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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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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