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

Sacramento clubhouse gets special honor


The Shepard Center in McKinley Park was built in 1958 and hosts many city clubs. (Photo courtesy Shepard Garden and Arts Center.)

City names Shepard Garden and Arts Center historic landmark



Sacramento's clubhouse has a new honor: It's officially a historic landmark.

Shepard Garden and Arts Center, the home of many Sacramento clubs for 60 years, is already beloved by the hundreds of people who meet there regularly.

Late Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council named Shepard Center a "Sacramento Historic Landmark," which gives the building some added distinction as well as protections.

Also named to the landmark list Tuesday were Gunther's Ice Cream, the Freeport Chase Bank building and the Sacramento County Courthouse. These additions all represent mid-century modern design in a city full of history.

Named for longtime Sacramento Bee garden columnist Iva Gard Shepard (who served as the center's president for many years), the center is owned by the City of Sacramento, but operated by its own nonprofit board with support from Friends of the Center.

Built in 1958 in the McKinley Park annex, the center was designed by Raymond Franceschi and was a stark contrast to the surrounding Craftsman cottages and Mission Revival mansions. Considered a mid-century masterpiece, the center combined stone, wood and glass in a dramatic A-frame with a butterfly wing extending over a large patio.

In its 60th year, the center has received some much needed TLC. Club members pitched in to re-do the big blue entrance sign, which had started to rot away. Led by Daisy Mah, new theme gardens are being planted in the beds surrounding the building.

Looking for a hobby? Interested in specific kinds of gardening or plants? The center hosts about 30  clubs, all looking for new members. Contact information and meeting times are available on the center's website.

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!

Garden checklist for week of April 12

After these storms pass, get to work on spring clean-up.

* Weed, weed, weed! Take advantage of soft soil and pull them before they go to seed.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, 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. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant heat-resistant lettuce seedlings.

* Feed roses and other spring-blooming shrubs.

* 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.

* 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.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds. Avoid "volcano mulching" -- be sure to keep mulch a few inches away from tree trunks or the stems of shrubs. This prevents rot and disease.

Contact Us

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

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!

Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series

Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening

WINTER

Is edible gardening possible indoors?

Hints for choosing tomato seeds

Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

How to squeeze more food into less space

Potatoes from the garden

Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Win the weed war by tackling them in winter

Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables

Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden

Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it

Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air 

Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets

Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty

Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Sept. 16: Time to shut it down? 

Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you

Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water

Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers

July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

July 15: Does this plant need water?

July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

July 1: How to grow summer salad greens

June 24:  Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

June 17: Help pollinators help your garden

June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests

June 3: Make your own compost

May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?

May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth