Garden Checklist

Every week, on Thursday, the Fresno Bee prints a Garden Checklist from the Master Gardener book, "A Gardener's Companion for the San Joaquin Valley." I will share this information for those that may have missed it.

Tasks: pull weeds and hoe often

Pruning: remove dead branches from shrubs

Fertilizing: feed bedding plants with all-purpose fertilizer high in phosphorus

Planting: plant summer vegetables at two-week intervals to prolong harvest; plant lily of the Nile, Agapanthus, alstroemeria; fortnight lily (Dietes); bougainvillea; vinca (Catharanthus), lisianthus (Eustoma); plant cantaloupe, chard, chayote

Enjoy now: bachelor's buttons (Centaurea), Shasta daisy (Chrysanthemum), godetia (Clarkia), coreopsis; iris; oleander (Nerium);cucumber, grapefruit

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Also on Thursday, Elinor Teague, a Master Gardener, writes a column relating to gardening. I will give a synopsis of her articles.

"Early Heat Wave Does Damage to the Garden"
Elinor relates how our record breaking high temperatures last week has damaged many of our plants and fruit trees, with some damage showing now and some will appear in the next few weeks. Citrus trees were blooming last week and lost more than their normal amount of blossoms and immature fruit. "Next winter's citrus crop may be reduced." Peaches, apricots and nectarines may show stress by producing smaller fruit that are less juicy that usual. Roses took a hit when rosebuds opened all at once, shattered and quickly died all within the four hot days.

Elinor suggests to "deadhead damaged flowers, remove dead leaves and feed lightly every two weeks until the plants show healthy new growth."

Insects also increased dramatically, especially the hoplia beetles, aphids and earwigs. Hoplia beetles like light-colored flowers, especially roses, and can be hand-picked to "keep their numbers down." Hosing off aphids will help plants. And, earwigs are attracted to rolled-up newspapers that are left on the ground overnight; these are then easily thrown into the trash.