Chrysanthemum celebration includes tribute to club president
These beautiful mums, prepared for transport to an earlier show, are typical of the ones that will be on display at the Shepard Center this weekend. Courtesy Tamara Bliley/Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society
It’s one of the oldest and most popular horticultural events in Sacramento. And this edition will be especially heartfelt.
This weekend, Nov. 18 and 19, see hundreds of spectacular mums in dozens of varieties during the 76th annual Sacramento Chrysanthemum Show at Shepard Garden and Arts Center.
Included in the show will be a tribute to Sharon Peterson, the longtime president of the Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society. Peterson, 80, of Fair Oaks died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 26. A former schoolteacher, she had been an active club member and mum grower for decades. She taught countless Sacramento-area gardeners how to grow better mums.
“(Sharon) loved to teach people about growing and showing chrysanthemums,” said her obituary on Dignitymemorial.com. “She had been involved in the Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society for many years and she was the current sitting president.”
Over the years, Peterson grew many winning mums and was a constant presence at Sacramento’s show. In her honor this weekend, Shepard Center will be filled with her favorite flower.
Besides amazing exhibition mums, carefully crafted flower arrangements will be on display, thanks to the Sacramento Floral Design Guild. This year’s theme: “Autumn’s Delights.”
According to the National Chrysanthemum Society, the Sacramento show will be among the last shows of mum season. “The blooms there will be magnificent,” the national society noted on Facebook.
Learn how to grow and care for mums, one of the best plants for fall color in Sacramento. In 13 distinct flower forms, mums come in virtually every color except blue and true black plus many combinations.
Show hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Parking and admission are free.
Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento, in McKinley Park.
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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