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Shepard Center hosts 76th annual Sacramento Mum Show

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.

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.

Woma n in plum collar
Sharon Peterson

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 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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