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This Thanksgiving Day offers 'Promise'


Pink Promise rose is the star of the garden today. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Pretty pink rose an inspiration after two weeks of smoke



Blue skies! Clean air!

There's much to be thankful for today in Sacramento, including the best air quality in two weeks. According to the Sacramento region air quality districts, Sacramento will have good air throughout the Thanksgiving weekend.

After particulate matter hit an unhealthy 151 Wednesday on the Air Quality Index, Sacramento's forecast called for 50 Thursday and 46 Friday -- both in the "green" on the AQI scale.

As for rain, Sacramento received .37 inches as of 7 a.m. Thursday in this first wave of storms, with up to another inch expected Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Our gardens appreciated that moisture, the most rain to fall in one 24-hour period since May. The storms also washed off a considerable amount of accumulated ash, a byproduct of the Camp Fire near Chico.
Pink Promise is front and center in this
Thanksgiving bouquet.

How did plants cope with two weeks of intensely smoky skies? Judging by my roses, very well, thank you. The light-colored blooms showed no traces of pollutants or smoke taint. They smelled like roses, not mesquite.

Particularly lovely today is a hybrid tea named Pink Promise. Originally released as a fundraiser for breast cancer research, this delicately pink rose also has come to symbolize hope.

This Thanksgiving, it's never looked lovelier.

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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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