June Gardening Checklist

May 27, 2026

Plant vegetable plants. Remember to protect them from hungry snails, bugs, slugs & earwigs with Sluggo Plus.

Before your cherries and other summer fruit begin to ripen, protect them from hungry birds with bird scare tape (shiny tape that moves in the wind), plastic netting, and plastic owls.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?!!! Tomato hornworms, as well as geranium budworms and other caterpillars, are ready to munch on your garden. Control them with earth-friendly, all-natural Caterpillar Killer with B.t. (available in concentrate or ready-to-use).

Before you have trouble with blossom end rot on your tomatoes, use Foli-cal. Blossom end rot creates a leathery brown patch at the bottom end of a tomato and is evidence of insufficient calcium.

Remember to water plants under eaves and in hidden corners. Soak hanging baskets and container plants during the summer heat.

Water trees and shrubs deeply. Begin deep watering with a garden or soaker hose now and continue monthly through the hot summer months.

Flowering Vines Grace Garden Walls with Color

May 20, 2026

Flowering vines add color, texture and a vertical element to the garden

Growing a vine up a trellis or along the top of a wall, or over an arbor will give a splash of color or screen a view. Vines provide a cooling effect by reducing the intensity of reflected light, casting a puddle of shade. They are great for creating layers in a garden without using a lot of space. Vines provide a background for other plants and add a contrasting texture. Consider creating a focal point by planting a vine to grow up an obelisk or topiary.

Let vines help set the mood or reinforce your theme, whether you are recreating a bit of Europe, aiming for an English cottage-style garden or drawing inspiration from the tropics.

Shade a patio by covering a pergola with a large vine or grape. Vines are a versatile set of plants to provide a dynamic, exciting look to your garden.

We love the following short list of great performing vines:

Blooming now

Clematis can provide masses of white or shades of purple flowers midsummer through fall.
Honeysuckle offers a profuse show of fragrant white blossoms. Good for covering a fence or bank.
Climbing Roses make a stunning, colorful cover for arbors or a wall. Many colorful options abound. Some will reach 12 or more feet and provide a beautiful frame for a country garden.
Pink Bower Vine blooms intermittently through the warm months providing a tropical-like look to sunny or part sun areas.

Blooming or fruiting later

Vine Lilac can handle sun or shade and blooms purple in late January/early February when little else is happening.
Grapes are fruitful performers whether you plant table grapes or wine grapes or plant a California native, like Rodger’s red to say, “California.”

Recently bloomed

Wisteria is a massive, rampant climber best suited for a large patio cover or pergola. Cooke’s Purple will flower intermittently through summer as well as a big splash in March/April.
Pink Jasmine is a beautiful and fragrant evergreen climber that is easy to keep to a manageable 10’. It is lovely when placed left and right of an entry arbor.
Lady Banks Rose is a thornless yellow or white vine that blooms once a year and has the impressive ability to raise the height of a fence by about 2’, creating a perfect privacy screen.

Most vines mentioned here can enjoy living with occasional water… especially if you plant in well-prepared soil, and mulch to improve moisture retention.

Zinnias: Sow and Grow

May 13, 2026

Zinnias make a brilliant addition to the summer flower garden, loved by novice and expert gardeners alike. The pollinators love them too! They bloom effortlessly from summer to frost, and the more you cut, the more they branch and bloom.

Zinnias are native to Mexico and as a frost-sensitive annual appreciate warm weather. They bloom heaviest when daylight is less than 12 hours.

GENERAL SOWING OR TRANSPLANTING

Sow or plant outside now. Zinnias love the warmer weather ahead. The ideal temperature for sowing zinnias and many warm-season annuals is about 70°+. Think of it as sunbathing weather. Or you can get a headstart planting zinnias from starter plants.

We have starts ready to go into the ground now as well as many varieties from seed.

Zinnias thrive in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun (6 hours or more). Improve the soil with Bumper Crop soil conditioner before transplanting. Sow a group of 3 seeds every 8″-12″ apart and ¼” deep, depending on the variety (consult your seed packet). Or plant 4″ or 6-pack starters.

