Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Feb. 19
Sunny afternoons make it tempting to jump the calendar and start planting warm-season vegetables. But we’re about to get another chilly reminder that it’s still winter.
Monday’s forecast calls for 67 degrees and spring-like conditions, then our forecast changes dramatically. According to the National Weather Service, expect lower than normal temperatures later this week as well as some possible rain and even foothills snow.
“An unsettled weather pattern will bring cold temps, rain and snow to interior NorCal next week,” the NWS Sacramento office tweeted Friday.
A storm originating in Alaska looks like it’s drifting south and bringing some very cold temperatures. The weather service doubts it will be a big rainmaker in the Valley, but it could dust the Sierra with more snow including much lower elevations.
As of Saturday, the forecast calls for a “chance of rain showers and snow showers” on Thursday and Friday for the greater Sacramento area. The expected high in downtown Sacramento for Thursday is only 49 degrees followed by an overnight low of 30 in the wee hours of Friday morning. Normal for this week: Highs of 65 and lows of 44.
Keep a sweater and umbrella handy. Keep an eye on seedlings, new transplants and sensitive plants, too; they may need frost covering or other ways to warm up.
* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts. The exception: Japonica camellias. Feed camellias after they finish blooming in March.
* Remove aphids from blooming bulbs with a strong spray of water or insecticidal soap.
* Fertilize strawberries and asparagus.
* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.
* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.
* Transplant lettuce, both loose leaf and head.
* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.
* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.
* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.
* Wait until soil warms a few degrees before direct planting seeds outdoors. This week, soil will be just too cold for most seeds to sprout.
