Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 2
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| Break out the seeds for fall vegetables, and don't forget to plant California poppies, too. You'll be glad you did. (Photo: Kathy Morrison) |
By Debbie Arrington
A new month and almost a new season: September brings renewed enthusiasm to Sacramento gardeners.
Weather tends to be cooler, particularly at night and early morning. It puts a little more bounce back in plants, and more bounce in gardeners’ steps.
Average Sacramento high for September is 87 degrees; overnight lows remain relatively warm with an average of 56 degrees. That range represents a sweet spot for planting fall and winter vegetables as well as flowers for spring. It’s also an ideal time for transplanting shrubs and perennials.
Need ideas? Here are some suggestions:
* Before planting, cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.
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| Divide peonies now for more blooms in the spring. (Photo: Debbie Arrington) |
* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.
* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.
* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.
* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials. Bearded irises should be divided every three to five years.
* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.
* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with “eyes” about an inch below the soil surface.
Potatoes can be planted now? I thought they were a spring crop here! (I’m relatively new to the area.)
ReplyDeleteYou can get TWO crops of potatoes in Sacramento. If you plant now, they'll be new potatoes for the holidays. Replant the smallest ones in early spring for good size potatoes by June.
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