Dig In: Garden checklist for week of June 29

We keep flirting with 100 degrees, but according to the National Weather Service, Sacramento won’t get there this week. Instead of climbing into the high heat zone, our weather pattern is about to reverse.

The current forecast calls for highs in the upper 90s on Sunday (97) and Monday (96) – but not 100. Then, we gradually cool down for the start of July. The forecast for Friday, July Fourth, is “only” 86 degrees. That’s six degrees below normal for that date.

Several temperate afternoons are expected to follow, prompting rapid growth in the summer garden.

This is actually a normal summer weather pattern for Sacramento. This June averaged highs of 88 degrees in Sacramento; normal for the month is 87.6.

In fact, Sacramento officially last saw triple digits in May; it hit 102 degrees on May 30 and 31.

Sacramento did set new record highs of 98 degrees on June 18 and 27.

That’s typical, too; our heat often spikes for a day or two, then cools back down to just average heat.

For the start of July, overnight lows also are expected to stay normal, dipping down into the high 50s in the early morning hours. That makes for pleasant morning temperatures – and a perfect time for summer gardening.

* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers. Plant Halloween pumpkins now.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Don’t let tomato plants wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.

* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Harvest tomatoes, squash, peppers and eggplant. Prompt picking will help keep plants producing.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

* Feed vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.