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‘Big Show at Cal Expo’ returns Friday

Northern California Home & Landscape Expo features hundreds of vendors, experts and more

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 28, 2026

At Cal Expo, the Urban Wood Network will demonstrate how they turn fallen city trees into home furnishings. Courtesy of Urban Wood Network

Need some inspiration for home and garden projects? Here’s a great place to start – packed with hundreds of ideas.

Friday through Sunday, Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, the Northern California Home & Landscape Expo returns to Sacramento for its 31st annual show featuring hundreds of vendors and presenters.

Considered California’s largest show of its kind, the “Big Show at Cal Expo” averages 38,000 in attendance for its three-day run.

Some of the highlights of this year’s edition: California Pets Showcase (packed with pet products and ideas), Furnitalia Modern Design Showcase and Remodeling Done Right.

The Landscape Showcase does just that – spotlighting our outdoor world.

“The Landscape Showcase is one of the most popular attractions at the Expo, designed to inspire and equip you for life ‘In the Garden,’” say the organizers. “This feature brings together expert educators in one convenient location, ready to guide you whether you’re enhancing your home garden or creating a backyard paradise.

“With interactive educational gardens, stunning displays, and hands-on resources, the Landscape Showcase offers the tools, knowledge, and inspiration to take your home’s landscape to the next level.”

Expansive display gardens will demonstrate the latest in garden trends with ideas that can be used in landscapes of any size. In the same area, Sacramento master gardeners will be on site all three days to answer gardening questions.

The California Master Beekeeper Programs brings its bee ambassadors (including a see-through hive) plus lots of information on how to put more positive buzz in your garden. The Urban Wood Network will show how they turn fallen city trees into furniture.

Also featured will be school gardens and garden educators through Project Green and Project Luma. Teaming up in the Sacramento region, these projects bring school gardens and murals to local campuses.

Gardening seminars will be offered all three days, including two by well-known landscape designer and author Michael Glassman. At noon Friday, he’ll discuss “Art in the Garden: Adding Drama, Interest and Beauty to Your Landscape.” At 1 p.m. Saturday, Glassman will be joined by Janey Santos for “Solving Problems in the Landscape.”

Interested in food gardening? Jason Perdichizzi, owner of Yard to Fork, will present “Beyond the Lawn: Turning Your Yard into a Food-Producing Paradise” at 1 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $10; half price for seniors (age 62 and older) on Friday. Children 12 and under admitted free. Parking at Cal Expo: $10.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Cal Expo is located at 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento.

Details: https://homeandlandscapeexpo.com

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

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Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

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June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

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May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

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April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 9

During this break in the heat, fertilize your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

*Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s now forming.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Feed them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias, annuals and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

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