Saul Wiseman Grants emphasize education and diversity
The Natomas Garden & Arts Club and Garden Valley Elementary School used a 2019 Saul Wiseman Grant to create a butterfly garden at the Sacramento school. Courtesy Sacramento Perennial Plant Club
The Sacramento Perennial Plant Cub is now accepting applications for its annual Saul Wiseman Grants, a unique program in honor of the club’s past president.
Application deadline is Jan. 16, 2023. Find the forms, past winners and full details at https://sacplants.org/grants.
Funds will be awarded in February – just in time for spring planting and gardening activities, say the club members.
“The purpose of the Saul Wiseman Grants is to promote gardening and horticultural activities with an emphasis on education, service, or enhancement to our diverse community,” explains Lili Ann Metzer of the Perennial Plant Club. “Non-profit groups, community groups and schools within the County of Sacramento are encouraged to apply.”
SPPC grant recipients in 2022 are not eligible for 2023 grant awards, she notes. “Priority will be given to grant applications that support diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Projects must have a source of water for irrigation. Applicants may request up to $1,000. Smaller projects are encouraged; partial grants may be awarded.
And grant winners have to follow through. “Recipients will take before and after pictures and provide information about the results of the grants to the SPPC,” Metzer says.
Due to Covid, no grants were given in 2021, but 2022 brought out a full field of grant candidates. The 2022 grant recipients were:
Black Lives Matter Sacramento Community Home and Land Project
Bret Harte Elementary School Garden
Earl Warren School Garden Restoration and Improvement
Growing Healthy Kids at Floyd Farms
La Vista Center Horticulture Club
Root Cellar Community Garden
Questions? Email the club’s grants contact Anita Clevenger at anitac5159@gmail.com.
Details: www.sacplants.org.
--- 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.
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* 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.