Weeding
Keep zinnias well weeded, so they aren’t competing for water or nutrients. A well-weeded patch of zinnias also has more airflow, which helps avoid fungal disease. Cultivate shallowly, as zinnia roots are close to the soil surface.

Fertilization
Plan on fertilizing with E.B. Stone Organics Rose & Flower Food – It’s slow release, organic and promotes blooms.

Water
Keep zinnias consistently moist but not soggy; allowing the top inch of soil to dry between watering once plants are established. Water the soil, avoiding the foliage to help prevent fungal disease. Mulching zinnias can help to keep down weeds, avoid soil splashing that can spread disease, and also keep the soil more consistently moist.

Special Care
Once they have four sets of leaves, clip or pinch zinnia seedlings back to just above a set of leaves, to encourage them to branch out. Deadheading frequently keeps zinnias blooming because it stops them from producing seeds, encouraging them to begin the bloom cycle again.

HARVESTING
For extended vase life, harvest before the small yellow flowers emerge from between petals.

COMMON PESTS AND DISEASES

Powdery Mildew looks like a white powder on leaves and thrives in humid weather with cool nights. Reduce chances of this disease by keeping leaves dry while watering only in the morning and during the day. Proper spacing of plants will provide good air circulation, too. Do not compost diseased plants; spores may over-winter and re-infect crops the following season.

Hummers & Butterflies

April 29, 2026

Your garden can be much more than a lovely, serene place for family and friends to gather. It can be a bird and butterfly oasis. Creating this oasis doesn’t take much more than planting the kinds of plants which will attract birds and butterflies.

To help get you started, we’ve listed some of the annuals and perennials that will entice these critters into your garden. Remember that birds need to feel protected before they begin to gather so try centering these plantings near or around groups of established trees and shrubs.

Hummingbirds and Butterflies enjoy many of the same features in your garden. Both enjoy flowers for food, shelter from the weather, and a place to bask in the sun. Water is another essential — a hollow in a rock or a shallow birdbath can provide the needed water and hours of enjoyment to the observer!! Both hummingbirds and butterflies like to fly freely; and will give aerial shows almost hourly!

A well-planned garden with the proper plants and positioning is the secret to luring hummingbirds and butterflies. Even better, it is also practical and attractive…

Lantana

Flowers in reds and yellows provide a nectar source for butterflies.

Phlox

Butterflies and hummingbirds take nectar from the white and purple flowers. Other birds feed on the seeds in the fall.

Zinnias

Flowers provide nectar for butterflies while birds eat seeds in autumn and winter. Single flowering varieties are best.

Lavender

Fragrant purple flowers attract butterflies for nectar.

Stonecrop (Sedums)

Butterflies take nectar from the small pink flowers that bloom from August to September.

Sweet William (Dianthus)

Red, white, rosy purple flowers provide nectar for butterflies.

Achillea (Yarrow)

Yarrow is easy to grow and rewarding with sprays of summer flowers, making great butterfly landing pads. Ladybugs are attracted to this plant as well as butterflies. Grows 18″-24″ high.

Buddleia davidii (Butterfly Bush)

Can reach 9-15 feet. Cut to knee high in November. Reblooms through summer if old blossoms removed. Great for both hummingbirds and butterflies.

Salvia Greggii (Autumn Sage)

This, and in fact, most sages are hummingbird attractants. Blooming for over half the year, Autumn sage is found in shades of red and pink.

Gaura lindheimeri

Can almost bloom its heart out. May remain in bloom 6 or more months. 2-3′ high and wide. Attracts hummers and butterflies.

Hemerocallis (Daylily)

Easy to grow, strap leaves are a nice contrast. Flowers are 2-3′ and attract both hummingbirds and butterflies.

Versatile Peppers Warm and Cool

April 29, 2026

Peppers are definitely a diverse group in the garden, from sweet to blazing hot. Every garden needs at least one either to warm a dish or cool a plate. Peppers like growing conditions similar to tomatoes but benefit from a bit of late afternoon shade. The following describes a few we have on hand today.

