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This zucchini plant is well past its peak, and has
quite a bit of spider mite damage, so it's due to
be removed. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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What a difference a breeze makes! Sacramento’s natural air conditioner, the Delta breeze is back, relieving us (at least briefly) from triple-digit temperatures.
According to the National Weather Service, breezy conditions will keep Sacramento high temperatures in the low 90s at least through Tuesday. But then, the breeze dies down and temperatures spike back up. The forecast calls for highs of 99 degrees Wednesday and Thursday, starting September on a hot note. Overnight lows will stay warm, too: 60 to 64 degrees.
It’s already been a red-hot summer. So far, Sacramento has recorded 34 triple-digit days. Average is 22. Will we set a record? Sacramento broiled with 41 triple-digit days in 1988.
Before temperatures heat up again, take care of some late-summer tasks:
* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.
* Divide bearded iris and other perennials. Revitalize beds and replant.
*Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that's now forming.
* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Feed them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.
* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias, annuals and container plants.
* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.
* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.
* Pull out summer vegetables that are past their prime and have stopped producing. Dispose of plants heavily infested with spider mites.
* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.
* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.
* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.
* Plant more potatoes.
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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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