Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 10

The last two weeks of summer will be about as good as it gets in Sacramento for this time of year: Warm days, cool nights and clear skies.

According to the National Weather Service, Monday’s predicted high of 94 degrees may be the warmest day for the rest of summer – and September. After that peak, Sacramento temperatures will trend steadily downward into the mid to low 80s for the remainder of summer. Overnight lows will dip into the 50s, but our soil will remain warm.

That’s normal for September in Sacramento; the month historically averages highs of 87 degrees and lows of 56.

Make the most of these last summer days while planning and planting for fall:

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* 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.

* 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.