Garden Checklist: Deadline is here for tomato transplanting

It’s time to plant now – or wait until next year. Memorial Day weekend traditionally represents the cutoff time for planting tomatoes in Sacramento. Any later and those vines may grow, but develop little fruit.

Basil, a favorite accompaniment to tomatoes, does well planted now, too. Your transplants will enjoy early June’s usually mild weather as they put down roots and get acclimated.

▪ This week, you can still transplant seedlings for eggplants, peppers and squash as well as tomatoes. Look for varieties that mature in 75 days or less.

▪ From seed, plant corn, beans, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

▪ Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

▪ Plant seeds for sunflowers, asters, cosmos, salvia and zinnias.

▪ Don’t forget to water! Yes, we still need to conserve, but it’s important to keep those seedlings and transplants hydrated. Seeds need consistently moist (not soggy) soil to sprout; don’t let them dry out or your work (and seeds) will go to waste.

▪ Feed the roses. After their initial big burst of spring bloom, they’ve worked up an appetite while depleting a lot of energy. Trim off the spent flowers, then fertilize with a balanced mix such as 12-12-12. Make sure to water bushes well before adding fertilizer (that prevents chemical burns to the foliage). The application rate for most granular fertilizers is 1/2 cup per bush, worked into the soil lightly in a circle within 18 inches of the trunk.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Garden Checklist: Deadline is here for tomato transplanting."