The New Digs

Lordy.

Haven't had time to think about putting my horticultural stamp on this place yet... been too busy taking care of the basics-- like (temporary) window coverings, a washer/dryer, dish rack (buh bye, dishwasher), new IKEA bedroom furniture for the teen, cable TV/internet/phone and... God, I'm exhausted. And broke.

Did I mention being without internet for seven long days? Barbaric.

Love my new (old) neighborhood, love my funny little house, and love my new life. Stay tuned for gardening adventures and misadventures, backyard barbecues, and summer evenings spent swaying in my backyard hammock. Just needs reassembly.

Want to learn more about California native plants?

“Please join Demo-Garden volunteers Brigette and Alicia this summer”

And California history? Then carve out some time in your busy, busy schedule to volunteer at the SacValley CNPS Native Plant Demonstration Garden at Sacramento City Cemetery. If you're not already familiar with the demo garden, see one of my past blog posts here.

Here's a recent update from SacValley CNPS chair, Sabrina Okamura-Johnson:

Notes from the Demo-Garden:

Spring at the Chapter’s native plant demo-garden has been glorious this year. The garden has been ablaze with the brilliant yellows of our Sunset fremontias, gorgeous blues of our Ray Hartman ceanothus, and vibrant pinks of our western redbuds. The fremontia’s are winding down and the Ray Hartman’s and redbuds are now setting seed. But as I write, the second act of Spring is in full swing. Current blooms include: our yellow sulfur buckwheats, golden lupines and bush monkey flowers, blue flax and penstemons, purple wooly blue curls, and the stunningly beautiful creamy-white blossomed California bush anemone.

Many of our native salvias/sages have now started to blossom. In fact at the May meeting, several of the young black-sage cuttings we brought for adoption had cute tiny little blossoms. I am also happy to report that all of the baby black-sages and creeping-sages found homes at the May meeting! Only one of the goldenrods and 3 of the ‘puniest’ baby Douglas iris were not adopted. In addition, thanks to Peggy Berry’s suggestion (that we put out a donation plate) and the generosity of ‘adopting parents’, the garden received $20 in donations for the babies! Be sure and make it to the September meeting so you can adopt demo-garden babies that make through the summer.

As many of you know, Mitchell Alford’s health has declined and she is unable to come out regularly on Saturdays to help supervise and give assignments to the Sheriff’s work party crews (after they muster in the morning) and to meet with volunteers that would like to come by on Saturdays at 10am. So I’m currently looking for folks that can fill her shoes to cover Saturdays at the garden. Please give me a call/email if you might be able to come out even 1 or 2 Saturdays this summer to meet/direct volunteers; and -if you’re up for it- to help supervise the Saturday work crews.

For those of you that can’t make it out to the garden on the weekends, let me know if you are able to swing by during the weekdays. We have several dedicated week-day weeding volunteers who swing by for 30 minutes or an hour to enjoy the garden and weed a plot or two. If this is something you think you might be able to help us with this summer, let me know and I’ll explain how we log your hours and dispose of the weeds that are pulled during the week.

During the upcoming Sundays, volunteers will help us with deadheading, pruning, and general maintenance. We will also be pruning the creeping sage (Salvia Sonomensis), so will be potting up about 25 cuttings for eventual give away at the September meeting, so could use help with this. We also have about 1,000+ baby St. Catherines lace volunteers, that we will be potting up regularly this summer for adoption/give-away at various summer events sponsored by the chapter and/or the Old City Cemetery Committee.

As always, I hope to see you in the garden.

Sabrina
SacValley CNPS Chair,
Native Plant Demo-Garden @ Historic City Cemetery
1000 Broadway, Sacramento CA

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GOAL OF THE DEMO-GARDEN

The goal of the Native Plant Demonstration Garden is to: enlighten our visitors to the beauty of California native plants; illustrate how they can be used in the home garden; show how to attract wildlife and beneficial insects; and educate about the many medicinal, cultural and edible aspects of plants used by the local Native Americans.

More April blooms

Chilean Rock Purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora)- just keeps performing better and better each year, in the ground and in pots. Love it, love it, love it, and soooooo easy to propagate.



Byzantine glads (Gladiolus byzantinus)


Chinese Ground Orchids (Bletilla striata) just beginning to open


Geum

Not pictured but blooming now... and totallly worth mentioning: Queen's tears (Billbergia nutans)!

Mmmmmmm..... Spring.

Days of Flonase and flowers...



The woody little stub of a tree peony cutting that I brought home from the San Francisco Flower and garden show three years ago bloomed and is fully open for the first time today. It's lovely... and unnamed until I can find the tag.

Just checked my blog archive and discovered that the vendor was The Lily Pad Bulb Farm. Judging from their website, it might be 'Blue Jewel'.

So much else is blooming as well-- tulips, wallflower, Byzantine glads, abutilon, coral bells, African daisies, ceanothus, calandrinia, columbine, blue gilia, etc.





And in other happy news, I found my lost keys! I had been looking "everywhere" for them... except the backyard, where they sat glistening on the teak patio table. The last few months of my life have left me a bit (OK, majorly) discombobulated-- lost keys, brewing pots of coffee without remembering to add the coffee, not being able to plan or plant my Summer veggie garden...

Why? The end of my twenty-year marriage, pretty much... not knowing where I would be living... worrying about how everything was affecting my son... and myself. But I'm happy to report that things are looking up. The dust has settled and everything is moving forward in a happier direction. For everyone.

My son will be with me week on, week off, and I may just rediscover who Angela is during the off weeks. I will be moving into a cute little house in about thirty days and may even be in there in time to pop some summer veggies in the ground.

