As Sacramento weather finally feels like spring, expect rapid changes in your garden
Enjoy spring flowers while you can. They'll be gone soon. Kathy Morrison
Is your garden ready for the 70s?
Sacramento temperatures are expected to warm up dramatically – at least for a few days. After a rainy (and very cool) Friday, Sacramento could see 78 degrees on Monday, according to the National Weather Service. We’ll also see a warm and sunny Easter Sunday with a predicted high of 76.
Normal for this week in Sacramento: 71 degrees.
But another cold front is expected to tamp down temperatures again midweek with a high of 64 degrees on Wednesday and overnight lows in the low 40s. Don’t worry if you just set out your tomatoes; the long-term forecast sees more 70s coming soon.
Usually, we’re hotter by now. On average, Sacramento sees its first 80-degree day on March 27. We haven’t topped 80 degrees all year. March 13 and 17 both recorded highs of 68 degrees, and that’s as warm as it got all month. On Feb. 12, we hit 72 degrees (and expected an early spring); that was our warmest day of 2023. It’s been kind of damp and chilly ever since.
So far, Thursday (April 6) was our warmest April day at 65 degrees – six degrees below normal for that date. Nights have also remained cold; four out of the first five nights in April dipped down into the 30s with one frost warning.
That’s kept the ground cold, too, and slowed growth of many young plants – including weeds.
So, if your early vegetables are just kind of sitting there and doing nothing, that’s why. Blame the weather.
That excuse will soon be gone. With this rapid warm-up, be ready for change:
* Enjoy the last days of spring-blooming bulbs. Our cool March extended the season for daffodils, tulips, freesias and other spring favorites. They’re fine in 70-degree weather, but will quickly fade as we approach 80 degrees. Cut some bouquets to bring indoors.
After they finish blooming, these bulbs still need water so they can finish their growth cycle. Their foliage is collecting energy for next spring’s flowers. Remove spent blooms, but keep the leaves attached until they yellow.
* Keep an eye on soil moisture. Recent rain may have dampened the mulch, but what about soil roots? Is there enough moisture where plants need it? Use a soil moisture meter or a trowel; dig down 6 inches and look.
* Container-grown plants can dry out quickly in warmer weather. Make sure to give them a drink.
* Watch seedlings and new transplants. Keep them evenly moist. Mulch will help insulate their roots.
* Attack weeds. Don’t wait; weeds love, love, love this weather – especially after a little rain.
* Be on the lookout for powdery mildew. This fungal disease is triggered by warmer weather; 72 degrees is its sweet spot. Examine rose leaves or foliage on other vulnerable plants such as peas. If you see an infected leaf, remove it immediately.
For more on powdery mildew: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/powderymildewcard.html.
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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9
Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.
* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.
* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can 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.