I am very excited because the seeds I wanted to plant in my garden in July actually arrived in July! I know they got here a little later then I would have hoped but hey it’s still July so I am still going to plant them. often times we think that we can only plant things in spring to early summer and once they are done growing that’s it for the year. Well my friends I am here to tell you that that is simply not true. Why there are even fall and winter plants you can grow, but today is about late summer to let’s dig in, literally.

This year I am going a few plants that work in my zone and some things that might not. Recently I moved to a new zone so I am trying a few new items to see how it goes. I am planting five different verities of tomatoes green giants, stuffed tiger tomatoes, tomatillo verde, rio grande tomatillo verde, and snowball tomatoes. Other plants I am growing are Paris Island cod lettuce, hedou tiny bok choy, banana peppers, mini white cucumbers, Minnesota midget melons, and white soul strawberries.

Tomatoes

You can start growing a second batch of tomato plants in zone 8-13 in July. They will grow and fruit in time to harvest before it gets to cold and sometimes March through May or even June is to cold for tomatoes and you need to want until July. If you have a greenhouse, hotbox, a garage with light, or enough space in your house if it get to cold you can move inside somewhere safe to finish growing. Even though it’s summer I am still starting my seeds indoors I will move them to my open greenhouse and then move them outside when I transplant them.

Lettuce

Lettuce and tiny bok choy type plants can be grown in zones 2-13 in July. Tiny bok choy grows really fast and lettuce is pretty cold hardy, you may do well not having to moves these when it gets chilly. If they start to look a little sad what I normally do is put a plastic dome over them to hold in heat if it starts to get to chilly at night. I leave the dome on all day and night so they don’t go into shock.

Melon, Peppers, and Cucumbers

Melons, peppers, and cucumbers can grow in zones 8-13 in July. Just make sure to check they grow time. You want to make sure that they don’t grow to slow some melons take longer to grow than others. If they are ready to harvest in about two months you can grow them in July maybe even three if their cold hardy.

Strawberries

If you already have a strawberry plant they will do fine in July. If you are growing one from seed like I am doing with the white soul strawberries it’s probably not a good idea to do this in July in any zone, but I have a theory. These are white soul alpine strawberries which means they are mountain berries. Mountains start to get cold sooner then down here and so I think they will do just fine, and that they will be pretty cold hardy. It’s an experiment to say the lest but it’s worth a try I think.

Have you started any new plants in July? Were they different than then the ones I have listed or the same? If you have please tell me all about it in the comments below. Happy planting and good luck!