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This Earth Day party in Placer salutes monarch butterflies

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED APR 19, 2019

The monarch butterfly is the focus of an Earth Day celebration in Auburn

this Saturday. (Photo courtesy UCCE)

I n El Dorado County, master gardeners host spring plant sale

How are you helping your planet?

Monday is Earth Day, an annual celebration held April 22 each year since 1970. This year’s theme: Protect Our Species.

Bees and butterflies rank high on the list of local species that could use some protection as well as TLC. One of the best ways to protect our native species is to invite them into our gardens and make them feel at home -- well-fed, nurtured and protected.

On Saturday, one endangered butterfly in particular takes the spotlight at “Earth Day: Celebration of the Monarchs.” To be held in downtown Auburn at the Armed Forces Pavilion and Community Garden, this family event focuses on this beloved butterfly and its annual migration to California. Learn all about the monarchs from the UCCE Placer County master gardeners, who will offer tips on how to help these butterflies. (Hint: They love milkweed!)

In addition, this event offers music, food trucks, artists, bee keepers, native plants, workshops and exhibits. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 20. Admission is $10 per family with all proceeds going to support the Forgotten Soldier Program, which is also hosting this event. The
garden is located at 995 Lincoln Way, Auburn. Details: https://forgottensoldierprogram.com/events/

Planting California natives and flowering plants (including vegetables and fruit trees) can make bees happy and go a long way in creating a welcoming habitat.

Find a great selection at the El Dorado County Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale, from 8 a.m. 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20. The sale will be held at the Sherwood Demonstration Garden, behind Folsom Lake College's El Dorado Center, 6699 Campus Drive, Placerville. Admission is free; parking is $2 in the college lot. While you’re there, check out the beautiful garden and the ways master gardeners attract more beneficial insects.

Milkweed is the monarch butterfly's key food source.

(Photo courtesy Cheryl Rose)

Find a wide variety of fruit trees, California natives, ornamental grasses, vegetables, succulents, shrubs and perennials. Which ones? The sale plant list available here: http://mgeldorado.ucanr.edu/files/302291.pdf

Cash or checks only; no credit cards. Details: http://mgeldorado.ucanr.edu/

and Kathy Morrison

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Keywords:

UCCE master gardeners milkweed Sacramento events Earth Day Placer County gardening monarch butterflies native plants El Dorado County pollinators plant sale

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Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* 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, pumpkins, 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.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

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