ANAHEIM PEPPER
80 Days to maturity. A mild California chili. Ripens from light green to dark green to red and grows 6-10 inches long by 1-2 inches wide. Can be used at any stage but is most often used green. Most often seared to remove the skins and then dipped in batter for chile rellenos. When red, it is hotter and usually dried for use. Many cultivars exist, hence their wide range on the Scoville scale (400-4000).

FRESNO PEPPER
90-100 days to maturity. A California hybrid similar to the jalapeno but meatier and thinner skinned. Medium hot when used green, hotter when red. Usually used fresh, not dried, in salsas. 5,000-10,000 on Scoville scale.

HABANERO PEPPER
90-100 Days to maturity. Fruits are 1-2 inches long, and lantern shaped. They start out green and ripen to bright orange and are reported to have a slightly fruity or citrus after-taste but is hotter when red. 200,000 to 350,000 on the Scoville scale! Plants are bushy and can overwinter in a greenhouse.

SERRANO PEPPER
85 Days to maturity. Similar to a Jalapeno in size but thinner and meatier but most importantly, up to 5 times hotter! They emerge green and ripen to orange or red. 10,000 to 30,000 on the Scoville scale. Do not dry well.

JALAPENO PEPPER
80 Days to maturity. Fruits are 3 inches long, smooth, green to red, with a slight taper and blunt end. Dry streaks or “stretch” marks are common and often indicate a hotter pepper. It is considered medium hot on the Scoville scale, rating 5,000-7,000. Can be eaten either green or red but is hotter when red.

JIMMY NARDELLO PEPPER
80-90 Days to maturity. A sweet pepper that looks like one of the spicy peppers. If you sauté these peppers, they are apple sweet.

Checklist for May Gardening

April 29, 2026

Protect your cherry crop! Prevent wormy fruit. Start spraying with Captain Jack’s spinosad weekly when fruit begins to change from green to strawberry color.

Feed roses now and every two weeks for maximum rose production. Use MaxSea plus Kelp Sea Life for the trace elements and minerals.

Thin apple, plum, apricot and peach crops if too much fruit has set, you’ll get fewer but larger, juicier fruit.

Ladybugs and praying mantis to the rescue! Control aphids, beetles, scale and leafhoppers naturally.

Deep-root water trees and shrubs. Never depend on lawn watering to take care of trees and shrubs. The use of soaker hoses helps deliver deep water as well. Your trees and shrubs will thank you for doing this at least monthly through the warmer months.

Do you have small sucking bugs on your vegetables? Use vegetable safe Bonide All Season Spray Oil.

Plant 4-inch or larger vegetable plants and save several weeks of growing time. Remember to protect them from hungry snails and slugs with Sluggo Plus or pet safe Sluggo. Both are labeled for organic gardening, both control slugs, Sluggo Plus controls insects too.

Prevent olive fruit set with Florel Fruit Eliminator. Spray the olive when the tree has just reached full bloom. Olive flowers are tiny, so watch carefully. Full bloom usually occurs in early May. Spray the whole tree thoroughly. We have the names of commercial spray companies that can help too.

Turflon Esther for Bermuda grass control controls that wiry-stemmed, nuisance weed Bermuda grass. It also works wonders on Oxalis, a yellow clover look-alike.

The miracle of mulch. As well as looking good, mulching conserves water and suppresses weeds and keeps roots cool. We suggest a mulch layer of 4 inches thick. Don’t mulch right up to the plant trunk or stem. Leave 4 to 6 inches of breathing room.

Protect the trunks of fruit trees with Go Natural Tree Trunk Paint. Applying this coating to the trunk will reflect heat away from the tender tissue and protect the trees.

Regular feeding for Citrus. Citrus performs well with monthly light feedings of fertilizer specifically formulated for Citrus. This will ensure that your tree gets a nice even supply of food year-round instead of occasional periods of highs or lows. We recommend Master Nursery Citrus Food, or for a completely organic approach, use E.B. Stone Citrus and Fruit Tree Fertilizer. Make quarterly applications of Iron Sulfate for optimum feeding and greening.

