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Spring Gardening Tips for a Flourishing Garden
As the vibrant colors of spring burst forth and the air fills with the sweet scent of blossoms, it's the perfect time to roll up your sleeves and tend to your garden. Whether you're a seasoned gar...
Boys and Girls Clubs of Manteca/Lathrop
Listed under: Education Families & Children Parks & Recreation
Volunteers needed to help landmark site while learning about rose care
This is the McKinley Park Rose Garden in its full blooming glory. Achieving this in 2023 is the goal of the January Prune-a-thon. Debbie Arrington
It’s back! In January, rose lovers and gardeners of all ages will come together for Prune-a-thon – a community effort to help the McKinley Memorial Rose Garden.
In years past, volunteers pruned the garden’s entire collection of 1,200-plus roses in one day. The upcoming 2023 Prune-a-thon will stretch over two Saturdays – Jan. 7 and 14. Each pruning session will run from 9 a.m. to noon with a light lunch available for participants.
Experienced rosarians from the Sacramento Rose Society and Sacramento parks staff will supervise volunteers.
Registration and parking are free. No experience is necessary, although volunteers under age 18 must have a parent’s or guardian’s signature to participate. Tools and instruction will be provided. Bring gloves and, if possible, bypass pruners.
The Prune-a-thon is a great opportunity to learn about roses or reinvigorate pruning skills. It’s also a wonderful chance to show this historic rose garden some love.
This month, the City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation Department took over management of the rose garden as well as Clunie Community Center and the Shepard Garden and Arts Center from Friends of East Sacramento. In addition to tackling pruning (the biggest chore in any rose garden), the Prune-a-thon will serve as a recruiting event for year-round rose garden volunteers.
Prune-a-thon participants should dress warmly. Closed-toe shoes are required. Water will be provided.
For details and to register in advance via QR code: https://bit.ly/3HQU9JM
Want to learn more about rose care? Here are a few of Debbie's previous posts:
December rose care: Start pruning now
Grow your own vase-worthy roses
How to propagate roses from stems
How to shop for a new rose bush
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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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