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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of May 31

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAY 30, 2020

Basil is an excellent companion plant for tomatoes. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

May ends on a cool (and maybe soggy) note

May goes out with more unexpected twists -- rain and a 25-degree dip in high temperatures.
After record heat in midweek, Sacramento is back in the 70s and expected to get wet. But this change is only temporary.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento could receive as much as a half inch of rain from this weekend storm system with the possibility of thunderstorms and maybe hail in the foothills. Remember to turn off the sprinklers.

This cool down feels like a welcome respite after 103-degree days. Sunday and Monday are both expected to be in the low 80s before we jump up 10 degrees by Tuesday. The first week of June will see several days in the 90s. That's hot for early June, which averages 87 degrees in Sacramento.

In other words, it will soon feel like summer again.

Make the most of these cooler days and enjoy your outdoor spaces:

*Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden. Tomatoes and squash enjoy the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.
* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week (about 5 gallons per plant total for the week), but don't let them dry out completely between drinks. That can encourage blossom-end rot.
* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.
* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.
* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.
* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.
* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes.
* From seed, plant beans, corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.
* Transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, gazanias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

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Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

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