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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.

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

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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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