Five things to do in the garden this week:
Herbs: Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata) has a taste somewhere between cilantro, mint, lemon, and pepper. Altogether, the flavor is bold and smoky as leaves are added to strong-flavored soups, stews, and curries. It is a fast-growing herb that thrives in warm weather. Pinch it back to encourage bushy growth. It is easily propagated from 4-6 inch cuttings whose bottom two inches have had their leaves removed before being submerged in water. Incidentally, ordinary cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) may also be propagated from cuttings in a similar fashion.
Fruit: Pick fruit before sunrise to extend its storage life. Once the sun rises, each additional five degrees of temperature will reduce the shelf life of your fruit by three days. If your figs are not especially sweet after harvesting them, you can increase sweetness by letting them dry in the sun, covering them with the same floating row cover you use for protecting cole crops from the ravages of white cabbage butterflies.
Vegetables: You can plant mache (mahsh), a leafy green vegetable, in virtually any season, as long as it is protected from hot sun. Also known as corn salad, mache (Valeriana locusta) has a nutty flavor that makes it an excellent addition to salads, but it can also be used as a garnish, a spinach substitute, or even as a pizza topping. It grows from seed to harvestable leaves in as little as 30 days. Let some plants go to seed, and they will faithfully self-sow in an ongoing process until you will see seeds sprouting throughout your garden. You can find the seeds courtesy of many Internet vendors.
Flowers: Silver-leafed princess flower (Pleroma/Tibouchina heteromalla) grows into a 10-foot shrub with long wands of large violet flowers in late summer and fall. Although an evergreen, leaves fall every now and then, turning a burnt orange before they do. It grows best in morning sun but will fare reasonably well if given afternoon sun instead. Leaves have an endearing, felty texture that makes them highly touchable. All in all, this is a most inviting woody perennial to bring into the garden. Feed it with fertilizer for acid-loving plants so that it will grow to its lushest potential.
Just because your plants look a little wilted after a day of stifling heat does not necessarily mean they need water. On scorching summer days, plants may lose water faster than their roots can absorb it. During the night, plants can freely take up water without losing it to the atmosphere as the air temperature cools down. Check in the morning to see how your plants look. If they are still droopy, give them a good soak. However, be careful not to water natives or other dry-climate plants in hot weather since water mold propagules lurking in the soil can be stimulated to grow when soil is wet and warm on hot days. These water molds will then invade roots of susceptible plants.