Prep your roses for the second wave of bloom! Cut back and feed roses as the first set of blooms fade. Feed with Master Nursery Rose and Flower Food. Water and stand back (roses typically rebloom six weeks after pruning and feeding. For special treatment, feed roses with water-soluble Maxsea. It can be sprayed on the leaves and gives the plant a dark glossy appearance.

Irrigation Checkup Time

April 22, 2026

With warmer weather upon us, it’s time to give your irrigation systems a seasonal look-through to confirm everything is in working order. We don’t want to waste water.

Bugs can plug nozzles; heads can shift out of alignment, calcium can accumulate and reduce flow. Turning everything on during daylight hours will let you see what’s working and what’s not. The following charts can help with a thorough checkup.

Periodic Checklist

Task	Annually	Seasonally	Monthly	Notes
Change Batteries	X			Check connections for corrosion and battery leakage damage. Make sure transformers are working. Check for frayed or broken control wires. Verify fuses, circuit breakers, etc. are OK, and the electrical supply circuit is functional.
Flush System	X			Remove line end caps and run water until clear.
Clean Filters	X			Clean screens. Replace filter elements and broken or torn filter screens.
Adjust Timer Settings		X		Adjust for changes in rain. Be sure to avoid zone time overlaps that will affect performance due to low pressure. Watering early in the morning saves water due to lower wind dispersal and reduced evaporation.
Visual Inspection Test			X	See monthly checklist below.

Monthly Checklist

Monthly Checklist
Monthly test run each valve during daylight hours and perform a visual inspection
Checkpoint	Yes	No	Notes
Is any water being sprayed on the street or sidewalk? We must conserve every drop.
Is there run-off of water?			Some surfaces absorb less water than others. Sloping areas often need less water per time and more frequent watering to prevent run-off. Note: our hard clay-type soils may need a periodic application of Grow More EZ-Wet and Gypsum to solve chronic water run-off problems.
Are there excessively damp areas or standing water ?			Shaded areas, hard clay-type soils, lower levels receiving run-off often need less water. Note: our hard clay-type soils may need a periodic application of Grow More EZ-Wet and Gypsum to solve chronic water run-off problems.
Are there obstructions preventing the water from reaching the desired areas?			Be aware that changes in plant size and position or the addition or alteration of landscape items may require sprinkler adjustments.
Are there any observable leaks or breaks in the pipe?
Are any heads/emitters missing?
Do you need fewer or additional active heads/emitters?			Be aware of changing needs due to changing landscapes. Sprinkler systems should be considered a seasonal work in progress rather than static. Sometimes adding/activating or disabling heads/emitters will accomplish more than trying to adjust a single head/emitter.
Are any heads/emitters broken?			If you have pop-ups make sure, they rise and retract fully.
Are any heads/emitters clogged?
Are any heads/emitters pushed too far into the ground?
Are any heads/emitters tilted/spraying in the wrong direction?
Is the pressure too low?			Spray not reaching all desired areas. Spray forming large water droplets. Presence of doughnut-shaped dry areas. Rotor speed is too slow, and rotors are not rotating. See timer zone overlap note above. Note: choose a time in the morning when competition for water is at a minimum — in other words, avoid shower time.
Is the pressure too high?			Spray overshooting desired areas. Spray misting. Dry areas between heads. Rotor speed is too fast, and rotors are not rotating. Heads/emitters/supply lines are leaking.
Is the timer working properly?			Confirm program settings are proper for the current season.

Sedum Groundcover

April 22, 2026

Groundcover sedums are drought tolerant interesting plants that fill small areas with little effort or water. They grow in a vast variety of shapes and colors; they are actually succulents. Those suitable for groundcovers are flat spreaders.

Sedums have unusual foliage color when not in bloom, giving them a year-round interest in the garden. As with most ground covers, they also work well in containers, spilling over the edge, providing a beautiful contrast in color and texture. Plant them to skirt other drought-tolerant plants, or frame an interesting plant collection.

Plant Sedums six to eight inches apart in full sun. They will grow to about 6″ in height and flower in the late spring to early fall. Flower colors include pink, white or yellow. All sedums do well with a heavy, infrequent watering.

