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Heat wave effects: You know you're a gardener when ...

Early watering and extra worries define these hot days

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED JUL 4, 2024

This instant-read thermometer shows the air temperature at 104.2 degrees in shade at 2:35 p.m. today, July 4. It was about 9 degrees higher in full sun. Kathy Morrison

Sacramento gardeners know how to handle summer heat: It comes with the territory. But the current extended heat wave is testing even the most experienced among us. We planted gardens in the expectation of crops, flowers, shade and beauty. Our gardens in turn depend on us to provide optimum conditions for growth. Not unlike children, come to think of it.

I was contemplating all this early today while at my community garden plot. Here, on the morning of a national holiday, it was already 79 degrees, and more than a few of us were up, dressed and working for the survival of our plants -- tending, watering, adjusting shade cloth. Quite a dedicated bunch.

With this in mind, I present the Heat Wave Edition of "You Know You're a Gardener When ..."

-- Your first thought on waking at daylight is "Did the irrigation system go on?" And you jump out of bed to check.

-- The next thing you do is pop open the worm bin, to make sure it's not getting too hot. And prepare a treat for the occupants: "Look, I have watermelon rind for you, your favorite!"

-- You're tempted to put sunscreen on your tomatoes to prevent sunscald. (Uh, don't, but use on lot on yourself. Use shade cloth, burlap or even a lace tablecloth to protect any tomatoes exposed to direct sun.)

-- You decide that deadheading the roses would just mislead them about current conditions.

-- You're willing to sacrifice your beach umbrella to protect that expensive new shrub.

-- You accidentally-on-purpose spray yourself with the hose while wetting down the raised beds.

-- Like an attentive waitperson, you wander around outside with a jug of water asking, "Anyone need a refill?" That's always a yes for the little water dishes set out for the bees and wasps -- they dry out in just a few hours.

-- You take your kitchen instant-read thermometer outside to check the afternoon sun-vs.-shade temperatures. It proves there's about 9 degrees difference.

-- You apologize profusely to the citrus tree that hasn't been fertilized since early spring. "You'll just have to wait 'til it's cooler -- fertilizer now isn't recommended."

-- You stand at the window, considering whether it's worth it to run outside into late-afternoon heat to pick some basil for dinner. And then you do it.

-- You decide that any floppy branches create shade and just let them be. For now.

-- You silently celebrate the heat death of weeds.

Happy Fourth of July, gardeners, and congrats on making it this far! Let's all hope for cooler days ahead.

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heat heat wave weather July summer irrigation Sacramento gardening tomatoes pests fertilizer trees flowers roses

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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