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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of June 6

Make the most of mild weather, ideal for planting

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUN 5, 2021

Coneflowers come in more colors than the usual purple, and can give the summer garden some bright accents. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

After a broiling start to June, we’re headed into an extra mild week – perfect for planting and other garden activities.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will spend a warm weekend with highs in the low 90s. Then expect several days in the low 80s, perhaps even the 70s – a 20-degree drop from a week ago.

Breezy conditions will keep afternoons cool, but nights will stay comfortably in the 50s. Although the Sierra may see thunderstorms, no rain is expected in the Valley.

This weather makes for near-ideal conditions for several crops to grow fast. Keep an eye on the zucchini!

* It’s not too late to plant a summer vegetable garden. Transplant tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Choose fast-maturing varieties.

* From seed, plant beans, corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

Plant some basil for you, but also plant some for the bees,

which love the flowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Add instant color to the garden with petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* Transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* 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.

* Remember to weed; those plants are growing fast, too. Pull them before they go to seed.

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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