Find hundreds of indoor plants in rare varieties at Shepard Center event
This beautiful specimen is an example of the African violets that will be on display this weekend. Photo courtesy Delta Gesneriad and African Violet Society
They rank among Sacramento’s favorite indoor flowering plants, beloved by collectors for generations.
And this weekend, they’re in the local gardening spotlight.
On Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 16 and 17), the Delta Gesneriad and African Violet Society will host its annual show and sale at Shepard Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see these blooming plants at their peak of beauty – and take some home, too.
African violets are the best-known gesneriads, which includes more than 1,500 species. Also popular are gloxinias, cape primroses, kohlerias, episcias and achimenes. All these tropical plants make themselves at home indoors and produce striking flowers in a rainbow of hues.
Besides their attractive flowers, gesneriads also are known for their interesting foliage. Specimen plants can live for decades. This show will have several examples of how gorgeous these plants can be.
In addition at this event, the club offers hundreds of young plants for sale including dozens of rare varieties unavailable from local nurseries. It’s a fantastic opportunity to add to your own indoor jungle. Come early for best selection.
Get advice, too. Several club members will be on hand to offer advice on repotting older plants and violet care.
Show and sale hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission and parking are free. Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento.
Details and directions: www.sgaac.org.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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