November gardening tips
Trees and shrubs: Plant desert-adapted trees, such as Arizona ash, cascalote, chaste tree, Chinese pistache, sweet acacia, cassia, mesquite, palo verde, sissoo and Texas mountain laurel. Plant shrubs, such as desert spoon, baja fairy duster, chuparosa, hummingbird sage, Mexican buckeye, oleander, pomegranate and Texas sage.
Native trees for butterflies: desert hackberry, kidneywood, feather bush, desert willow.
Annuals: Plant coolseason annuals, such as primrose, sweet peas, hollyhock, petunia, snapdragon, larkspur, pansy, calendula, sweet alyssum, bells of Ireland, nasturtium, lobelia and stock. Thin seedlings planted in October. Sow wildflower seeds.
Bulbs: Plant amaryllis, crinum, gladiolus, ranunculus, watsonia, paperwhites or sparaxis.
Groundcovers: Plant tufted evening primrose, lantana or trailing dalea.
Herbs: Plant parsley, cilantro, thyme, oregano, garlic, onions, mints and chives.
Perennials: Plant agapanthus, daylily, gazania, penstemon, red-hot poker, white rain lily, coral fountain and angelita daisy.
Vegetables: Plant seeds of your favorite cool-season vegetables (Swiss chard, peas, beets, carrots, collard greens, mustard greens, leaf lettuce, onions, radishes, spinach and turnips). Set out transplants of bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale.
Citrus: Plant citrus trees. Do not fertilize citrus this month.
Roses: Apply final fertilizer before roses go into winter dormancy; water in well. A layer of compost around each bush is a good way to add nutrients. Do not prune roses this month. Plant container roses. Deadhead spent blooms.
Vines: Plant pink trumpet vine, queen’s wreath and black-eyed Susan vine.
Adjust automatic watering systems to run less frequently now that cooler temperatures have arrived. Water 1 foot deep for shallow-rooted plants, 2 feet for shrubs, 3 feet for trees.