Beat the winter blahs with cool-season aahs!
Green Acres offers free seed-starting workshop at all seven locations
Huge three-day show features designer landscapes and free seminars
Hearty winter warmer also is gluten-free
January ends with a touch of spring, but more rain on the way
Warm days and early blooms belie true weather conditions
Sign up for a free winter ramble Sunday near Davis
In-street pick-up service wraps up for another winter
California Rare Fruit Growers host popular event Feb. 4
Citrus Heights location offers three workshops, curated collection and expert advice
Recipe: Pantry ingredients add up to a filling meal
Get comfy indoors during very rainy days to come.
Sacramento expects 2.3 inches of rain (or more) in the next three days
These slimy pests are particularly active after rain
Share seeds with other gardeners and bring home some for your own garden, too
Garden clubs meet at the McKinley Park site -- arts groups, too
Get answers to garden questions while watching experts at work
Just a bite's worth and easy to make
Soggy week offers some gardening breaks
More pruning events set for Saturdays throughout January
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 24
In between rainy episodes this week:
* Keep your gutters and storm drains cleared. Watch out for leaning trees or weakened branches; if you spot trouble, call an arborist.
* Remember to turn off the sprinklers or other irrigation. Be careful walking on or working with wet soil; it can compact easily.
* On rainy days, do some indoor gardening. Tend to houseplants. Sort seed packets. Start seed indoors for cool-season veggies and flowers.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Rake and compost leaves, but leave at least some healthy leaves in planting beds for nesting insects and foraging birds. But dispose of any diseased plant material. For eample, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* If you decide to use a living Christmas tree this year, keep it outside in a sunny location until Christmas week. This reduces stress on the young tree.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* After they bloom, chrysanthemums should be trimmed to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. If in pots, keep the mums in their containers until next spring. Then they can be planted in the ground, if desired, or repotted.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers such as California poppies and plant spring bloomers such as as sweet peas, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.