Dig In: Garden Checklist for week of Aug. 26

A Mardi Gras rose looks especially vibrant in the diffused light created by our smoky haze. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Enjoy last days of summer, start seriously thinking fall

By Debbie Arrington

Enjoy these mild final days of summer as Sacramento temperatures settle into the low 80s most of this week.

That’s ideal weather to get outside and enjoy your garden – and get started on fall.

Hazy conditions continue due to wildfire smoke settling into the Central Valley. While breezes make air quality bearable, that haze is helping to moderate temperatures.

It’s also creating unusual light for outdoor photography, casting an orange glow. Take some pictures of your garden, especially flowers with yellow, red or orange blooms or plants with variegated foliage.

Before you snap those shots, dead-head roses and pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals. They’ll look better – and may keep blooming a little longer.

Other items for your to-do list:

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year. Water deeply.

* Apples and pears are ripening earlier than normal. That means those trees are also dropping fruit now. Any “worms” you may see likely are codling moth larvae. Pick up and dispose of those infected apples and pears. It will cut down on outbreaks next year.

* Plant onions, leaf lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into vegetable beds.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* Directly in the garden, sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.