WHAT TO PLANT
(Mid Elevations)
Vegetables—Sow cool-season crops that will continue producing until next spring, such as beets, carrots, chard, kale, lettuce, onions, radishes, spinach and turnips. Set out transplants for cabbage and cauliflower.

(High Elevations)
Vegetables—Sow seeds for quick-maturing salad ingredients, such as baby carrots, chard, kale, leaf lettuce, radishes and spinach. Because they mature so quickly, radishes are a fun choice for gardening with children. Choose radishes in varied colors (reds, pinks, whites and black), shapes (small and round, large and round like beets, or carrot-like) and flavors (hot to mild). The ‘Easter Egg’ blend (available at botanicalinterests.com) offers round, multicolored radishes that mature in 30 days.

(Mid and High Elevations)
Trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers,grasses, cacti, succulents and perennials—Continue transplanting during the monsoon season.

Trees to improve energy efficiency—Add a deciduous tree on south- or west-facing sides of the home to reduce energy bills for heating and cooling. In summer, the tree’s leafy canopy shades the house. After foliage drops with cold weather, winter sun shines through bare branches to warm it. Choosing trees with mature heights and widths that won’t outgrow their locations is essential.

Deciduous trees appropriate for a wide range of growing conditions at mid elevations include Arizona or velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina), littleleaf ash (F. greggii), desert willow, honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), Mexican redbud, ornamental flowering pear (Pyrus calleryana), and Texas red oak. Deciduous trees for high elevations include ‘Autumn Blaze’ maple, gambel oak (slow growing), honey locust, and ‘Purple Robe’ locust. Other deciduous choices include apple trees, such as ‘Earligold’ and ‘Red Astrachan’ at mid elevations, and ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Sweet Sixteen’ at high elevations.

Wildflower meadow—Select a native wildflower seed mix that is suitable for your
region. The Mogollon Rim wildflower mix from Wild Seed in Tempe, Ariz., includes aster, blue flax, coreopsis, goldeneye, gold-pea, Indian blanket flower, locoweed, Mexican hat, purple coneflower, Rocky Mountain penstemon, Shasta daisy, skyrocket, tall verbena and yarrow. Request the firm’s  seed list and order form by calling (602) 276-3536.

GARDEN MAINTENANCE
(Mid and High Elevations)
Create a sustainable landscape—Learn how to design an earth-friendly landscape at the 11th-Annual Arizona Highlands Garden Conference—“Sustainable Gardening for Homes & Communities”—held in Payson, Ariz., on Aug. 28. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners from Coconino, Gila and Yavapai counties sponsor the event. Registration and agenda details can be found at extension.arizona.edu/events/arizona-highlands-garden-conference-2010.

Add a cistern to save rainwater—Rooftops and rain gutters collect and channel rainwater to cisterns for storage to water plants during dry spells. A relatively small
1,000-square-foot roof (called a catchment surface) can funnel up to 600 gallons to storage during a 1-inch rainfall. For details, see Harvesting Rainwater for
Landscape Use at ag.arizona.edu/pubs/water/
az1052.

Deadhead and harvest regularly—Re-move spent flowers and harvest vegetables while young and tender. This will encourage more blooms and crop production into cooler weather.