Here in The South, the intense summer heat limits your garden to only those few plant varieties that can truly handle the heat. Fall, Winter, and Spring gardens are when we get the nice lush growth, but with the heat and the insects it takes careful planning and selection to have a beautiful and productive garden.
This has been an especially hot and dry summer, and the stink bugs were out in force. I have long since pulled up the tomato and squash plants that just couldn’t handle the heat. Here is what I have in the garden now (July 19, 2011).
Strawberries - they are not producing fruit now, but the plants are handling the heat just fine.
Bell peppers are producing well. They turn red before they get very big, but they produce far more than we can use ourselves.
Sweet potatoes. These are doing very well. There are 4 plants in this section of the garden.
Egg plant. The fruit doesn't get very big before harvest stage, but they still produce far more than we can use.
Egg plant ready to be picked
Okra - the Summer performer. No matter how hot the weather, okra just keeps on producing. The only pest is ants, and they are a minor problem and relatively easy to control.
Sweet potato being grown in a container
It seems your garden has served you very well! My little garden seems to be starting its next round of fruitfulness.