New commemoration includes dozens of special events
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The California Railroad Museum is one of several state parks around Sacramento. The first California State Parks Week celebration runs through Saturday. (Photo by Brian Baer, courtesy California State Parks)
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Happy California State Parks Week! Never heard of it? It’s brand new – and right now.
Through June 18, this initial celebration of our state’s parks system is presented by California State Parks, Save the Redwoods League, Parks California and the California State Parks Foundation. Most of all, it’s a reminder of how lucky we are to have such great public resources including some right at home, such as the California Railroad Museum, Old Sacramento, the Governor's Mansion (with its wonderful gardens) and the tree-filled Capitol Park surrounding the State Capitol.
Planners of California State Parks Week picked themes for each day, starting with Tuesday’s Land Acknowledgment Day focusing on Native American history and roots. Wednesday (today) is Kids Career Day – who wants to be a ranger? Thursday focuses on Health and Wellness with lots of nature hikes.
Friday is Stewardship Day; learn how to be a better friend to the wilderness and wildlife. Saturday salutes Partnership/Volunteer Day and the people who make park experiences possible.
Stewardship Day in particular has gardening connections. Events focus on such topics as native plants, butterflies, wildlife and invasive weeds.
Events are a mix of in-person, hands-on experiences and online presentations. For a full list, see CAStateParksWeek.org .
Organizers hope that this commemoration will help remind Californians: State parks are your parks.
“The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to California’s communities, but it also illuminated the important connection of the outdoors to our physical and mental well-being,” say the organizers.
“Parks across the U.S. experienced increased visitation in 2020-21, and California State Parks Week underscores the important role parks play in communities statewide.”
Our park system is pretty impressive, they note. “California State Parks protects the best of the state’s natural and cultural history; more than 340 miles of coastline; the tallest, largest and among the oldest trees in the world; and deserts, lakes, rivers and beaches. Across 279 parks statewide, there are more than 5,200 miles of trails, 15,000 campsites, prehistoric and historic archeological sites, ghost towns, historic homes and monuments — all waiting to be explored.”
Details: CAStateParksWeek.org .
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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