Garden Checklist

I found more of those Redhumpted caterpillars on my plum tree, but they are gone now! Soapy water works wonders!

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From The Fresno Bee, August 27, 2009 (edited):
Extend Summer Blooming--Elinor Teague

"Don't be in a hurry to pull out heat-damaged summer-blooming annuals and vegetables and to set out cool-season transplants. Temperatures are still too hot in late August and early September to plant much of anything (with the exception of pole and bush beans)."

You can revive plants by regularly fertilizing, deadheading spent flowers and, pruning off damaged leaves, and you may get another six weeks of flowering. Flower production will naturally slow down in July and August because of the heat; and stressed plants may have insect problems. Mid-October is a better time to replace summer annuals with spring-bloomers.

Some chemical insecticides will vaporize when temperatures are higher than 90', so do not spray in the heat of the day. If you must spray stressed plants, do so very lightly. Cut back insect damage, such as petunia and geranium budworms, or mites in impatiens, before spraying.

Fertilize damaged or stressed plants with half the usual amount of 5-10-10 fertilizer; healthy plants are OK with the normal amount. Feed annuals every two weeks until they are replaced with spring-blooming pansies and snapdragons.

Roses are to be deadheaded; and fed now and again in late September.

Peppers and eggplants love the heat and need once-a-month feeding to continue to produce into October. Tomatoes won't set flowers with temperatures above 95', but will start setting flowers as we cool into fall. Most likely tomatoes won't have a long enough season to ripen, but you never know--give them a last feeding "just in case we have a warmer-than-usual fall."

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Garden Checklist--

Take a stroll through your garden with a morning cup of coffee or tea

Tasks: Renovate cool-season lawns--remove thatch and aerate
Pruning: While cutting and deadheading roses, prune lightly to shape bushes and encourage fall bloom
Fertilizing: Apply a complete fertilizer to cool-season lawns at the rate of 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn
Things to ponder: If you do not use your lawn, consider replacing it with a drought-tolerant planting area or vegetable garden