Free event Sunday includes plant sale, botanist's visit
Island bush poppy, left, and red California poppy are among the colorful blooms this time of year at Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden. Photos by Beth Savidge, courtesy Patricia Carpenter
Yes, it's still spring. Some of the native wildflowers may have faded for the year, but there is still plenty to see -- and plenty of color -- among the California natives.
An excellent site to witness this is Patricia Carpenter's property just west of Davis. Carpenter is a California Native Plant Society Garden Ambassador, and this Sunday, May 19, she opens her 1-acre native plant garden to visitors free of charge for the Late Spring Ramble. The garden includes approximately 400 species and cultivars of California native plants.
Registration is required to attend, and can be accomplished here. Directions to the site and maps for the ramble will be available after registration.
The garden will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and registered visitors are welcome to take the self-guided tour any time during that period.
Carpenter herself will give an optional short orientation and also answer questions at 10 a.m. and noon; meet near the check-in table.
Botanist Glen Holstein, a wildflower expert, will also be at the ramble to chat with visitors. His favorite topics include conservation of native plants and the new Yolo-Colusa chapter of CNPS.
Miridae Mobile Nursery will be on site for sales of native plants. A link to the current inventory can be found here.
And Carpenter notes that she has been collecting native seeds to share with visitors.
Folks attending the ramble are advised to wear sturdy shoes, and bring a hat and some water. Visitors are also welcome to bring a snack or lunch to enjoy at the garden. No dogs, please.
To read more about Carpenter and her garden, visit her CNPS page here.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 4
Enjoy this spring weather – and get gardening!
* 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.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)
* 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.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. 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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