Plant talks, vendors, food and fun during annual gardening celebration
Last year's Harvest Day was busy in the Herb Garden and beyond. This year's event is Saturday, Aug. 5. Kathy Morrison
Wow, time for Harvest Day already? Yes, the summer celebration dubbed "a gardener's dream day" returns Saturday, Aug. 5, to the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
The Sacramento County master gardeners have been working for months to prepare the Horticulture Center and the planned programs for their showcase event, which will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visitors can expect to find a wealth of expert gardening advice, plus dozens of educational displays, a collection of garden specialty vendors and several food vendors.
Three 45-minute keynote gardening presentations are scheduled in the speakers' tent:
-- 8:30 a.m. Debbie Flower & "Farmer Fred" Hoffman, "Tips for Saving Time, Money & Water in the Garden"
-- 9:45 a.m. Angela Laws, "Habitat Gardening for Pollinators in a Changing World"
-- 11 a.m. Pam Bone, "Home Reforestation: Correct Planting and Establishment of Landscape Trees"
"Mini talks" also are scheduled throughout the FOHC, covering such gardening topics as drip irrigation, worm composting, grape growing, and gardening with native plants.
The 2024 edition of the popular Gardening Guide & Calendar will make its sales debut during Harvest Day. The price this year will be $12.
The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is located at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., just south of the Fair Oaks Library at Madison Avenue. Admission and parking are free.
The Horticulture Center will have plenty of natural shade and pop-ups, but master gardeners recommend that each visitor bring a hat.
For more information on the Sacramento County master gardeners and Harvest Day, go to https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/Harvest_Day/
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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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