Patricia Carpenter opens her property for the Early Spring Ramble
The buckeye buds are opening and showing off their green at Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden, which will be available for strolling Sunday. Courtesy Patricia Carpenter; photo by Beth Savidge
St. Patrick's Day plus awakening plants and springlike weather will add up to a celebration of green this Sunday at Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden in Yolo County.
The Seasonal Early Spring Ramble at Carpenter's 1-acre site, on Pierce Ranch Road west of Davis, is a free event, but registration is required. Sign up here; maps are available online. The property will be open for strolling and inspiration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17. Registered visitors can stroll the garden any time during that period.
Carpenter is a California Native Plant Society Ambassador whose garden has taken shape over the past 19 years; it now features about 400 species and cultivars of California native plants.
Early spring highlights at the garden are expected to include plenty of blooms from wildflowers, as well as Ceanothus and Ribes species and cultivars. Spring maintenance chores, such as pruning, pest control and mulching, can be observed. Carpenter also reports that she has been collecting native plant seeds to share.
"The rain has been wonderful, but I am looking forward to a bit of sunshine!" she says.
A special guest during the day will be botanist Glen Holstein, who can tell about the new CNPS Yolo-Colusa Chapter. He also is a wildflower enthiusiast who enjoys helping visitors identify plants.
Carpenter herself will conduct an optional orientation and Q&A session at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Meet near the check-in table.
Visitors are welcome to bring a snack or lunch to enjoy during the day. Also note:
-- Sturdy shoes are advised.
-- A composting toilet is available.
-- No dogs are allowed.
Carpenter's non-native garden also will be open for visiting.
To read more about the native garden, see a map and view a plant list, visit her CNPS Ambassador profile page here.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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