Speaking of ground, my new grounds will be quite downsized. I'm moving from a 1/4 acre lot to a .1 acre lot. This was actually a conscious decision on my part. Not only was I feeling like scaling back because of the economy and my new circumstances, but I wanted to move back to my old neighborhood in East Sac. I'll be back in the Thrifty Fifties over by East Portal Park!

I have family nearby and would love it if my folks, who now live a couple blocks away from my Carmichael house, follow. There happen to be not one but two empty lots next to the new digs. I'm picturing adjoining gates... me helping them with their yard work... family parties... bike rides... dog walking chats...

I may not have as much space for gardening in the near future... and a giant sycamore currently dominates the backyard (more on that later)... but I still intend to pack that lot with as many of my current plants as possible. And if I need anything new, I can just ride my bike over to Talini's.

Goodbye quantity, hello quality. Goodbye driving everywhere, hello biking and walking everywhere. Hello new chapter in my life.

Green Gardener program coming to Sacramento!

I'm really happy to see a program like this finally coming to Sacramento. Looks like it's under the wing of the River-Friendly Landscape Program. Be sure to tell your friendly, neighborhood mow & blow crew about it! Better yet, print the flier and give it to all your neighbors to give to their gardeners. Help spread the word!

Training begins March 31st!

RIVER-FRIENDLY LANDSCAPE
Green Gardener Training Program

Why become a Green Gardener?

This ten-week series provides high quality training in all the key principles of River-Friendly Landscaping, or “Green Gardening” including:

Conserving water, protecting the soil and reducing the use of pesticides. Many classes will include both indoor and outdoor hands-on components. Creating a healthier garden for you, your community and the environment. Offering a list of River-Friendly Landscaping Principles, helping you compete in the professional industry.

Registration begins on Monday, March 2, 2009.

Cost is $30 for 10 consecutive week-sessions.

Register online at www.fcusd.org/adulted
(courses and online registration, Job Training)

Or mail your completed form to:
Folsom Cordova Adult School
10850 Gadsten Way, Bldg C
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

Class begins on Tuesday, March 31, 2009*
Class runs from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
*Class will not be held on April 7, 2009 due to Spring Break.

How Do I Sign Up?
For more information call Regional Water Authority at 916-967-7625.

Download flier.

A few repeat performances...

And some new beginnings.

Ceanothus is about to pop, bulbs are doing their thing (even last year's tulips), hummingbird sage is looking fresh and reinvigorated after I whacked it back, and my dogs are looking for something disgusting to roll around in. Must be Spring.

Tickets to the Good Life now available

Wanted to pass this along. Tickets are now available for these wonderful-sounding Backyard Edible Gardening classes at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science's UC Davis Good Life Garden! Whew... that's a mouthful.

For more information and tickets: www.goodlifegarden.ucdavis.edu/event_list
Contact: Kira O’Donnell, (530) 681-6412; kdodonnell@ucdavis.edu

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Backyard Edible Gardening
Presented by the UC Davis Good Life Garden
Saturday, April 25 and Saturday, May 23, 2009

Interest in the establishment of backyard edible gardens has increased significantly as food and gasoline prices skyrocket and consumers become increasingly concerned about food safety, freshness and quality. A rising demand for organic produce and honest, home-grown flavors are also important contributing factors in the backyard gardening movement. All these elements, notes Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist at the National Gardening Association in Burlington, Vermont, are setting the stage for “a perfect storm for vegetable gardening.”

Gardening organizations, seed wholesalers, and local nurseries are all reporting hikes in the number of consumers purchasing vegetable seeds and starter plants and trees. But do consumers have the information they need to establish a functioning and successful garden? The UC Davis Good Life Garden will offer two in-depth seminars, designed as an overview on how to establish, maintain, and utilize the many benefits of a productive backyard edible garden.

The seminars will be taught by University of California master gardeners, farm advisors and respected gardening experts. Offered on Saturdays, the seminars will run from 9am to 2pm, and cost $35 with box lunch included ($25 with no box lunch). They will be held in UC Davis’ Good Life Garden and the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science sensory theatre. For more information, visit the UC Davis Good Life Garden website at www.goodlifegarden.ucdavis.edu or call Kira O’Donnell, (530) 681-6412.

Growing a Successful Vegetable Garden
Saturday, April 25, 2009

This in-depth class will focus on growing vegetables successfully all year.
Subjects addressed include:

• planning your garden
• vegetable varieties
• the importance of climate
• seed saving
• when and how to plant
• pest and weed management
• harvesting and storage

Participants should have a basic working knowledge of growing a garden with a desire to learn how to create a highly productive garden. Instructor Robert Norris is a UC Davis Plant Science emeritus professor, and has been teaching UC Master Gardener trainees the craft of vegetable gardening for 29 years. Also instructing will be Terry Allan of Seeds of Change, whose mission is to help preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture. Seeds of Change cultivates and disseminates an extensive range of open-pollinated, organically grown, heirloom and traditional vegetable, flower and herb seeds.

All About Fruits, Nuts and Berries
Saturday, May 23, 2009

A backyard garden can be much more than simply a vegetable plot. In this information-packed seminar, we explore ways to plant, train, grow and enjoy fruit and nut trees and berry bushes.

Subjects addressed will include:

• planning and planting your orchard
• variety selection
• space requirements
• growing fruit in small spaces
• fertilization, irrigation, weeding, and thinning
• training and pruning
• pest management

Participants should have a basic working knowledge of gardening, with a desire to learn how to create a highly productive backyard orchard. Instructors for this unique and informative class will be Chuck Ingles, Sacramento County Farm Advisor; and Ed Laivo of the Dave Wilson Nursery.