Alchemist CDC offers two free workshops in Sacramento
Yolo master gardeners also offer in-person workshop
Green Acres hosts special event Saturday at five locations
'Old Traditions ... New Creations' showcases fiber arts
Sacramento master gardeners host Open Garden Day on Saturday
Recipe: Baking and experimenting with fresh citrus fruit
February looks normal (so far); chilly and a little damp
Planning, planting workshops and videos from the area's master gardeners
Sacramento Valley Conservancy opens trails on Saturdays
Sacramento's February weather outlook looks good for gardening
Huge show features full schedule of garden seminars
Help trees and shrubs grow their best with timely cuts
Ripe limes, lemons become breakfast treat -- no canning required
Frost reminds us: It’s still winter
Lost trees will be replaced by climate-ready alternatives
Rain, cold can send ants indoors
Warmer weather brings out rapid rose growth
Hands-on opportunity uses bounty of estate's flower-filled gardens
Citrus Heights nursery location holds celebration of indoor jungles
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.