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UC Davis Arboretum hosts spring plant sales just for Friends

Construction puts limits on Teaching Nursery access; first sale April 9

Plant sale 2019
The Arboretum Teaching Nursery plant sales always drew a good crowd before the pandemic. Above is a sale from April 2019. In-person sales return this month with the first on Saturday. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

If you want access to Arboretum All-Stars and other water-wise garden gems, it’s time to join the Friends of the Arboretum. This spring, that’s the only way you’ll be able to shop the UC Davis Arboretum’s fantastic selection of drought-tolerant flowering plants.

More changes – and construction – are happening at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery, the hub of the arboretum’s wildly popular plant sales. The current construction project – the creation of an indoor-outdoor multipurpose learning center – has restricted the nursery’s space and patron access.

So, instead of a series of public plant sales, the arboretum will host only two members-only events, scheduled for Saturday, April 9, and April 30. Both in-person sales will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and restricted to members of Friends of the Arboretum.

The Arboretum Teaching Nursery is located on Garrod Drive across from the Vet Med complex.

Before the pandemic, the arboretum’s plant sales attracted more than 8,500 patrons annually.

“Thank you to both our Friends members and community customers who, over the last two years, supported our plant sales as they moved online due to the pandemic,” the arboretum staff posted on its website. “During this time, the Arboretum Teaching Nursery transitioned from a location designed for seasonal public plant sale events to a pick-and-pull warehouse, prepped for fulfilling hundreds upon hundreds of orders.

“We are incredibly grateful for your willingness to put your trust in us and dive in. Together we adapted to a new process, so we could continue providing the attractive, low-water, region-appropriate plants our community has come to expect and you could provide their forever homes!

“Today, the nursery is transitioning again! It’s under construction! A large portion of the Arboretum Teaching Nursery is currently allocated to building the Elizabeth Mary Wolf Environmental Learning Center, a new education space that will offer expanded opportunities for community engagement thanks to its indoor-outdoor multi-purpose room.”

The solution? Bring back in-person plant sales, but restrict them to two members-only events.

“With Covid restrictions easing and our nursery team adjusting to navigating the temporary construction zone, we are taking this season to focus on thanking our loyal Friends members, whose support has kept us going strong for more than half a century,” said the arboretum staff. “For these reasons, both spring sales will be member appreciation sales.”

Current members receive 10% off their plant sale purchases in addition to receiving a free plant as a member appreciation gift.

Not a Friend? No problem. Sign up (either in advance or at the gate) and receive a $10-off plant sale coupon as a thank-you gift.

Member benefits include plant sale discounts, discounts at partner nurseries and retailers, free entry to gardens and museums nationwide and more.

Sign up for membership and find a list of current plant inventory at https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant-sales .

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Find our summer recipes here!

Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

How to squeeze more food into less space

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Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

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Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

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Add asparagus to your edible garden

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It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Change is in the autumn air 

We don't talk (enough) about beets

Fava beans do double duty

Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Time to shut it down? 

How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

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To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

: Put worms to work for you

Grow food while saving water

Enhance your food with edible flowers

Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

Does this plant need water?

 Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

How to grow summer salad greens

 Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

Help pollinators help your garden

Battling early-season tomato pests

Make your own compost

Where are the bees when you need them?

How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

Grow culinary herbs in containers

When to plant summer vegetables

Don't be fooled by these garden myths

Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth