Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of June 6

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.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

seeds tomatoes Sacramento garden checklist vines fertilizer grapes gardening sunflowers summer vegetables summer flowers bulbs perennials weeds

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Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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