Registration required for free event Aug. 6
The coffeeberry, another name for California buckthorn, is a native shrub that can be found in several habitats around the state. Photo courtesy Beth Savidge
What does a garden of California native plants look like in summer? Patricia Carpenter, a Garden Ambassador for the California Native Plant Society, invites visitors to come find out during the Seasonal Summer Ramble at her garden near Davis.
The 1-acre native garden will be open to visitors 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 6. The event is free but registration is required here. The non-native garden will be open to view as well.
Highlights of a summer ramble:
• See how plants adapt to heat and drought. Also, irrigation strategies.
• View summer blooms.
• Observe seasonal maintenance, seed collecting, and discuss plans for fall planting.
The Miridae Mobile Nursery will be on site for sales to anyone inspired to add more native plants to their garden.
Visitors can attend an optional short orientation and Q&A gathering with Patricia at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Meet near the check-in table.
Carpenter's garden is south of Russell Boulevard, west of Davis, at Pierce Ranch Road. A map link is available on the registration page.
Although masks are optional, visitors are asked to please respect distancing and mask wearing of other visitors. Wearing sturdy shoes is advised. No dogs, please.
Visitors are welcome to bring a snack to enjoy during the morning. A composting toilet available onsite.
To learn more about Carpenter's Garden Ambassadorship and her garden, visit the CNPS website here.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* 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. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* 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.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier 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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