Enjoy the outdoors as the weather returns to normal
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A hummingbird rests for several minutes on a tomato cage. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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Even hummingbirds chill once in awhile.
I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. When I arrived at my community garden plot Wednesday morning, I happened to look over at my group of smaller tomato plants. On the top rung of the blue cage was a hummingbird, just sitting.
I expected it to fly off immediately, but no, this bird was settled in for a rest, not looking around, just gazing off toward the east side of the garden.
The bird sat there long enough for me to grab a couple of pictures with my phone. Several minutes went by, and it didn't move. I finally walked over to pick up my tools, and that was enough to prompt the hummer to fly away.
The air today is much better than it's been in more than a week, and the temperatures finally near normal. It's a good day to be outside, and to take stock of the garden.
Yes, there's deadheading to do, and ash to spray off leaves and blossoms. It's OK now to fertilize the plants that need it. Maybe thin the fruit on the orange tree, or weed the front flower bed, or dig and divide the irises, per Debbie's recent post . An ambitious task would be to list all the bulb and seed planting to do in September and October.
Yes, the rest of the world is still out there. But now that we can again, do take a few minutes today to just enjoy the garden. Be like a hummingbird on a break, and soak it all in.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of May 4
Enjoy this spring weather – and get gardening!
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. 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. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)
* 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.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. 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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