Warmer days are enticing for tomato planting
April puts spotlight on America's growing pastime
Weekend events range from Natomas to Orangevale to Placerville
Famous feng shui oasis in Davis hosts tour on Sunday
Find our recipes for seasonal fruit and vegetables all in one place
'In the Garden' is theme for annual show and sale at Shepard Center
Delicious seasonal recipes from your garden.
NEW Celery adds crunch; mint lends an herbal note
Spring-like days finally arrive (but still too cold for happy tomatoes)
As Sacramento weather finally feels like spring, expect rapid changes in your garden.
Open Garden Day this month is on a midweek morning
Get advice from master gardeners; plant sales coming soon
Two historic clubs host Sacramento events devoted to ancient tradition
After canceling March event, Arboretum nursery offers 'split sale' to Friends and public
NEW Purple flannel hash patties with roasted beets
No fooling: Chilly nights forecast, with possible frost
Put your roses on a regular diet with monthly feeding (plus snacks)
Take care of the plants (and soil) until the weather cooperates
Master gardeners host Saturday sales in Woodland – plus an online garden chat
Capital City group hosts annual event including display of prized plants
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 5
Take advantage of this break between storm systems to give your garden some much-needed TLC.
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees soon after a rain to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranuculous and gladiolus for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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