Gardens' best finery on display in fundraisers and free events
Native plants in the Gardens Gone Native tour typically are marked with explanatory signs, as in this Carmichael garden on the 2023 tour. This year's tour, which will include more than 30 sites in Sacramento and Yolo counties, will be Saturday, April 27. Kathy Morrison
If you're a fan of garden tours -- and what gardener isn't? -- there's a packed schedule during the next two months in the Sacramento region. Many of the events are fundraisers for area groups or schools, featuring lush gardens, impressive landscaping and often extras such as refreshments, gift shops and plants for sale.
One event in particular, the Gardens Gone Native tour, is free and designed to spread the word about using California native plants in a home or school landscape.
The dates come up quickly, and some tours sell out, so it's best to plan ahead. Here's a quick rundown of the tours we know about; more information will be available as the dates approach.
-- April 27, Curtis Park Home & Garden Tour. Tickets already are on sale for this tour, a fundraiser for the Sierra 2 Center and the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association. The five homes include a Crocker Village estate and a "tiki hut" garage conversion. A parade of classic cars by the Capitol A’s Model A Ford Club is part of the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Curtis Park itself will be the site of food trucks, information displays and live jazz. Tickets can be purchased online here.
-- April 27, Gardens Gone Native, presented by the Sac Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. This self-guided tour from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. is free but registration is requested. Sign up here and receive a map and tour brochure about a week before the tour. Hint: It's impossible to see all 30-plus gardens in one day, so when the map is released, plan a driving route. I like to choose a neighborhood I haven't explored before. And don't be afraid to ask questions about the plants and the gardener's choices.
-- April 27-28, Gardens of Folsom. The Folsom Garden Club presents its 22nd annual tour of Folsom gardens. Seven private gardens, plus two bonus gardens, are on this year's tour. Artists will be active in the gardens, and the event also includes a raffle, a plant sale, a bake sale and food trucks. Garden experts will be on duty to answer questions. Tickets are $20, available starting April 1. Information available here.
-- May 5, Annual Pence Gallery Garden Tour. The nonprofit art gallery in downtown Davis presents a Sunday tour featuring five private gardens in the university town. As befitting its sponsor and beneficiary, the tour features artists painting in each of the featured gardens. Tickets are $25-25, and go on sale April 5. Information available here. Note: This comes the day after a different Davis tour on May 4, the Stories on Stage Garden Tour that Debbie wrote about this week. See her post here.
-- May 5, Colonial Heights Garden Tour. This Sunday tour is presented by the Colonial Heights Neighborhood Association. The charming Sacramento neighborhood east of Stockton Boulevard dates to 1910. Colonial Park will be the headquarters for the event, which also will feature vendors and a plant/seed swap. Information here.
-- May 11-12, East Sac Garden Tour. Tickets go on sale April 1 for this very popular tour, a Mother's Day weekend tradition. A fundraiser for David Lubin Elementary School, this walkable tour of beautiful East Sacramento gardens also features extras including a gift boutique, a cafe and the Sutter Lawn Wine Garden. Information is available here.
-- May 18, Tahoe Park Garden Tour. The Sacramento neighborhood again will host a tour of a variety of gardens, including drought-tolerant ones. Tickets and information are available here.
Also of note: CNPS Ambassador Patricia Carpenter typically opens her garden for a Late Spring Ramble on a Sunday in latter May. The tour is free but requires registration; signups are not yet available.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
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April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
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March 4: Potatoes from the garden
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Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
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Garden Checklist for week of May 11
Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.
* 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.
* 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.
* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.
* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.
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