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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 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s 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.

* 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.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy 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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