Relief from triple-digit temperatures coming this weekend, but smoky skies may linger
Patricia Carpenter welcomes visitors to her garden Sunday, Aug. 4
Discolored berries are another example of crops affected by intense summer heat
Triple-digit temperatures and smoky conditions can create high pollutant levels
El Dorado County master gardeners offer free workshop at Sherwood Demonstration Garden
Summer stone fruit flavors a quick-cooking sauce
Try to stay cool; relief is on its way
Surviving triple-digit temperatures comes down to moisture, mulch
Master gardeners field queries from State Fair visitors
Don’t let bindweed overwhelm your garden; tips on how to cope with this invasive plant
Tiny pests thrive during hot, dry, dusty conditions
Add a rainbow of color to your water-wise garden with easy-care bearded irises
New! Banana blueberry pancakes (with one banana lots of blueberries).
After record-setting heat, Sacramento gardeners may be getting a break
Tips to rescue vegetables, shrubs, container plants and more after too much sun, heat
Free event includes speakers, demonstrations, vendors
How to give bees a hand and pollinate squash, cucumber, melon and pumpkin flowers
Placer County master gardeners also host monthly Open Garden at Loomis Library.
Visit master gardeners at the State Fair Farm, pet a live sturgeon.
New! Pick your garden favorites for a quick side dish
Remember to water; Sacramento could be in midst of record heat wave
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
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Garden Checklist for week of July 21
Your garden needs you!
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Feed vegetable plants bone meal, rock phosphate or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting. (But wait until daily high temperatures drop out of the 100s.)
* Don’t let tomatoes 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.
* 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.
* 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.