COLUMBIA, S.C. — Summer is almost over and while many around the country are getting ready to trade their garden shovels for snow shovels, that's not the case in South Carolina! October is a great time to gardening in the Palmetto State. There's a variety of frost tolerant plants that enjoy cooler and shorter days and fall weather means fewer weeds, lower water needs, and less bugs.
In September, News 19 Meteorologist Alex Calamia purchased an orange tree to try in Gandy's Garden at News 19. Orange trees typically don't grow in the South Carolina midlands because our winter low temperatures are too cold. However, Satsuma oranges are known for their cold tolerance, surviving temperatures into the teens. We'll be testing it's ability to handle cold next year. In the meantime, there are plenty of more typical fall plants that will be getting plenty of attention in the upcoming weeks.
Fall favorites like Cauliflower and Bok Choy are usually safe to plant in September, but ours showed signs of stress during the record breaking heat in Gandy's Garden over the past few weeks. Fall growing crops prefer daytime temperatures ranging from about 60 to 80 degrees, but last week temperatures soared into the As the weather cools down in the next few weeks, these selections will really start to thrive. Next week when daytime temperatures drop below 90-degrees, Alex will be planting a few more autumn favorites. This season we'd like to try collard greens, kale, carrots, and cabbage.