Feb. 24 event includes blossom show, tours and speaker Greg Gayton
This Kramer's Supreme camellia already is blooming ahead of the Sacramento-area camellia festivities in the next few weeks. Debbie Arrington
Camellias are coming out early this month in Sacramento – which means it’s time to celebrate the city’s official flower.
The first big camellia party actually happens in Folsom: Camellia Day at the Murer House and Gardens.
On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Murer House will host its ninth annual Camellia Day with a blossom show, self-guided tours and special speaker – Green Acres garden guru Greg Gayton.
“The public is invited to share and show single blossoms and arrangements,” say the organizers. “Ribbons will be awarded for People’s Choice and other categories.”
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., see dozens of beautiful camellias and get expert advice on how to grow your own. Members of the Camellia Society of Sacramento will be on hand to identify camellia varieties and offer tips on camellia care.
There is no charge to attend, tour Murer House or enter the camellia contest. Entries for the blossom show will be received from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Feb. 24. For information, contact Rhonda DesVoignes, bdesvoignes@comcast.net, or call the Murer House at 916-413-9231.
The Murer House and Gardens are located at 1125 Joe Murer Court, in historic Folsom, across Folsom Boulevard near historic Sutter Street. The home was built by Guiseppe Murer, an Italian immigrant who purchased the site in 1921 and constructed the home in 1925.
Details and directions: https://murerhousefoundation.org/.
And don’t forget: The Camellia Society will host its 100th annual Sacramento Camellia Show and sale March 2 and 3 at a new location – the Scottish Rite Center, 6151 H St., Sacramento. (More to come soon on that milestone event.)
Editor's note to newsletter subscribers: The dates listed in Thursday's post for the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club's two-day sale were slightly off: The sale will be Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13, not April 13-14. The post has been corrected.
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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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