Red Flag Warning signals dry conditions, high fire danger
Have you planted sunflowers yet? They grow quickly and provide color all summer (not to mention pollen that's popular with bees). Kathy Morrison
Crispy: that describes weather conditions for this coming week – as well as a lot of grasses and overgrowth.
According to the National Weather Service, a Red Flag Warning – signaling high fire danger – is in effect through Sunday night. Low humidity (as low as 10% during afternoons) and gusty winds (up to 35 mph) can rapidly spread flames. Watch out for wildfire.
Be extra careful not to produce any sparks. Avoid using power equipment; a mower blade hitting a rock can set brown grass ablaze. A trailer dragging a chain can ignite roadside weeds. Those windy conditions can rapidly turn a little flame into a raging inferno.
Instead, concentrate on keeping things irrigated – and tied down. Those winds can knock down vines and fruit, too.
Once the wind dies down, we’ll settle into a typical June pattern for these last few days of spring, says the weather service. High temperatures this week will bounce around 90 degrees with overnight lows in the high 50s. Normal for this week: Highs of 87 and lows of 56.
Summer officially starts Thursday. The good news: No triple-digits – at least until next weekend.
Make the most of this cooler weather. Your garden needs you.
* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat.Water deeply, then give a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal or rock phosphate can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.
* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don't let them dry out completely. That can encourage blossom-end rot.
* 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.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.
* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.
* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.
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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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