July ends in triple digits after slight cooldown Monday
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| Four o'clocks brighten the summer garden. Feeding flowering plants every other week extends their bloom. (Photo: Kathy Morrison) |
With or without the event, this is State Fair weather. According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will see typical late July weather this week – some days over 100 degrees, others “just” in the 90s. In other words, it’s the kind of weather that what we usually experience during the State Fair, which was canceled this summer due to the pandemic.
After a triple-digit weekend, some cloud cover and light breeze will cool us off a little Monday and Tuesday, keeping high temperatures in the low 90s. Then it’s back to 102 on Wednesday and Thursday.
Concentrate on getting your garden chores done early, then try to stay cool.
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* After watering, fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.
* Feed vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.
* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.
* Keep an eye on zucchini. Harvest squash promptly.
* Remove spent flowers from roses and other shrubs as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Remove spent leaves and stems from daylilies.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, bush beans, winter squash and sunflowers.
* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.
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Garden Checklist for week of Dec. 8
Make the most of dry weather while we have it this week. Rain is returning.
* Rake leaves away from storm drains and gutters. Recycle those leaves as mulch or add to compost.
* It’s not too late to plant something. Seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Trees and shrubs can be planted now, especially bare-root varieties such as fruit trees or rose bushes. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from winter rains.
* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Brighten the holidays with winter bloomers such as poinsettias, amaryllis, calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.
* Keep poinsettias in a sunny, warm location; bring them inside at night or if there’s rain.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they’re dormant.
* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.
* Mulch, water and cover tender plants to protect them during threat of frost. Succulent plants are at particular risk if temperatures drop below freezing. Make sure to remove coverings during the day.
* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.
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