Fall Gardening

Fall in sunny Southern California is the time to plant flowers and vegetables for their fall enjoyment. Mums and bulbs can be planted now. The mums are planted mainly for fall color. The bulbs are planted now so they can be established in the ground and start growing in spring.

Sometimes fall gardening in Southern California can be pretty tricky. My roses are still blooming but most plants are starting to lose their color and vividness. Last weekend we had rains for 2 days and this gave a spring look at the roses.

This is one of the English roses. It is drooping with the weight of rain droplets.

Rain drops on a red rose, not sure what kind of rose is this.

Roses in Southern California can still bloom in the fall.

The orange fruits are now starting to turn their color into orange.

Apples

There are thousands of varieties of apples most of which are cultivated for colder climates. But there are varieties suitable for Southern California, these are “low chill” varieties that do not require winter cold in order to bear fruit.

Most varieties require 500 to 100 hours of winter cold in but low chill varieties require less than 500 hours. Winter cold is 40 degrees Fahrenheit and below.

I planted a Gala apple 4 years ago and it is thriving well. I have not used chemicals to ward off bugs. Gala apples thrive very well in the Southern California climate which is similar to the Mediterranean climate. 

The fruits are not very big and have some imperfections which are typical for organically grown apples. What it lacks in size and appearance is compensated by its juiciness and sweetness. It is sweet with a hint of tartness and also crispy. Gala apples have at least 14% to 16% sugar making it very sweet. It also has a strong apple aroma.

It is early November and ready for the second crop. I harvested a bunch early summer while the tree is also in bloom. This is possible in the Southern California weather; the season is really long.