Summer’s brutal temperatures are here and heat waves present additional challenges for new planting in the garden. The planting window has closed for many of our summer favorites, but with a little extra attention we can grow these tough, heat-loving crops: southern peas, sweet potato slips, okra, cantaloupe, pumpkins and warm-season greens.
For Central Texas, warm-season greens include amaranth, purple orach, sweet potato greens and a variety of plants informally named spinach. These are Egyptian, Malabar, Okinawa and New Zealand spinach. All of these successfully will grow in our part of Central Texas.
Ornamental sweet potato vines are grown for their leaves. They produce small, unremarkable tubers but have beautiful, colorful vines with lime-green, red and purple leaves. Both ornamental and the garden sweet potatoes have edible leaves similar to salad spinach. The leaves are thin but moist, taste slightly bitter and floral when eaten raw, but taste just like spinach when cooked. Add them to a stir-fry dish or use them in a quiche. They are a source of vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Sweet potatoes are a great multipurpose crop to include in your garden.
New Zealand spinach is also very similar to regular spinach but is not a true spinach. New Zealand spinach doesn’t get as dark green and it has a small, spear-shaped leaf. It’s exceptionally heat tolerant and does not take up much space. To me, it tastes green and leafy.
Malabar spinach is another popular warmseason green. Not only is it edible and nutritious, it’s also very beautiful. Red Malabar spinach is especially striking, thanks to its burgundy stems, dark glossy leaves and pink flowers. Malabar spinach is a vine and requires a trellis to support its thick and dense growth. This heat-loving green loves the rising mercury and is native to tropical Asia. Also called Ceylon spinach, it's a popular staple in Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines where it is cooked with lots of spices and served with rice.
Fresh Malabar spinach leaves are juicy and crisp. They are slightly sour and citrusy, with a subtle black pepper flavor. This succulent texture is slimy, but that disappears when cooked. It holds up to cooking better than regular spinach.
Amaranth is another multipurpose plant considered a warm-season green. There are 75 different species and it’s one of the oldest domesticated crops. The seeds are used to make porridge and flour. Amaranth is high in protein and is gluten free. It's a popular bedding plant grown for the vibrant flowers and looks great in pots and beds. Both ornamental and seed crop varieties have edible leaves you can harvest and use just like spinach. Another name for
Another name for amaranth is pigweed, which is a very common allergen. If you are allergic to pigweed pollen, you may not want to eat it fresh as it may trigger a histamine reaction.
Okinawa spinach is an attractive perennial that grows easily in Central Texas. This plant has green pointed leaves that are dark purple underneath. It’s a subtropical plant that dies back in the winter but will return in the spring if you keep the roots mulched. It tolerates some shade, but grows best with morning sun. Okinawa spinach, also called gynura, is wonderful fresh. The slightly thick leaves are crisp, but lack the slime factor of Malabar spinach. It has a neutral flavor reminiscent of fresh garden lettuce.
With 25 years of backyard gardening experience, Julie is a plant and nature enthusiast. She lives in Taylor and hosts the “Plow & Hose Organic Gardening in Central Texas” podcast and radio show airing on KBSR-Black Sparrow Digital Broadcasting at 9 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday.
