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Sacramento master gardeners host Open Garden Day

The vegetable garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center will a showcase of cool-season vegetables at Open Garden Day, as in this photo from an earlier February.

The vegetable garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center will a showcase of cool-season vegetables at Open Garden Day, as in this photo from an earlier February. Kathy Morrison

Get ready for spring with expert advice from Sacramento County master gardeners.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, the master gardeners will host Open Garden Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in Fair Oaks Park – rain or shine. Admission and parking are free.

From 9 a.m. to noon, watch master gardeners as they tend to mid-winter tasks and prepare for spring planting and rapid growth. They’ll also host several hands-on demonstrations including:

* Berries: Learn how blueberries and cane berries are pruned for the upcoming harvest season.

* Compost: Building, turning and harvesting compost. Visit the Worm Bin, too.

* Herbs: See Herbs flourishing in the cooler weather.

* Orchard: Bare branches in the orchard show proper pruning cuts.

* Vineyard: See canes getting ready to bud. Learn pruning basics.

* Vegetables: Cool-season vegetables are on display in raised beds.

* WEL: The water-efficient landscape will be full of overwintering beneficial insects ready for pests.

Got a garden mystery, problem pest or puzzling plant? Bring photos and/or samples (in a sealed plastic zipper bag) to the Ask a Master Gardener table.

Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is located at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks.

Details and directions: https://sacmg.ucanr.edu.

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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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