Make most of mild Memorial Day weekend weather
Transplant marigolds now for continued summer color. Some gardeners like to edge their vegetable planting areas with marigolds.
Kathy Morrison
Our weird spring weather continues into the unofficial start of summer – but who’s complaining? Milder than normal temperatures give us procrastinating gardeners more time to plant tomatoes and a lot more.
According to the National Weather Service, a marine layer hanging offshore of San Francisco Bay pushed into the Delta. More moisture and turbulent conditions were expected to produce thunderstorms (and hail) in the foothills and Sierra.
While Sacramento may not have many clouds, we get the benefit of that cool moisture surrounding the Valley and lower-than-normal temperatures.
Average high for the last week of May in Sacramento: 85 degrees. Last year, Memorial Day weekend hit 102 degrees.
Instead, Sacramento saw four straight days this past week in the mid to low 70s. After a high of 92 on Monday (May 22), Thursday only reached 72 – a 20-degree drop.
More 70s are forecast for Sacramento by the weather service for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, before we edge into the low 80s. But we’re expected to remain on the cool side of normal through next weekend.
Make the most of these cooler temperatures. Get to work!
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.
* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly fertilizing program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants. (Also, don't fertilize droopy or stressed plants -- it will just stress them more.)
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain soil moisture and cut down on weeds. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle around tree or shrub trunks to avoid crown rot or other problems.
* Plant, plant, plant! Set out tomato transplants along with peppers, eggplants, squash and melons.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed or transplant sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant summer color such as petunias and marigolds.
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For week of Sept. 24:
This week our weather will be just right for fall gardening. What are you waiting for?
* Now is the time to plant for fall. The warm soil will get these veggies off to a fast start.
* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant. Tomatoes may ripen faster off the vine and sitting on the kitchen counter.
* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.
* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.
* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.
* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.
* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.
* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.
* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials. That includes bearded iris; if they haven’t bloomed in three years, it’s time to dig them up and divide their rhizomes.
* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.
* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with “eyes” about an inch below the soil surface.
* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.
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