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Saturday's the day: Celebrate gardening (virtually)

Harvest Day also marks the release of 2022 Gardening Guide and Calendar

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED AUG 5, 2021

Gorgeous grapes grace the cover of the 2022 Gardening Guide
and Calendar, which goes on sale Saturday.

When the UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners decided last winter that the 2021 Harvest Day would be virtual, just as it was in 2020, it seemed like an overabundance of caution. But with the recent revival of mask mandates and other coronavirus protocols, Harvest Day fortunately can be celebrated safely this Saturday, from the comfort of our homes or gardens.

Get a jump on events by watching master gardener Teri VanAirsdale in the 5-minute 2021 Welcome video ; she covers the full schedule.

The three keynote speakers' presentations also are online already, on the Sac County master gardeners' YouTube channel. Plus, speakers Fred Hoffman, Greg Gayton and Bill Krycia will answer gardeners' questions during a live session online Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.

Then three webinars are scheduled, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring these master gardeners:

* Quentyn Young explores growing new and unusual edibles.

* Lori Ann Asmus provides inspiration for greening the indoor environment with houseplants.

* Ruth Ostroff shares her know-how and enthusiasm for the hardy, drought-tolerant bearded iris.

To receive the link to participate in these online events, register for free here: sacmg.ucanr.edu

All of these online events will be recorded for viewing later, as well.

Saturday also marks the release of the 2022 Sacramento Gardening Guide and Calendar, a popular fundraiser each year for the master gardeners. It's still bargain-priced at $10, including sales tax. It can be ordered online here starting Saturday . (Postage is extra if you order it mailed.) Local retailers typically carry it, too, in the fall. And in-person master gardener events, including the Sept. 11 Open Garden, will have it for sale.

Each month includes information on the featured fruit, plus

garden tips for the month, and a suggested less-common fruit

to grow.

The theme for this year is "Fruit: Something Old, Something New," and each calendar month features a beautiful fruit photograph. This is more than just a calendar, though: It's packed with garden advice and planting charts, plus information specific to growing fruit as common as strawberries and as exotic as cherimoya.

Master gardeners Pat Turner and Angela Parker filmed a short preview of the Gardening Guide; view it here . (Full disclosure: In my other identity as a master gardener, I helped with the preparation of this year's Gardening Guide. Fun!)

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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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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.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

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