Fall Is Texas' Second Spring

After a long North Texas summer, cooler weather does not mean the gardening season is ending. In many ways, it means another one is beginning.  Our relatively long growing season and generally mild fall weather create another important window for planting and growing.

Fall can be especially valuable for establishing landscape plants and growing cool-season vegetables. It is also the traditional season for sowing many Texas wildflowers. The key is understanding that “fall planting” is not one date on the calendar. Tomatoes, broccoli, trees, wildflowers and spring bulbs all have different schedules.

Why Can Fall Be Such a Good Planting Season?

Summer creates one of the greatest challenges for newly installed plants: heat combined with limited root systems.

As fall arrives, air temperatures gradually moderate while soils retain warmth. Plants can continue developing roots without having to support the same level of top growth or cope with the intense moisture loss associated with a Texas summer.

That head start matters. A perennial, shrub or tree planted during the appropriate fall window may have months to begin establishing its root system before the following summer.

That does not mean a newly planted landscape can be ignored. Fall plantings still need consistent moisture until established, particularly during dry Texas winters.

Fall Vegetable Gardening:  Timing Matters

Texas gardeners get a genuine second opportunity to grow vegetables, but fall gardening is not simply a repeat of spring.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension groups fall crops according to their tolerance for cold. 

• Frost-tolerant vegetables include broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard, spinach and turnips. 

• Warm-season crops such as tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers and squash must mature before freezing temperatures arrive.

That creates an interesting Texas gardening challenge: some fall crops must be planted while it still feels very much like summer.

Gardeners who wait for cool weather before planting every fall vegetable may already be too late for crops that require a long period to mature. AgriLife therefore recommends planning around both a crop’s days to maturity and the expected first frost rather than relying only on the temperature outside on planting day.

Fall is Wildflower Season - At Least for the Seeds

Texas Bluebonnet                         Firewheel

Texas Paintbrus                             Mexican Hat

Plains Coreopsis                            Pink Evening Primrose

North Texas Fall Planting at a Glance

Fall gardening in North Texas doesn't begin when the first cool morning arrives. In fact, some fall crops need to be planted while summer is still very much with us. Exact timing varies with the weather, the plant and the year, but these general periods provide a useful guide.

A Second Beginning

Fall gardening in North Texas is not simply about putting the summer garden to bed. It is a season for planting, vegetable production, wildflower sowing and preparing landscapes for the year ahead.

Understanding why fall works — and paying attention to the timing of individual plants and crops — can make the difference between simply surviving a Texas growing season and gardening successfully through it.

For North Texas gardeners, fall is not the end of the gardening year. It is a second beginning.

Resources and Further Reading

• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension — Fall Vegetable Gardening Guide for Texas 

• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension — Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Native Plant Information Network