After record heat, some cool relief is on its way
Several vegetables and flowers can be planted in late July (just remember to water)
Plant talks, vendors, food and fun during annual gardening celebration
Cool spring challenged seedling growth, no matter the pepper variety
Easy irrigation method: Use a bucket with a hole in it
Stay hydrated and give your plants a morning shower
Recipe: Peaches and cookies chill in a cool treat
Intense heat will challenge midsummer garden
Sign up now for Green Acres workshops at all locations
Free UC webinar on 'Natural Enemies & Beneficial Bugs'
Emphasis will be on food with return of festival; visit master gardeners at The Farm
Tips to help keep gardeners, gardens more comfortable in triple-digit weather
Bearded irises are a perfect addition to water-wise Sacramento gardens.
Recipe: Spinach-mushroom-pancetta frittata for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Make most of mild weather before triple-digit heat returns Friday, opening day of the State Fair.
Food, fun and Kokedama orchid workshop part of July 29 special event.
Make the most of your irrigation; Green Acres offers free workshops.
Program offers more choices to grow our urban forest while withstanding wild weather swings.
Colorful creations to come down Friday; on Saturday, Shepard Center holds annual meeting.
Mystery peppers cause headaches in Sacramento area, nationwide
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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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