Bob Randall’s tips for gardening in global warming

1. Grow your own food — even if it’s just a single pot of lettuce on a balcony. Food gardening cuts your carbon footprint. It sharpens your awareness of the natural world. And it’s a good way to fight depression about global warming.

2. If you’re a longtime gardener, accept that the timehonored planting dates you used 10 years ago may no longer work for certain crops. If old reliables, such as corn or lettuce, are now failing year after year, ask yourself: Is it because the average temperature is too high for germination, pollination, or some other crucial stage of plant life? Adjust your planting schedule accordingly.

3. To cope with both flooding and droughts, add a pond or rain garden to your yard. During heavy storms, it will store rainwater. And over time, it will release it into the water table below your yard, keeping deep roots happy for months to come.

4. When doing your long-term planning, remember that Houston’s summer is hard both on plants and people. Plan to do as little hard outdoor work in your garden in the hot months as possible. Water with a soaker hose and automated timer. Plant cover crops to recharge the soil and keep out weeds.

5. Plant what grows well here in the warming subtropics — even if it means trying new foods or plants. Citrus trees, blackberries, figs and persimmons grow especially well here. And even in the dead of August, you can harvest crops such as longbeans, tindora perennial cucumbers and leaf amaranth.