Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Wanted: Gardens gone native

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED NOV 26, 2018

The Jelly Bean monkeyflower is a hybrid California native adapted for the home landscape. (Photo courtesy UC Davis Arboretum)

Annual spring tour needs local landscapes that feature native plants

Has your garden gone native? Are you willing to share it with about 1,000 guests?

Make your landscape a stop on the 2019 Gardens Gone Native Tour. Organizers are now accepting applications from possible participants.

Hosted by the Sacramento Valley chapter of the California Native Plant Society, the self-guided tour has quickly grown into a major event. The ninth annual Gardens Gone Native Tour is set for April 27, 2019. Gardens are open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. that Saturday.

Organizers need about 20 private gardens in Sacramento, Yolo and Placer counties. Each garden should include at least 50 percent California native plants. Visitors may be limited to front yard only if preferred.

"By becoming a garden host, you help to educate the public about the benefits of gardening with native plants and hopefully inspire others to transform their landscapes," according to the organizers.

An application and full details are available at www.sacvalleycnps.org along with articles and photos from tours past. Questions? E-mail Colene Rauh at gardensgonenative@gmail.com .

Sow seeds now for California poppy
blooms later. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Whether or not you apply for the tour, it's not too late to add some natives to your garden. Plant native perennials and shrubs now to help get them established. Sow wildflower seeds including California poppies.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

seeds Sacramento native plants events California Native Plant Society spring garden garden tours

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Thanks to our sponsor!

Sites We Like

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.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!