Popular Saturday events washed out by weather
Visitors explore the Berry Garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center during February's Open Garden Day. Kathy Morrison
Update Thursday evening: The March 11 Open Garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is officially canceled, primarily out of concerns for safety, including the potential for flooded streets and downed trees.
The word went out to the Sacramento County master gardeners Thursday from program coordinator Judy McClure. She noted that if the weather clears Saturday morning and streets are safe, master gardeners can welcome visitors to the Horticulture Center informally. But there will be no welcome tables, signs, displays, calendar sales or other official accoutrements of Open Garden Day.
The next scheduled Open Garden is 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, April 12.
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Original post:
The next few days are expected to be wet, really wet. But ducks and the hardy Sacramento County master gardeners will be out there Saturday, as long as a blizzard doesn’t stir up in Fair Oaks. (For the record, no blizzard is forecast. Not yet, anyway.)
Saturday’s Open Garden Day will go ahead as planned, 9 a.m. to noon at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, rain or shine. The only times the event has been canceled due to inclement weather was when heavy rain was blowing sideways, program coordinator Judy McClure noted earlier this week.
The entire Horticulture Center is available for exploration on Open Garden Days. The master gardeners staff each area of the garden to show off what’s growing, answer questions and, as the occasion allows, take care of some gardening chores.
This March event offers a great opportunity to see how the FOHC Orchard's trees and the Water Efficient Landscape plants, in particular, are holding up against the winter weather. Need some clarification on green waste rules? The Compost team members can offer guidance on what can and what cannot go into the weekly collection bins. The Vegetable, Herb and Berry teams will be staffing those areas, doing light cleanup work as they answer questions. (Wet soil precludes much digging.)
The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., south of Madison Avenue and the Fair Oaks Library. More information on the FOHC and Sacramento County master gardeners is available here.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Yolo Bypass, the "atmospheric river" forecast prompted the Plant Sale planners on Wednesday night to cancel Saturday’s first spring sale at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. That was to be a members-only event for Friends of the Arboretum.
"We don’t take these decisions lightly. The sales typically happen rain or shine, heat wave or windstorm … not to mention, pandemic,” said Taylor Lewis, the nursery manager, noted on the plant sale website. “We can deal with a lot, and so can our customers, but this next round of weather, with the quantity of rain falling so close to the sale, won’t give us time to recover before Saturday.”
"We know our community, just like us, really looks forward to these plant sales. It’s disappointing for all of us to have to cancel,” said Carmia Feldman, assistant director at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
To make it up to the Friends members, the nursery will turn April into Member Appreciation Month. Now $10-off coupons will be given to Friends members at both the currently scheduled April events, in addition to offering early access at both sales, and 10% off. Those sales are April 8 (with member-only access 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., public 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and April 29 (members get early access at 8:30 a.m. before it opens to the public at 9 a.m.)
“The irony of having to postpone a plant sale that offers one of the area’s largest selections of low-water plants due to rain, is not lost on me,” Lewis said. “It speaks to the extreme weather we’ve been experiencing up and down the state and actually, further reinforces the need for plants like ours to support the environment.”
For information on becoming a Friend of the Arboretum and all the perks, go here.
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Flowers in My Back Yard Series
April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look
April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower
April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact
April 7: Calendulas do double duty
April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come
March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)
March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots
March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums
March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come
March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy
Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?
Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come
Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers
Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses
Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?
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Garden checklist for week of April 19
After this midweek storm, start getting serious about spring gardening. Flowers are blooming about three weeks ahead of schedule. That includes weeds!
* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden – if you haven’t already. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash; wait on pumpkins until May. 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 lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* 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? Give citrus trees a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants. If leaves look yellow, your tree may need an iron boost -- apply some chelated iron fertilizer.
* 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 needs nutrition. Give shrubs and trees a slow-release fertilizer. Mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost, which helps the soil, but keep it a few inches away from trunks and stems.
* 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.
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Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com
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
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
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
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