It's springtime in Houston. Other cities may be covered in snow or battling below-freezing temperatures but the Bayou City has been blessed recently with warm days, though not always sunny ones. With mornings in the 50s and 60s and afternoons in the 70s and 80s, it's time for we Houston gardeners to hunt down our gardening gloves and get in the dirt.

Our last frost date is usually sometime in mid to late February. This year, the odds of another frost are very slim which means we can get an early start on planting warm-weather vegetables and filling our flower beds and containers with spring annuals. This gardener has already made a couple of trips to the nurseries and big box stores and I expect to be doing a few more in the coming weeks. It's a busy time for green thumbs in Houston and the beautiful weather should be taken advantage of. The margaritas can wait. The tomato plants cannot.
Ideally, veggie growers have already prepared their beds for planting new crops. This year, my raised beds are still full of cool-weather vegetables because I was able to sow seeds in January due to the unusually warm weather. That's an upside to the hotter temps. The downside is the fact that the azaleas are blooming early and sporadically as are the peach trees. My neighbor's gorgeous tulip magnolia bloomed early and quickly this year. However, the cold Christmas week we had in 2022 seems to have done wonders for my roses. We Houston gardeners have to roll with the punches.

For gardeners just starting out, the cost of pots, plants and soil amendments can be daunting as my friend, Big Hair Kim, learned on a recent trip to buy plants and containers for her new deck.  We were shocked at the $60 plastic pots and even the plain terracotta ones were ridiculously expensive. After some searching, we found a few plastic whiskey barrel versions that weren't too costly and matched the color of her wood deck.
The fun part for me was helping spend someone else's money on plants. My friend needed some instant color to soften the large space so we chose a couple of beautiful hanging baskets of New Guinea impatiens and a unique and showy red-orange begonia.  We splurged on some potted ranunculus because they were just too stunning to pass up.

However, it will take a while for Big Hair Kim to get all the color and foliage she desires. We gardeners have to work within our budgets and realize that a lovely outdoor space takes time and work. Still, the stores are stocked with a crazy amount of temptation right now and the early bird gets the blooms.
For flower gardens, part-sun annuals that can be planted right now include impatiens and begonias. Lobelia and dianthus like the cooler weather but they can last for a few more months if they get a bit of rest from the afternoon sun. Petunias, salvia and verbena love the sun and do very well in Houston flower beds. They can also make it through mild winters. For those with containers, geraniums are a reliable option. Try mixing in some blue lobelia with them to trail down the sides. 
Shrubs and roses can be planted right now and will appreciate the mild temperatures. They do need to be well-watered on a regular basis to help them adjust to their new home. On the front side, they can be pricey but they last for years. Big Hair Kim purchased a Double Delight because of its old fashioned fragrance. I am planning a trip to the Antique Rose Emporium to sit what I can add to my collection which includes New Dawn, Queen Elizabeth, Pristine, Climbing Blaze and a Knockout rose or two.

For vegetable gardens, this is a prime time to get tomatoes in the soil so that they will produce a bountiful harvest before the heat of summer. Cherry types do really well in Houston and there are numerous varieties and colors. Yellow Pear is a favorite for those who prefer less acidic tomatoes and they produce like crazy, well into the summer. It's one of the few varieties that may even survive into fall. Juliet is prolific, though its skin can be a little tough. Many gardeners choose it for making sun-dried tomatoes.
Sweet 100 and Sweet Million are also very popular cherry types. I love Black Cherry and Midnight Snack tomatoes for their stunning dark colors. Sweet Chelsea is a cherry tomato but its fruit can rival that of a saladette type in size and it does really well in our climate. It also gets very big so be prepared to stake it or use a tomato tower or cage. For those who only have pots for growing tomatoes, Little Bing only gets two feet tall and produces small cherry tomatoes. I am trying it for the first time this year.
For Roma-style tomatoes, I grow San Marzano. Viva Italia and Roma VF are also good choices for making tomato sauce. For slicing, many vegetable gardeners go for Early Girl, Beefsteak and Champion VF. Heirloom types like Cherokee Purple, Paul Robeson and Brandywine have strikingly beautiful colors but they aren't as prolific. Their flavors, however, are worth the work.

This week, I plan on sowing seeds for cucumbers and buying a couple of transplants as well. Marketmore, Suyo Long and Beit Alpha have all done well for me. The next couple of weeks are a good time to sow seeds for summer squash like zucchini and crookneck. Eggplants are best grown from transplants though some patient gardeners do well with seeds. I tried that once and got just one eggplant. In January.
For new and veteran gardeners, beans are the easiest edibles to grow and one of the quickest to harvest. There's a reason school teachers give children bean seeds to grow at home. If they were waiting on an eggplant seed to germinate, their interest in science would shrivel in the time it takes. A bean seed can germinate in three days under the right conditions and they grow exceedingly fast. A gardener can be eating legumes within less than two months with some varieties. I have success with Contender, Calima, Cantare, Dragon Tongue and Red Swan. For fresh eating, it's best to sow a few seeds every couple of weeks until the summer heat sets in. For preserving or canning, seeds can be planted all at once to have a bumper crop.

Houstonians love their peppers and every garden should have a hot chili or two. El Jefe has become my go-to for jalapenos but there are so many different types to try. Chances are, if it's for sell at our nurseries, it will grow. I am not a huge fan of bell peppers but they do well here and they come in numerous colors. Many pepper plants do great in containers.
As for cool weather crops, the planting window is pretty much closed for them. I sowed radishes, lettuce, peas, carrots and onions in the ground in January, so I'm set for those veggies. There is still time, however, to plant a mix of leaf lettuces in the ground or in a pot that is not in the afternoon heat. I planted a mixed packet that included Asian greens so I am looking forward to the mizuna and tatsoi that have appeared in my raised beds.

This is also a good time to plant blackberry, blueberry and strawberry plants. In a couple of weeks, Houston gardeners may want to sow seeds for melons though I personally don't have much luck with them.
And every edible garden needs herbs. Basil grows very well from seed in Houston and is often the last soldier standing in the heat of the summer. Oregano, marjoram, lavender, sage and rosemary are best grown from transplants. Cilantro bolts easily in the heat of a Houston garden but it self sows readily. Once it goes to seed, you'll never have to plant it again. Basil does the same.
With the arrival of spring comes another season of possibilities. It's time to pull out the old and put in the new. Once the hard work is finished, the fruits of one's labors can be enjoyed. If those fruits happen to be  juicy, ripe tomatoes, it's worth it.