Chrysanthemum celebration includes tribute to club president
These beautiful mums, prepared for transport to an earlier show, are typical of the ones that will be on display at the Shepard Center this weekend. Courtesy Tamara Bliley/Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society
It’s one of the oldest and most popular horticultural events in Sacramento. And this edition will be especially heartfelt.
This weekend, Nov. 18 and 19, see hundreds of spectacular mums in dozens of varieties during the 76th annual Sacramento Chrysanthemum Show at Shepard Garden and Arts Center.
Included in the show will be a tribute to Sharon Peterson, the longtime president of the Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society. Peterson, 80, of Fair Oaks died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 26. A former schoolteacher, she had been an active club member and mum grower for decades. She taught countless Sacramento-area gardeners how to grow better mums.
“(Sharon) loved to teach people about growing and showing chrysanthemums,” said her obituary on Dignitymemorial.com. “She had been involved in the Sacramento Chrysanthemum Society for many years and she was the current sitting president.”
Over the years, Peterson grew many winning mums and was a constant presence at Sacramento’s show. In her honor this weekend, Shepard Center will be filled with her favorite flower.
Besides amazing exhibition mums, carefully crafted flower arrangements will be on display, thanks to the Sacramento Floral Design Guild. This year’s theme: “Autumn’s Delights.”
According to the National Chrysanthemum Society, the Sacramento show will be among the last shows of mum season. “The blooms there will be magnificent,” the national society noted on Facebook.
Learn how to grow and care for mums, one of the best plants for fall color in Sacramento. In 13 distinct flower forms, mums come in virtually every color except blue and true black plus many combinations.
Show hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Parking and admission are free.
Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento, in McKinley Park.
Details and directions: www.sgaac.org.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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