Find out when street pick-up starts in your Sacramento neighborhood
CNPS Ambassador Patricia Carpenter opens her property to visitors Sunday
Find great deals on water-wise shrubs, perennials and trees including Arboretum All-Stars
Get in the spirit early with Saturday party and sale
Procrastinators can still get in the spirit at these favorite haunts
Recipe: Fresh corn cakes use whole kernels
October blows out with windy weekend and high fire danger before pleasant planting weather to start November.
Oriental fruit fly affects local gardeners, Soil Born Farms
Conversation with blog's Kathy Morrison delves into persimmons, baked goods and season-bridging salads
Build a bioactive terrarium at Friday Happy Hour workshop
Yolo County master gardeners share advice on how to create a 'Wildlife Friendly Garden'
Huge event features handmade pottery, ceramics, glass and metalwork
Recipe: Maple glaze is subtly spiced; lime juice adds balance
Pleasant planting weather returns after Sunday's expected (light) rain
Saturday workshops offered at five Green Acres locations
Free classes cover key areas of fall gardening
Saturday events also include a native plant sale in Roseville
Sierra Foothills Rose Show will feature hundreds of blooms on Saturday, Oct. 21
Two per person -- one to keep, one to give -- as part of Petal It Forward
Recipe: Cincinnati chili is served over spaghetti; beans optional
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 17
Expect the coming storms to knock down an enormous amount of leaves. Grab a rake and get to work!
* 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.
* Use some of those nice fall leaves as mulch around shrubs and trees or in the vegetable garden.
* 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.
* After they bloom, chrysanthemums should be trimmed to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. If in pots, keep the mums in their containers until next spring. Then, they can be planted in the ground, if desired, or repotted.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* 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.
* 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.