COLUMBIA, S.C. — Spring can be a difficult season for gardeners in the southeast. The season typically starts with frost threats and ends with extreme heat with occasional severe weather in between. It’s a gamble whether plants will thrive or fizzle in the spring, but this year was very kind to our plants.
Temperatures ran above average in March which eliminated the chance for any severe cold. April temperatures were near average with near average rainfall and May temperatures were below average and the second wettest on record for Columbia. The COVID-19 pandemic gave gardeners more time to work outside in the yard and now those efforts are paying off.
RELATED: Social distancing in the garden
In March, we demonstrated how to plant seeds to keep the kids busy during stay at home orders. Those seeds have become mature plants now with fruits and flowers. The cherry tomatoes started from seed reached over 5-feet-tall by June and have plenty of green fruits on them ready to turn red in a few weeks. The squash were planted into the ground in April and two months later they’ve produced dozens of fruit and are growing about a foot in length each week. The mammoth sunflowers are living up to its name. The blooms are perched more than 10 feet above the ground. They truly have the best view in the garden!
Winter favorites like peas and lettuce did fantastic in early spring, but started to fade in our garden later in the month. Even in a mild spring, temperatures are too warm to sustain those winter greens for long, but there were some surprising winter plants that continue to thrive. The kale, planted in February, is doing fantastic and the Swiss Chard, planted back in October, continues to push out delicious leafy greens. Broccoli seeds, planted in January, didn’t start producing until May, and continued to grow florets into June. Now that we’re reaching the last half of June, the broccoli are showing signs of flowering, marking the end of their growing season.
Early spring is still too cold to start heat loving plants like watermelon so those were not sown until mid-April. The Yellow Flesh Watermelon and Charleston Grey are producing just two months from the seed pack! Among six plants there are eight nice sized melons growing bigger each day. During our cool weather in mid-June the watermelon fruit started growing noticeably slower, but there’s no doubt there will be plenty of heat to keep these plants thriving!
As we go into the summer, heat and humidity will be a challenge for crops like tomatoes and squash, but there are plenty of heat loving crops - like bananas, eggplant, and the watermelon – that will be interesting to watch as summer progresses!
News19 would love to see how your garden has grown this spring. Has COVID-19 changed your backyard for better or worse? Join our Facebook group, WLTX Gandy’s Gardeners to share your experience. You might see your yard in a future story!