After heavy rain, more winter weather is on the way to Sacramento, foothills
The daffodils are defying the calendar and the weather to show their colors. Kathy Morrison
Punxsutawney Phil was right. It looks like we’re headed for six more weeks of winter.
No matter what our early-blooming daffodils may indicate, more chilly weather (and rain) are on the way, according to the National Weather Service.
On Groundhog Day last Sunday, the world’s most famous four-legged forecaster saw his shadow when he emerged from his Pennsylvania burrow. That’s supposed to signal continued winter – not a stretch on Phil’s home turf, which is buried in snow.
Here in Sacramento, we had an unusually dry and sunny January. But February got off to a very soggy start with three successive storms in six days.
Since Friday, Jan. 31, downtown Sacramento has recorded 3.17 inches of rain, says the weather service. That’s almost as much rain as we normally get in the whole month of February.
More rain is on the way, says the weather service. NorCal’s long-range forecast predicts an 80% chance of above average rain in the next six to 10 days. “Definite rain” is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 12 and 13, with 1 to 2 inches expected in Sacramento; more in the foothills. Valentine’s Day is likely to be stormy, too.
Before the next round of rain arrives, Sacramento nights are expected to be especially chilly, with wide areas of frost forecast in the wee hours of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning. Overnight lows will be right around freezing at 32 degrees. Patchy frost can hit early Saturday morning, too, says the weather service. Also, watch out for fog.
In this space between storms, protect tender plants from frost – and rot. Succulents may have become waterlogged from all this recent rain; make sure they’re not standing in water. (They could end up standing in ice.)
For weather updates: https://www.weather.gov/sto/#
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 20
Before possible showers at the end of the week, take advantage of all this nice sunshine – and get to work!
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Give shrubs and trees a dose of a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
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