

The temperature every day hovers between 90 and 100, at night it rarely gets below 80°.   It rains every day, and then the sun shines, creating a steamy humid soup. When you wake up in the morning, your windows are fogged up with condensation from the humidity, even at 5 a.m.  In north Florida, and pretty much anywhere in the Southeast, this is how it is in July. 

All the tomatoes are gone except a few hardy cherry varieties.  The summer squash is long gone, The peppers are still hanging on, but they’re not blooming.  You’ve harvested your last green bean and your last ear of corn. The okra requires that you go into a hot garden every day to harvest, and the best eggplants have been picked and eaten.  Spending time in the garden is a hot sweaty ordeal.

There are some plants which make those ordeals worthwhile. Most any type of cowpeas will thrive at this time of year and it’s not too late to plant them. Keep up with your okra and your eggplants and they’ll continue to produce throughout the summer and into fall. Nurture your peppers and as soon as the weather cools a little, they’ll start producing again. 

Pictured below are some other plants which will reward you with refreshing flavors and trouble-free gardening. Many of them are perennials which come back every year with no help from you. How much easier can it get?

Thai Ginger (Alpinia galangal)

Galangal blooms.  The leaves can
be used to wrap fish or vegetables
for steaming and the rhizomes 
are used much like culinary ginger. 

Native Dune Sunflower (Helianthus 
debilis) blooms all summer,
comes back every year,
and attracts and feeds helpful 
insects

Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia) provides
a wall of blooms along the edge of the garden

Dune sunflowers surround the
pole holding Purple Martin gourds.

Pole beans and a tropical cucumber relative

French Marigolds provide ground cover
and fight nematodes

Gulf fritillaries and many other insects love the Tithonia.   Here they find food, habitat, and prey.  

Okinawa spinach, another heat-loving 
perennial. 

Asparagus provides a wispy contrast
to other garden plants as it stores up
energy for its spring harvest of shoots.

Sochan or Cherokee Greens
(Rudbeckia laciniata) provides
fresh or cooked greens all summer

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus
tuberosus)  This is a
smaller variety – Dwarf Sunray.
Rhizomes provide crunch to 
salads and stir fries.  

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
grows under the partial
shade of a Loquat tree. Use a 
small knob of the rhizomes in
smoothies; reported to
reduce inflammation. 

Chayote (Sechium edule)
completely covers a large trellis.  
The mild light green fruit can be 
used like summer squash.

Culinary Ginger
(Zingiber officinale)

Comfrey blooms

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Feeds pollinators and accumulates 
minerals from deep in the soil.  

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) a type of gourd.
We are always amazed when the
melons appear.  The red flesh around the 
seeds is moist and slightly sweet.  Younger green melons are used
in stir fries and Asian stews. 

Native Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) is a

pollinator plant that blooms from spring until frost,  

populated by a large variety of bees, butterflies and
helpful flies and wasps.  It is also a legume, harvesting
nitrogen from the atmosphere for itself and surrounding plants