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'Duchess Pinky' house on East Sac Garden Tour

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAY 9, 2019

The Duchess Pinky garden will be part of the East

Sacramento Garden Tour this year. (Photo by Michelle

Drewes, courtesy east Sacramento Garden Tour)

English garden of local legend featured during popular event

In a Mother’s Day weekend tradition, thousands of garden lovers will be walking through the Fabulous Forties on Saturday and Sunday, admiring seven private gardens usually hidden from public view.

It’s the 21st annual East Sacramento Garden Tour, a major fundraiser for David Lubin School.

“It’s a perfect family outing for Mother’s Day weekend,” said volunteer Mary Odbert, one of the tour’s organizers.

Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 on tour day. Children age 12 and younger are admitted free. Proceeds support arts, music and after-school programs at Lubin School on M Street.

During the tour, Lubin School also hosts a huge boutique of only-in-Sacramento handmade gifts and food items, great for Mother’s Day giving. More than 40 local vendors are participating.

“All the gardens are within walking distance of David Lubin School,” said Odbert. “That way, people can stroll through the neighborhood.”

Last year, more than 3,000 patrons took part in the tour, thanks in part to the “Lady Bird” house. Seen in Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated movie, the big blue colonial mansion was a major draw.

This weekend’s tour features a real local celebrity, or at least her garden.

According to “intriguing neighborhood lore,” Duchess Pinky often sat on her front lawn, playing the harp and drinking champagne, Odbert said. Pinky no longer lives in the ivy-covered house with brick pillars and wrought-iron gates, but her garden is much the same – an English cottage fantasy.

Another featured stop illustrates a major modern makeover.

“The back of this lovely East Sac home was extended further into the original backyard with a remodel,” Odbert said. “The new house footprint meant that the original pool was in an inconvenient spot. (The home owners) hired Michael Glassman and Associates to redesign the yard. He and his team created a lovely hardscape that maximizes the space and completely moved the pool to the left side of the yard, which made room for dining and living areas.”

For the tour, Sacramento designer Kerrie Kelly will embellish these outdoor patio rooms, Odbert added.

Besides the gardens and boutique, the tour offers tea, wine and other refreshments at Sutter Lawn, Sacramento’s oldest private neighborhood club. (No reservations are necessary for tea this year.) Parked in front of the homes will be vintage cars borrowed from the California Automobile Museum.

“We tried this last year and (the car buffs) enjoyed it as much as we did,” Odbert said.

Start the tour at Lubin School, 3535 M St., Sacramento. Tour hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12.

Details and tickets: www.eastsacgardentour.com

This shows a portion of a Michael Glassman-redesigned backyard that will be on the East Sacramento Garden Tour. (Photo by Mary Odbert, courtesy East Sacramento Garden Tour)

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An article about gardening.

Keywords:

East Sacramento garden tour Fabulous Forties gardening Sacramento Michael Glassman walking tour events landscaping flowers

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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

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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

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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.

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