Climate Victory Garden – 2025

This is year 6 of my climate victory garden where I continue to learn what works in the garden in a changing climate.

The climate here in Houston has changed from Zone 9a to Zone 9b from 2012 to 2023. It’s hot and humid most of the time, with sub-freezing temperatures for a week or two out of the year. So the growing season is pretty long, and the heat is more of a concern than the cold.

I have been in Houston since 2012 and in that time I have noticed an increase in rain. Especially the past couple of years the rain has really picked up. And not a gentle rain either, but long lasting downpours. More intense heat waves and extreme precipitation are very closely linked to a warming climate. You put more CO2 into the air, the air warms and can hold more moisture — and storms become more powerful.

The intense heat and rain make it a challenge to find plants that will thrive in this environment, but it’s definitely possible. That and growing things here in the winter that other folks grow in their summer, can help. For example, I grow tomatoes in the Fall, and harvest them in the Winter and Spring. It’s just too hot in the spring and summer for tomatoes here.

Things that like the heat and blazing sun do well here. Things like certain types of squash, eggplants, sweet potatoes, and so forth. Most of these don’t mind a lot of rain either.

Climate adaptations for this year…

• planting things that do well in the heat, such as Xiye Butternut squash
• growing cool weather veggies in the winter and spring, such as broccoli
• growing tomatoes in the fall and winter
• adding drip irrigation to all of my large planters, so it’s all automated. Plants like consistent watering when it’s hot. Doing it by hand does not really cut it. And who wants to spend extra time in the garden watering when it’s insanely hot outside, even late into the day.

Lessons learned this year…

• garlic does not like a lot of rain. My garlic crop which is usually pretty robust was a total bust this year. 🙁 I think it was the persistent spring rain, but who knows.
• new beds usually under-perform. I knew this already, but it was reinforced this year. I put up boards around my in-ground bed to get plants farther away from the clay soil. The soil structure is not well developed yet and the plants did okay, but not great.
• soil acidity for acid loving plants is SUPER important. Acid loving plants really thrive in acidic soil, and don’t do great otherwise. Duh. For example, blackberries and blueberries. My oldest blueberry plants that were planted in the ground, always looked very sad. this year I dug them up and put them in containers with acidic soil and they took off!
• “Microclimates” are important. For example, my artichoke plant was growing like crazy until the sun started beating it up. this one likes a bit of shade and the sun here is just too strong.
• Saving heirloom seeds to start the next year may create plants that are better adapted to your local conditions. This is an idea that’s out there, that seems to make sense. We’ll see if it’s true, because several things I planted this year were from seeds of plants that were grown last year.
• BONUS TIPS! Never buy garden plants from Costco! A few years ago I bought a large tomato plant from Costco, which had a bunch of root knot nematodes in the dirt that came with it. Fortunately, they are currently isolated to a single large planter, in which I now grow marigolds and other plants that aren’t susceptible. I also got a tangerine tree last year at Costco, and it gave some kind of disease to one of my key lime trees that was next to it. So never buy garden plants from Costco! DO buy the large bags of MiracleGrow organic gardening soil Costco has every spring — they’re almost twice as big as big box store soil for the same price.

Things learned in prior years, embraced this year…

• plant a lot of things you like. I grew a heap of onions (harvested about 16 pounds/7.3 kg this year!)
• grow onions from seeds, not starts (bulbs). They grow bigger and better from seed.
• for the sweet potatoes, which I just planted… ignore them. the more you fuss over them the less potatoes they make, supposedly. I haven’t had much luck with sweet potatoes so we’ll find out if that’s true this year!
• start your seedlings early. I had a LOT of seedlings. I ended up giving away quite a few.
• use hybrid plants for some things. You can’t save the seeds of hybrids because they are not “true to type”, but they are often more hardy and disease resistant than heirloom varieties. Though heirloom seeds can be saved year to year.
• Use straw and mulch to keep your soil cooler and moist! I haven’t really mentioned before, but this is super important, especially when your plants are just starting out.

Adapting to increasing heat in the garden…

• pick varieties of plants that do well in the heat. for example, sweet potatoes, most squash, etc.
• have a consistent watering schedule. Drip irrigation on a timer/automated system is the best way to do this.
• use your microclimates. some plants need a little shade. some don’t like wet feet (soggy roots all the time)
• Match your soil parameters, like acidity, to the plant. Most plants like a neutral pH (~7), but many like it more acidic (5 or 6)! You can add sulfur pellets to the soil to increase the acidity. Matching soil parameters gives your plants the best chance to be healthy and less stressed from the start.

Adapting to constant heavy rain…

Adapting to the rain is a new thought for me, especially the last few years as the intensity of downpours is increasing. One big project I did this winter and spring was to improve the drainage to my entire back yard.Over the past couple of years I discovered a drainage pipe with several drains, that runs from my backyard to the street. Most of it was overgrown with grass and covered in soil (things here in Houston have a tendency to sink and disappear into the muddy clay that underlies everything).

Parts of the drain pipe along the driveway were crushed and filled with roots from a neighbors nearby pine tree that was recently cut down. So I dug up the old pipe and put in new drainage pipe, and rerouted it away from the side of the driveway so it wouldn’t get run over and flattened if someone runs up onto the grass.

It has worked fabulously! The backyard used to be a soggy, squishy mess for a week after a hard rain — now it’s dry within a day or two.

Another thought about the rain, plants in containers and raised beds seem to do fine with the rain because they drain easily. However, too much rain or watering can wash out soil nutrients from container grown plants.

if you replenish your container soil every year with some compost and new soil, then this may not be a problem. A little top dressing of organic fertilizer also helps. And don’t forget the mulch or straw to keep the containers from drying so fast in the heat.

More info…

If you want to learn more about sprinklers and drip irrigation, check out last year’s Climate Victory Garden Year 5 post.

If you want to read more about climate change impacts on gardening and farming, check out the Climate Victory Garden Year 4 post.

If you want some links to great YouTube gardening channels and links to some great seed companies to order from, check out the Climate Victory Garden Year 3 post.

Thanks for following along. If you have any suggestions for how to garden in a changing world please leave them below! Also, let me know if you have any gardening questions. I’m happy to try and answer your questions, or at least look up the answers or point you in the right direction. 🙂