Hydrangeas

April 22, 2026

Hydrangeas are among gardeners’ favorite blooming shrubs, especially for the summer shade garden. They are available in a wide variety of colors and types from white, pink, purple, blue and mixed colors. Their flowers are large and range in shapes from pom-pom-like globes to lace bouquets.

The different shades of blue, pink and white reflect the acidity level of the soil – blue or purple in acid soils, pink or purple/red in alkaline mixtures — this allows you to choose the color of your hydrangeas. In our Valley soil, hydrangeas are naturally pink, you can make yours blue by applying Hydra Blue (aluminum sulfate).

Hydrangeas are low maintenance, fast growing and attractive both as single plants or mass planted. The Endless Summer® series have the ability to produce new flowers repeatedly. It is not unusual to see them blooming well into December. Older varieties typically bloom only once per year and need careful pruning.

Choosing The Right Site
All hydrangeas perform best in dappled shade, with evenly moist, well-drained soil. Ideally, a location where they will get minimal morning sun and plenty of afternoon shade. A semi-shady corner set among ferns for color contrast will enhance any yard landscape. The plants have a stocky growth pattern and will reach 3-5 feet in height and width so be sure to choose an area with enough space.

Hydrangeas are “heavy drinkers,” we have found you can cut your watering in half by adding “Soil Moist” polymer granules to your planting mix.

How To Plant Your Hydrangeas Step-by-Step:

Prepare a hole approximately twice as wide as the root ball. Then mix the soil from the hole with an equal amount of Acid Planting Mix. Add Master Start Fertilizer (adjust amount for size of plant) and 2 Tbsp. of Soil Moist to the mix.
Backfill the hole with this mixture leaving the top of the root ball at ½ inch higher than the surrounding soil.
Add mulch around your new plant taking care to leave a 6″ space around the stem.
Keep moist in hot weather.
Feed monthly from March through September with Master Nursery Camellia Azalea Gardenia Food.

Things You Will Need:

Acid Planting Mix
Soil Moist
Master Start Fertilizer
Master Nursery Camellia Azalea Gardenia Food

Houseplant Hints For Spring

April 14, 2026

Spring is an important time for houseplants, it’s the beginning of their active growing season. Most houseplants go into a dormant state during the winter, where their growth slows or stops all together. In the spring, they start to wake up from their winter rest. This is the perfect time to give your houseplants some extra attention.

Spring is the best time for repotting houseplants. Repotting a houseplant will stimulate new growth and give the plant plenty of room to grow. But don’t just automatically repot your houseplants every spring, only repot houseplants that need it. If you’re unsure, turn the pot on its side and gently remove the rootball from the pot. If it’s a dense mass of roots with very little soil left in the pot; or the roots are circling around the inside of the pot, that means the plant is pot-bound. If a plant won’t slide out of the pot and seems to be stuck, that’s also an indication that the plant is pot-bound.

Houseplants don’t need as much water during the winter as they do during their active growing period. Begin watering more frequently in the spring to help wake up your houseplants and stimulate new growth. Now is also a good time to fertilize your houseplants. Maxsea is seaweed based and the plants love it. Actually – all plants love it, so you can use it all over the garden. This is a dry food you mix with water. Start with a weak dose of 1 teaspoon per gallon, and slowly increase it to 1 tablespoon by summer.

Over the winter, some of your houseplants may have developed weak and leggy growth. Trim back houseplants now to remove weak growth and encourage new growth. Spring is also a great time to propagate your houseplants by rooting the cuttings or dividing the rootball. April showers bring May flowers, and those showers also benefit our houseplants. Rain water is the best type of water to use on potted plants. If you don’t own a rain barrel, I highly recommend getting one. There are many benefits of rain barrels, and using the water for your houseplants is one of them.

Give your houseplants some air. On warm spring days, open the windows near your houseplants to give them some fresh air and humidity

Giving your houseplants a little extra TLC in the spring helps them look their best. Kick off their active growing season right this spring. Your houseplants will thank you for it.