Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Feb. 23

Flowers, flowers everywhere! As far as our plants are concerned, spring arrived four weeks early.

The weather sure feels like spring – and it will stay that way all week. According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento’s afternoon highs will hover right around 70 degrees every day.

Nights will feel warmer, too; overnight lows will barely dip into the high 40s.

But pause before you rush out to plant tomatoes. It’s still February! March is notorious for unsettled weather – including some very cold nights. Wait until soil temperatures catch up to this warm air.

As for rain, no more is in sight, which means Sacramento will finish February with 4.41 inches – more than an inch above average.

Get outside and enjoy this nice weather. There’s plenty to do as your garden starts to explode with spring growth.

* Weed, weed, weed! Unwanted plants seem to grow fastest. Don’t let them get a roothold.

* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before their buds open. (For many trees, it may already be too late.) Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees.

* Check soil moisture before resuming irrigation. Most likely, your soil is still pretty damp.

* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.

* 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.