Friday, September 17, 2010

Arboretum All-Stars



Just a reminder that Fall is a great time to plant in Sacramento.

Plant Sales at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery

Several times each year, our support group, Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum, holds plant sales at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, offering hundreds of different kinds of uncommon garden plants that have been locally grown, including the Arboretum All-Stars, our top recommended plants for Central Valley gardens. Members enjoy a special preview sale and receive a 10% discount.

2010 Fall Plant Sales

Download plant list

September 18 Preview Tour

September 25 : Focus on California Native Plants

9–11 a.m. Members only; 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Public sale

Spotlight on outstanding California native plants that require less frequent watering, support native pollinators, and make great additions to any Valley-wise garden. Join at the door for a 10% discount and a free plant!

October 9 Preview Tour

October 16: Fall is for Planting

9 a.m.–1 p.m. Public sale

Let the winter rains help your new garden plants get established before they have to face the hot Valley summer. Choose from a wide variety of great plants for Central Valley gardens, including the Arboretum All-Stars. Join at the door for a 10% discount and a free plant!

Map
Directions

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Porch planter progress

My Laurentia and Linaria from Annie's are starting to bloom!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Front porch pot

I potted up a few plants


from my Annie's excursion and want to see how they'll do on my front porch. Could have done without the black widow inhabiting my green glazed pot. Me... no gloves, as usual.

Heuchera 'Marmalade'
Laurentia axillaris 'Blue Stars'
Corydalis sempervirens
Linaria triornithophora 'Three Birds Flying'


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, May 14, 2010

Mother's Day, 2010. Trip to Annie's Annuals & Perennials

Annie's Annuals & Perennials 2010 Mother's Day plant sale and celebration. Mom's got a free 4" plant! Lovely weather, lovely refreshments, and lovely company.


Just beyond this flowerbed is the "Bored spouses and boyfriends" table. ;-)


Magical.


Hypertufa containers. Hypertufa workshop/party is on my to-do list.




Kim and me.


Poppies and penstemon. Fabulous combo.


Wowsa.


After Annie's, we stopped at Annie's propagator's nearby open garden.










Clever use of an old pallet!












Heading home. Lunch consisted of delicious El Pollo Loco eaten in the car in front of the open garden. Great day.

Friday, April 23, 2010

DripWorks drip irrigation supplies


Just wanted to alert you to a great resource for drip irrigation supplies: DripWorks in Willits, CA. A lot of times, nurseries and hardware stores carry a small selection of drip irrigation parts. Not only does DripWorks offer parts and complete systems, they will even help you design your drip system free of charge. Leery of ordering through websites? Not an issue here. DripWorks has earned a Dave's Garden Top 5 Garden Watchdog Rating. Check out the reviews.

By ordering a Row Crop or Heart Kit through this blog post or the banner ad on SacramentoGardening.com, you will receive 10% off on a battery timer. Want to learn more about their kits? Check out these videos.

CCUH Rose Workshop

Thursday, April 15, 2010

I'm (probably) baaaaaaaack.


[When a man gives you cut flowers, it's nice. When a man gives you a rose bush (pictured above) on your first date... you might be a goner.]

It's been a year since I posted about my pending divorce and cross-town move. It's amazing how much has changed during that time, and how much hasn't. I think I put the T in Transition, because I didn't exactly delve into gardening at the new house like I thought I would.

First things first. Like my sanity. A little peace. Furniture, which I still don't have. Finding a new groove with my teenage son every two weeks for two weeks at a time. A new (and very important) relationship.

In 2009, I "lost" a husband of twenty years and two cats. The eldest of the two cats just passed away at nearly twenty-one years old. I'd had her for the entire length of the marriage. I do miss that cat.

In the last year, I blogged very little and Tweeted halfheartedly before deciding I hated Twitter. I did, however, do a lot of Facebooking. I loves me some Facebook. And gardeners are on there chattering away, posting pics and inspiring others the way blogs had in the past. And nurseries and garden shows are starting Fan pages on Facebook, so it's getting easier to keep up with the latest.

Will I continue to blog? Maybe. Maybe not. I do love being able to search my blog when I'm trying to remember something I planted or what time of year a certain plant bloomed, etc. And connecting with kindred spirits is an important element of blogging; Otherwise, why don't I just keep a plant diary, right? Note to kindred spirits: Find me on Facebook in case I ditch the blog.

So many more gardeners are blogging now, and it's hard to keep up. I abandoned the notion of adding more blogs to my blog's sidebar. There. Are. Too. Many. Again, Facebook can be a time saver in the sense that you aren't obliged to post anything but you can still keep in touch with friends far and near. And meet new ones in that weird past meets the present, Friends of Friends Facebookey way.

The downside to Facebook is that it isn't archived or searchable or editable. Argh! Not good when you want to find dated posts and photos. But you can play Scrabble with your friends and loved ones! Super fun!

And you can share articles and YouTube clips, not just on gardening, but on anything that floats your boat. Wanna make fun of Tiger Woods? Go for it. Want the latest news from all your favorite news sources? Look at your Wall. And, you know, good old garden talk too. It's all good.

Life continues to shift between peace and chaos, and in those moments of peace I finally feel the urge to garden again. Working part-time at the cutest little ol' nursery in town has definitely helped to reawaken my enthusiasm for plants. And the fact that it's Spring.

Time to bask in sunshine and to plant flowers and tomatoes and basil and those yellow zucchinis I love so much. And time to to yank out those God-awful Home Depot plants the sellers put in and replace them with cool stuff.

I also intend to buy a gas grill this summer. Yep, that'll be me... grillin' and chillin'. Because life is short and I intend to drink in every moment of bliss that comes my way.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Annual Mower Exchange

Just a reminder...



"This year, the first-come, first served registration for the limited supplies of new Neuton cordless mowers takes place on Wednesday, March 17, beginning at 11 a.m. You can register by calling 1-888-742-SMUD (7683) or by entering your information here on smud.org (registration day only)." -- SMUD

Learn More...

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Edible Landscaping Workshop ALERT



(Announcement from the California Center for Urban Horticulture)

Edible Landscaping

A "Your Sustainable Backyard" Workshop

Gardens are not just for flowers anymore! Come learn about variety choice, bed preparation, planting, and harvesting- all using sustainable practices. Learn everything you need to know to get started on producing your own delicious fresh produce right in your own yard, no matter how small!

Keynote speaker:

Rosalind Creasy, well-known speaker and author of "Edible Landscaping: Now you can have your garden and eat it too!"

$45 registration fee includes morning coffee and lunch.

To register online with a credit card, CLICK HERE.

To register by mail with check or recharge, DOWNLOAD HERE.

For DIRECTIONS to the ARC Ballroom B, CLICK HERE.

For tentative AGENDA, CLICK HERE.

What
  • public workshop
When Mar 06, 2010
from 08:30 AM to 05:00 PM
Where Activities and Recreation Center, Ballroom B, UC Davis campus
Contact Name
Contact Phone 530-752-6642


Monday, February 01, 2010

Northern CA Home & Landscape Expo

Stopped by the Northern California Home & Landscape Expo very briefly for a meeting-- more on that later-- and snapped a few phone pics of some nifty lighting and fountains that caught my eye.



Saturday, January 09, 2010

NEW BOOK! Fearless Color Gardens: The Creative Gardener's Guide to Jumping Off the Color Wheel



Brand new book by garden artist Keeyla Meadows!

NEW BOOK! Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles



Brand spankin' new book from Sunset. Being published by Oxmoor House (I know! Freaky!). Pre-order for February 9 release date.