Expect spring to get off to a soggy start, weather service says
Spring flowers, like these fragrant stock blooms, are ready to bright up landscapes, but the sun we've enjoyed the past few days will be crowded out by clouds soon. Kathy Morrison
So far, 2023 has definitely been wet – and our rainy days aren’t over. It looks like we’ll be starting spring with more showers.
“The latest 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook is still leaning toward above-normal precipitation for NorCal next week,” tweeted the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service on Thursday. “A strong system will bring widespread precipitation early to mid next week, followed by unsettled weather towards the end of next week.”
Before this next round of rain arrives, the last Saturday of winter will feel very much like spring with highs close to 70 degrees. That warmth will prompt rapid growth and many more spring flowers. Any daffodils, tulips or other bulbs held back by chilly temperatures will soon be bursting into bloom.
Warmer temperatures also bring out mosquitoes. Make sure to dump rainwater out of any place it may have collected – flowerpots, old tires, kids’ toys, etc. Invasive mosquitoes can breed in a bottle cap with a tablespoon of water.
During this little gap in storms, it’s a good time to access our precipitation totals – and your own landscape’s ability to cope with all this moisture.
This winter, California has already experienced 11 “atmospheric rivers” – a weather term that’s become all too familiar.
Almost halfway through our “water year” that started Oct. 1, Sacramento has received 23.76 inches of rain; that’s 6 inches more than we average (17.6 inches) in a whole water year.
So far in March, Sacramento has recorded 2.98 inches – almost double the average for those 16 days. That made up for a slightly below-par February that totaled 2.56 inches.
Leave the sprinklers off for at least another week; your lawn and landscape won’t need it. According to the weather service, Sacramento can expect another 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches this week, with the first showers starting as soon as Sunday afternoon. Monday is the first day of spring.
For the latest forecast: https://www.weather.gov/sto/#.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* 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.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees 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, ranunculus and gladioli 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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