Tour of Yolo County site is free but registration is required
The golden currant (Ribes aureum) is blooming now at Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden. Photo by Beth Savidge, courtesy Patricia Carpenter
The native plants are waking up! This weekend is the ideal time to tour Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden to see spring unfolding.
Carpenter, a California Native Plant Society Garden Ambassador, opens her secluded 1-acre native plant garden west of Davis from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, for the Seasonal Early Spring Ramble.
The garden, on the west side of Pierce Ranch Road south of Russell Boulevard, will be open for self-guided tours during those hours; visitors can start any time during that period. Maps will be available for use on site.
Admission is free but registration is required. Register here.
The weather might be drippy, but the garden will be open rain or shine. Carpenter notes that when she was living in New Zealand, she toured many gardens in the rain. "Go find your raincoat," she says. "I'm seeing mre and more native species/cultivars blooming every day!"
Here are some expected highlights Sunday:
-- Glen Holstein, botanist, will be in attendance. A wildflower enthusiast, he will be helping with plant ID and answering questions about native plants.
-- Artists are welcome to photograph, or find a shady (dry) spot to paint or draw.
-- Miridae Mobile Nursery will be on site again for sales. Visit this page at www.miridaemobilenursery.com to access a link to their current inventory of native plants. They also can reserve plants for pick-up at Carpenter's garden.
-- Native seeds. Carpenter has been collecting seeds to share, but says that's only if it's not raining too much. "Seeds and rain don't mix."
Started in 2005, Patricia Carpenter's native garden now features about 400 species and cultivars of California native plants. Visit her Garden Ambassador profile to learn more about this garden, access a map, view a plant list, and take a virtual tour. Her non-native garden will be open to view Sunday as well.
There will be an optional short orientation and Q&A gathering Sunday with Carpenter at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Meet near the check-in table.
Although masks are optional, Carpenter asks that visitors respect distancing and mask wearing of other visitors. Sturdy (water- and mud-proof, too!) shoes are advised. No dogs, please. A composting toilet is available. Visitors are welcome to bring a lunch or snack to enjoy.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
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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March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
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Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 20
Before possible showers at the end of the week, take advantage of all this nice sunshine – and get to work!
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, 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.
* Plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* 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.
* 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.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Give shrubs and trees a dose of a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
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