Sacramento Perennial Plant Club supports school, nonprofit and community programs
The Black & Brown Farm Collective was among the 2024 recipients of the Saul Wiseman Grants, presented by the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club. Deadline for the 2025 grants is Jan. 15. Courtesy Black + Brown Farm Collective via Instagram
Seed money: A phrase with a double meaning when it comes to getting a community or school garden project off the ground. And seed money can be found locally, thanks to a wonderful program of the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club.
The group is now accepting applications for its annual Saul Wiseman Grants, named in honor of a past president of the club. The organization's excellent plant sales help fund the grants program.
Application deadline is Jan. 15, 2025. Find the forms, lists of past winners and full details at https://sacplants.org/grants.
"Since 2015, our Saul Wiseman Grants have aided schools, nonprofit and community groups who serve Sacramento County’s diverse population through gardening and horticultural activities," the group's website notes.
"Many of the recipients are talented educators dedicated to making all manner of gardening experiences available in our schools and public places. Others lead community gardens or create environmentally-friendly places of beauty in our neighborhoods. Funds have purchased many things, including educational materials, plants and seeds, garden tools, and irrigation supplies."
The 2024 grant winners, by way of example, were:
-- Black & Brown Farm Collective
-- Hmong Youth and Parents United
-- Land Park Community Association
-- Sam Brannan Middle School
-- Soil Born Farms
-- Toby Johnson Middle School
-- Washington Elementary School
Non-profit groups, community groups and schools within the City of West Sacramento and County of Sacramento are eligible and encouraged to apply, the club says. Priority will be given to grant applications that support diversity, equity and inclusion.
If applicable, projects must have a source of water for irrigation. Applicants may request up to $1,200. Smaller projects are encouraged; partial grants may be awarded. The 2024 SPPC grant recipients are not eligible for 2025 grant awards.
Awards will be posted Feb. 15 on the SPPC website.
For information or questions not covered on the website, email grants.sppc@gmail.com.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
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Garden Checklist for week of June 8
Get out early to enjoy those nice mornings. There’s plenty to keep gardeners busy:
* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal or rock phosphate can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.
* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. Inconsistent soil moisture can encourage blossom-end rot.
* It’s not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers or eggplant.
* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.
* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.
* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.
* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.
* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.
* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.
* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.
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