Find member-grown perennials, natives, succulents, vegetables, herbs and more
The historic Azevedo-Moll tank house in South Natomas will be open for tours during the Perennial Plant Club sale on the site. Kathy Morrison
Spring has everybody’s green thumbs itching for action. But what to plant?
The Sacramento Perennial Plant Club has hundreds of suggestions as it hosts its annual spring sale Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13, in South Natomas. The Natomas Garden & Arts Collective is co-sponsor of the two-day event.
Find California natives, succulents, perennials, vegetables (including lots of tomatoes), herbs and many other plants – all grown by local club members. “Our amazing, hard-working propagators are supplying sun-to-shade loving perennials, natives, veggies, spring-blooming bulbs and more!” say the organizers.
The sale will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. both days on the grounds of the historic Azevedo-Moll House, 1911 Bannon Creek Drive, South Natomas, Sacramento. Admission is free and open to the public.
During the event visitors can tour the restored tank house on the property. Tours also will be given of the nearby Grassland Garden Pollinator Habitat Project at specific times: 12:30 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.
Also during the sale "Stan the Tool Man" will offer kitchen and garden tool sharpening, plus container drilling (holes for pots for those new plants, for example). Glass and yard art will be for sale, and food vendors will offer cinnamon rolls and pierogies. Accompanying all this activity will be Native American flute music.
Some of the rare plants available are particular favorites of club members. For example, Patricia Carpenter grew variegated figwort for the sale. “It is very showy in her garden and often weaves through other plants,” say the organizers. “She uses the leaves in cut bouquets. Its reddish flowers are small and interesting.”
Daisy Mah propagated a pale pink hollyhock gifted to her by fellow club member Therese Ruth along with a back story: The original seedling had been abandoned after a Shepard Center sale and planted next to the center’s parking lot, where it bloomed for six months. Daisy named the hollyhock ‘Shepard’s Pink.’
Looking for natives? For this sale, Marla McLaren grew Woolly Indian Paintbrush, a beautiful low-water native that thrives in her garden. “It provides winter color and is a late winter/spring source of food for butterfly and moth pollinators,” say the organizers. Lorraine Van Kekerix contributed her beloved Douglas iris, which thrives in shady spots with limited summer water.
Abutilon lovers will find a whole forest of flowering maples including ‘Lucky Lantern Yellow,’ grown by LaVille Logan. It’s a dwarf variety that stays under 2 feet tall and wide, thrives in partial shade and attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds.
Details: https://sacplants.org/.
-- Kathy Morrison contributed to this post
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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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