Tour of Yolo County site is free but registration is required
The golden currant (Ribes aureum) is blooming now at Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden. Photo by Beth Savidge, courtesy Patricia Carpenter
The native plants are waking up! This weekend is the ideal time to tour Patricia Carpenter's native plant garden to see spring unfolding.
Carpenter, a California Native Plant Society Garden Ambassador, opens her secluded 1-acre native plant garden west of Davis from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, for the Seasonal Early Spring Ramble.
The garden, on the west side of Pierce Ranch Road south of Russell Boulevard, will be open for self-guided tours during those hours; visitors can start any time during that period. Maps will be available for use on site.
Admission is free but registration is required. Register here.
The weather might be drippy, but the garden will be open rain or shine. Carpenter notes that when she was living in New Zealand, she toured many gardens in the rain. "Go find your raincoat," she says. "I'm seeing mre and more native species/cultivars blooming every day!"
Here are some expected highlights Sunday:
-- Glen Holstein, botanist, will be in attendance. A wildflower enthusiast, he will be helping with plant ID and answering questions about native plants.
-- Artists are welcome to photograph, or find a shady (dry) spot to paint or draw.
-- Miridae Mobile Nursery will be on site again for sales. Visit this page at www.miridaemobilenursery.com to access a link to their current inventory of native plants. They also can reserve plants for pick-up at Carpenter's garden.
-- Native seeds. Carpenter has been collecting seeds to share, but says that's only if it's not raining too much. "Seeds and rain don't mix."
Started in 2005, Patricia Carpenter's native garden now features about 400 species and cultivars of California native plants. Visit her Garden Ambassador profile to learn more about this garden, access a map, view a plant list, and take a virtual tour. Her non-native garden will be open to view Sunday as well.
There will be an optional short orientation and Q&A gathering Sunday with Carpenter at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Meet near the check-in table.
Although masks are optional, Carpenter asks that visitors respect distancing and mask wearing of other visitors. Sturdy (water- and mud-proof, too!) shoes are advised. No dogs, please. A composting toilet is available. Visitors are welcome to bring a lunch or snack to enjoy.
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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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