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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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* 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. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* 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.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier 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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