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Hear dozens of local speakers at SF Flower & Garden Show


The San Francisco Flower and Garden Show is known for its designer gardens and full speaker schedule.
(Photo: Courtesy San Francisco Flower and Garden Show)
In Cal Expo debut, huge event will feature Sacramento experts

Appropriate for its new venue, the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show will reap plenty of Sacramento area expertise when it opens Thursday, March 21, at Cal Expo.

Appearing on three different stages, dozens of local garden experts fill the show’s four-day seminar and speaker schedule. Kicking things off are radio host Farmer Fred Hoffman (“Spring into a Heathy Garden”), floral designer Andrew Nguyen (“California Flowers and Color of the Year”) and Sacramento Digs Gardening’s Debbie Arrington (“Best Roses for Northern California”) at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Among the speakers expected to draw a crowd are:

* Plant explorer and author Dan Hinkley (“Making Windcliff,” 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and “The Dry Lush,” 11 a.m. Sunday);

* Celebrity garden designer and longtime HGTV host
Ahmed Hassan (“New Trends in Landscape Design,” 2:45 p.m. Saturday);

* Designer Kent Gordon England (“Butterflies, Blooms and Bees,” 1:30 p.m. Friday, and “Glass Houses, the History and Joy of Owning a Green House,” 12:15 p.m. Saturday);

* Famed UC Davis storyteller and garden guide Warren Roberts (“UC Davis Arboretum and Public Gardens,” 4 p.m. Saturday).

* Native plant expert Christina Lewis (“How Gardening with Native Plants Helps You and the Environment,” 12:30 p.m. Thursday);

* Garden curator Anita Clevenger (“Gardens of the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery,” 11 a.m. Friday);

* Seed saver and writer/photo journalist Charlie Costello (“Tomatoes, Tomatoes and More on Tomatoes,” 12:15 p.m. Friday);

* Sacramento urban farmer Chanowk Yisrael (“Homesteading,” 11 a.m. Saturday);

* UC Davis plant expert Marlene Simon (“Garden Myth or Rooted in Science?,” 11 a.m. Saturday);

* Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery guru Quentyn Young (“Unusual Edibles for Northern California,” 12:15 p.m. Saturday); and

* After his Sunday morning radio broadcasts, Hoffman also will present “Building the Good Bug Hotel” at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Besides full days of speakers, patrons also will find spectacular garden, bonsai and floral displays plus scores of vendors, plant marketplace, hands-on workshops and much more. Get advice; UC Cooperative Extension master gardeners and other experts will staff information tables. Several workshops such as planting edibles and making bouquets are planned for kids.

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Cal Expo is located at 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento. For the full schedule and tickets: www.sfgardenshow.com .

- Debbie Arrington

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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