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June weddings on hold at Capitol landmark

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAY 15, 2020

The International World Peace Rose Garden at the state Capitol is one of the most romantic spots in Sacramento. (Photos courtesy International World Peace Rose Garden)

Gatherings restricted at famous rose garden

Some rose gardens were made for romance.

On the state Capitol grounds, Sacramento’s International World Peace Rose Garden seems to overflow with love.

With its heart-shaped pavilion and dozens of inspirational plaques bearing words of love, the half-acre garden on 15th Street is a favorite spot for weddings as well as engagements and other romantic events. (In a 2018 Sacramento News & Review reader poll, it was named “The Best Place to Visit on a First Date.”)

Hundreds of weddings have been held in this rose garden, among the most photographed locations in Sacramento.

But not this summer. COVID-19 has put this rosy wedding tradition on hold.

Restrictions on gatherings are affecting this favorite venue.

“I am still getting requests for weddings,” said T.J. David, the garden’s co-creator and chief operating officer.

David refers those requests to the California Highway Patrol, which handles permits for all gatherings on the state Capitol grounds.

“The state Capitol is not approving permits for events through the end of June,” David said this week. “We’ll wait and see if that changes at the end of June.”

More red roses have been added to the garden for dramatic backdrops.

What will happen to June weddings already permitted is unclear. On its online calendar, the CHP still lists at least nine June weddings plus eight others in July that were approved before the coronavirus shutdown.

Part of its appeal: This venue is available free. The only catch: Event organizers need a valid CHP permit. The garden (“Area No. 1” on the state Capitol permit website at https://capitolpermits.chp.ca.gov/ ) can be reserved up to 12 months in advance.

In anticipation of a busy wedding season this summer, David and his volunteers along with the state Capitol maintenance crew made several major improvements to the garden during the winter months. Decomposed granite walkways were replaced with pavers – much better for walking down the aisle in high heels.

Near the garden’s arbor entrance, David added several deep red “In the Mood” roses to create a dramatic backdrop for wedding photos. The garden’s large fountain is surrounded by the same red roses.

The planting was designed “to create a new highly photogenic area with a high number of various angles to delight garden visitors and photographers,” David said. “The garden is a living artistic canvas of roses of various colors and fragrances.”

Overall, 40 new bushes were added to the Victorian-inspired garden, bringing its total to about 700. Right now, the garden is at its peak of bloom with a spectacular display of “living bouquets” for the public to enjoy.

Weddings or not, the garden continues to be open free daily to visitors from sunrise to sunset. Smell (and photograph) the roses all you like. “Every rose has fragrance, from slight to strong,” David noted.

But hands off the flowers, he added. “The garden has a policy of ‘Do Not Pick the Roses,’ so everyone can come and enjoy a lovely experience of waves of roses in bl oom.”

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Keywords:

gardening Sacramento coronavirus events roses summer events World Peace Rose Garden blooms historic garden state capitol

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* 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.

* 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 and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* 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.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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