Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Rainbow of bearded irises to plant now


Yellow iris
Rhizomes for bearded irises of all colors will be on sale this weekend. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Hundreds of varieties available at annual Sacramento rhizome sale

Mid to late summer is the perfect time to plant bearded iris rhizomes. That makes July the perfect time for a rhizome sale.

Saturday and Sunday, July 17 and 18, the Sacramento Iris Society will host its annual rhizome sale at Shepard Garden and Arts Center. These are newly dug rhizomes – fresh from the ground, divided, trimmed and ready to replant. Rhizomes are the fleshy tubers that produce these perennial flowers.

Want some interesting irises? Hundreds of varieties will be available, in every color from pure white to shimmering black and dozens of combinations. According to the society, each specimen will be labeled with the cultivar name and a description of the flower appearance.

"Again we will have a large selection of rebloomers, which have an extended bloom season,” say the organizers. “A demonstration table will be set up to show how rhizomes should be planted. A labeling station will allow you to prepare a free permanent garden label for each of your rhizome purchases before you leave.”

Why plant irises? Besides the beautiful flowers, they’re an ideal choice for Sacramento and foothill gardens. Bearded iris are both deer- and drought-resistant; they can coexist with wildlife and need little summer irrigation.

Sale hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free.  Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento, in McKinley Park.

Details and directions:
www.sgaac.org .

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Garden Checklist for week of May 18

Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. Transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.

* Plant dahlia tubers.

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

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!