But it's only good enough for second place as Minnesota mega-gourd breaks world record at championship weigh-off
Fall brings shorter days, but still hints of summer. Celebrate with more than 60 seasonal recipes
Recipe: Chilies, cumin flavor a double-duty sauce
Much cooler temperatures coming soon; plant now!
ARS conference in Sacramento features huge rose show; plus hear Debbie talk roses and horses
From Woodland to Placerville, plenty of possibilities -- and a propagation workshop, too
Annual festival celebrates humongous gourds and family fun
Free community party features food, music, shopping and family fun
More than 30 clubs and vendors will offer wide range of plants, crafts, garden stuff and more.
Recipe: Fresh apple muffins with vanilla yogurt.
Light rain, cool temperatures and warm soil create great conditions for planting fall garden.
Patches are now open at local nurseries with thousands of possibilities; what to look for when pumpkin shopping.
Yolo master gardeners also to present garden talk, plant sale soon
Pumpkin contests, workshops and games are part of garden fun for the whole family
Get water-wise favorites and California natives in time for fall planting.
Sacramento show highlights floral freedom of expression
Spiced coffee cake an ideal treat for early-fall breakfast
Autumn starts on cool side – with a chance of rain coming soon
Eradication efforts underway to stop the spread of this highly destructive pest
Advice for the vegetable garden, orchard, roses -- and late-summer produce
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 24
In between rainy episodes this week:
* Keep your gutters and storm drains cleared. Watch out for leaning trees or weakened branches; if you spot trouble, call an arborist.
* Remember to turn off the sprinklers or other irrigation. Be careful walking on or working with wet soil; it can compact easily.
* On rainy days, do some indoor gardening. Tend to houseplants. Sort seed packets. Start seed indoors for cool-season veggies and flowers.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Rake and compost leaves, but leave at least some healthy leaves in planting beds for nesting insects and foraging birds. But dispose of any diseased plant material. For eample, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* If you decide to use a living Christmas tree this year, keep it outside in a sunny location until Christmas week. This reduces stress on the young tree.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* After they bloom, chrysanthemums should be trimmed to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. If in pots, keep the mums in their containers until next spring. Then they can be planted in the ground, if desired, or repotted.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers such as California poppies and plant spring bloomers such as as sweet peas, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.