Spring coming to the valley

The Annual Spring Plant Sale Event, featuring 15,000 plants for sale, tips from gardening experts.

The Sweet Tomato Test Garden, 5910 Sheila Ave., off Jones Boulevard near Smoke Ranch Road.

8 a.m.-4 p.m. today.

Leslie Doyle might have the best tomatoes in town.

A master gardener and author of "Growing the Tomato in Las Vegas in Terrible Dirt and Desert Heat: A Love Story," Doyle has tested dozens of varieties against Las Vegas' scorching summer weather.

Today she is hosting the Spring Plant Sale Event at the Sweet Tomato Test Garden, where a dozen garden clubs and nonprofit groups will sell 15,000 plants, and garden experts will be on hand to discuss planting, potting, watering, trimming and pruning.

Nonprofit groups such as the Rape Crisis Center will be selling plants and gardening equipment to raise funds.

Buyers will find orchids, roses, herbs, bonsai, fruit trees, shrubs, cacti, succulents, flowering annuals and house plants. Garden tools, soil and fertilizer will also be sold. Moreover, useful tips will be provided for free.

Planters will discover that growing in the desert is possible, Doyle said.

She would know. Doyle has been testing tomato plants since 1990, after struggling to grow tomatoes in the valley's summer heat.

"It was frustrating to buy plants in the nurseries," Doyle said. "We got all the California varieties that just didn't do well in the desert."

So Doyle mail-ordered seeds and began experimenting. It became what she refers to as her "personal community service project."

She grows dozens of varieties and sells extra plants that aren't used in her study. Her book, which she says "truly is a love story," is available at Rancho True Value and Western Organics Inc.

"It's about our experience at the test garden," Doyle said.

It's information many frustrated gardeners relish. She has people coming to her all of the time asking her about tomato plants, she said.

People come to Las Vegas and try to grow the beefsteak varieties they were used to back home. But those varieties don't grow well here, she said.

"By the time the plant is ready to set fruit, it's too hot."

Correct plant varieties and food for the soil are a must. Plants that do well are the cherry tomato varieties, she said. Hawaiian, Heartland and Yellow Pear tomato plants also do well.

"A Hawaiian tomato will give 22 to 30 pounds of fruit per plant."

Today's sale will feature a new variety this year: an Italian tomato called Tuscany. "We feel it will replace the Roma tomato," Doyle said.

Other plants that do well in the valley are summer vegetables, such as oriental cucumbers, eggplants and basil.

Flowering annuals and house plants will also succeed if planted in the right areas.

"Certain plants will do well in the heat," Doyle said. Even balcony plants that never seem to get enough water can be maintained. With outdoor potted plants, the dirt heats up, Doyle said.

"We line the planters with Styrofoam to keep the soil cooler. Clay pots get awfully hot, so we recommend plastic."

Lining the container with aluminum foil, adding mulch and ensuring good drainage also keep the soil cooler and moister, Aggie Roberts, a horticulturalist for Nevada Cooperative Extension, said.

"Containers dry out much faster," said Roberts, who is also answering questions at today's plant sale.

Roberts said gardens can grow successfully in Las Vegas. "I've grown for 20 years.

"It takes awhile," she said. "It's just a matter of knowing how to adapt.

"People from the East think they can grow the same plants as in the East. We're kind of different. You have to prepare the soil properly and learn what kind of plant it is."

A lot of gardeners without the proper information will get frustrated and won't try again, she said.

"I say, 'Keep on going.' Anyone with questions can call the Cooperative Extension."

Because of lack of rain, salts in the soil build up, so the soil must be leeched. Amendments, such as mulch and sulfur, should be added.

"Or you can plant things that don't require much water, such as the cactus and the succulents and the Texas Rangers. A lot of these can be found at the Desert Demonstration Gardens," she said. The gardens, part of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, are at Valley View Boulevard and Alta Drive.

The best thing about Southern Nevada is that you can plant all year, Roberts said. Radishes and lettuce can be planted in February and again in August. Squash and other summer vegetables can be planted in the summer.

This is the prime planting season for warmer vegetables, such as cucumber and corn, she said.

Those looking to plant merely for aesthetics will have luck in the cooler part of the year with pansies and petunias. Marigolds, xenias and periwinkle are better planted in the warmer part of the year, she said.

"Marigolds and xenias will take the heat," Roberts said.

Kristen Peterson covers community news for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2317 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Sunset Garden's 8th Annual Flower Show, featuring horticulture demonstrations and flower arrangements and a juried competition.

Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway.

12:30-5 p.m. April 1.

Free.

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