Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Oct. 28


Time to plant kale and other winter favorites. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Warm weather, warm soil great for transplanting



Are we back in September? October exits and November arrives with days in the low 80s. Gusty dry wind is expected to dip temperatures into the low 70s early in the week before highs bounce back to 81 degrees in Sacramento for Halloween day (and 55 Halloween night), according to the National Weather Service. In the V-alley, no rain is in sight.

It’s no wonder plants are confused. Camellias are blooming early; not just the Christmas varieties but Japonicas that usually flower in February. Spring bulbs are spouting prematurely. Peppers and squash (if they weren’t already dead) pushed out more flowers. Roses are covered with buds (and bugs). With so little overnight cold, maples are showing only a blush of fall color.

Make the most of this warm weather and warm soil, great for transplanting shrubs, trees, perennials and more. Big or small, these plants will get off to a faster start with these conditions, helping them to become established by next spring.

Remember to keep any new plantings irrigated. That wind will quickly dry out tender seedlings and soil.

Other garden tasks and observations to wrap up October:

* Remember your 2018 summer successes (and failures) before the details fade away along with the plants. Make notes in your garden calendar or journal about what did well, what didn’t, harvesting information, pest problems and other issues. That information will be invaluable when planning future gardens.

* Did your tomatoes re-flower? Cherry and fast-developing varieties such as Early Girl may bear Christmas tomatoes, but only if those flowers got pollinated. If the vines look brown and spent, pull the plants. Any remaining green fruit may be ripened indoors if the tomatoes reached sufficient maturity.

* Harvest pumpkins and winter squash. Save some seeds for next year.

* Plant seeds for cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.

* Set out cool-weather bedding plants for instant color, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.

* In the vegetable garden, plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, lettuce and other cool-weather favorites.

* Chill spring-blooming bulbs that need the extra cold. Tulips and hyacinths need six weeks in the refrigerator before planting. Avoid storing bulbs with apples or pears.

* Plant daffodils and other members of the narcissus family plus other bulbs that don’t require pre-chilling such as alliums, amaryllis, anemones, Dutch iris, freesia, ixias, ranunculus, scillas and Sparaxis.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Local News

Ad for California Local

Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9

Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.

* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!