Rancho Cordova Garden Club APR

The Rancho Cordova Garden Club meeting notes and links for APRIL are posted below. This is the new format instead of a power point.

Email me: lchristensen "at" saclibrary.org (You must type in the @ symbol instead of "at" and take out the spaces.

Introductions and News.
Our own Deborah K. has a job at The Fair Oaks Nursery. Yeah Deborah!

Update on the Bucket Brigade. Goal of 25 buckets a month. Need tomato starts. Dirt.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Looks like we are getting our annual spring hot spell. You know, the one where you go to some local festival and the kids get heat stroke because two days ago it was still turtleneck weather. And as you know, this spring it has been too wet much of the time to actually work the soil.

It MAY be time to think about planting tomatoes. April Average night time temps are 50 degrees. May night time temps are 54 degrees. Plant now for pre-july harvest and plant in June for Fall harvest. Be prepared to provide shade in July and August.

10 Easy Food Plants

So THIS MONTH you should:

• Prune off frost damaged limbs.
• Start to think about planting tomatoes when night time temps are consistently above 50 degrees, possibly mid-April. (Peppers and eggplants 55 degrees.)
• Check that irrigation system. Hot weather dry weather is right around the corner.
• Be prepared to water when the rains stop. 1” twice a week for lawns depending on weather. Start deep soaking trees and shrubs.
• Plant bean and corn seeds. (plant squash and melon seeds when you plant out peppers and eggplants.)
• Keep fresh water out for the birds. They are your pest controllers.
• Fertilize citrus and other tropicals.
• Start thinning stone fruits.
• Keep roses evenly moist and feed now. 5 gal. of water per week. Clean up the litter under the plants and watch for mildew.
• Prune spring bloomers if needed as they finish blooming.
• Later in the month after the soil warms, add mulch around shrubs and trees. Keep all mulch 6” away from trunks and keep bark away from your house.

For more on March chores, planting calendars and other great local gardening information check out:

Redwood Barn Nursery

Farmer Fred

Sacramento Gardening




YOU WILL BE SO PROUD OF ME!

Last month I actually got everything planted that was waiting to go in the ground from last year. Well, everything that hadn’t died. And I cleaned up the yard a bit and then the wind came and ‘fixed’ it for me. And I got the pond plants repotted. I didn’t realize when I bought them that they really were ready to be repotted then. One of the plastic pots had split right down the side form the force of the roots growing. The raccoon still comes and is turning over the pots and uprooting the equisetum, probably looking for snails, but at least he isn’t stepping on the side and letting all of the water out of it since I put cinder blocks around the inside. I cleaned away the compost and leaves that had gathered around the base of my rose and lilacs. The rose is actually growing and 2 of the lilacs are starting to bloom. One lilac is just leafing out; I think we have had a long and coolish spring. The maples and myrtles are finally starting to leaf out. The myrtles that I never got moved. Maybe I will give them one more year where they are…
I did get the tomato cages stuck in the ground and I am training the boysen berries up through them.

I got in 175 bare root strawberries from Gurneys which I heeled in using a couple of cardboard boxes. They are starting to grow and I think I am going to use some as ground cover. Also I am giving a talk at the Rancho Cordova Senior Center on April 13th at 10 am and we are going to build a strawberry tower for them using some of the plants I ordered.

I found another garden podcast; Gardening Naturally with John Dromgoole or listen online here.


THINKING ABOUT GROWING POTATOES?

Potatoes are a beautiful plant above ground and it is lots of fun digging the taters. Like most things you grow yourself they have more flavor than the ones you buy. Check out this article with links by Ken Druse and listen to his show.


IT’S AUTUMN IN AUSTRALIA…

That means tomato growing season is winding down and we can learn from their experiences. Adelaide, like Sacramento, has a hot dry Mediterranean climate. Check out John Lamb’s 2011 Tomato review. This year the focus was on nutrition, for the plants that is. Last year it was providing shade and most people said that really helped prevent stress, conserve moisture and set fruit on the hottest days.

CONSIDERING CREATIVE CONTAINERS

Google images: garden containers

Google images: hypertufa

Book: Easy Concrete by Malena Skote

Google images: grow bags and bag garden and bag gardening


ARMCHAIR GARDEN TOUR:

Cherry Blossom Festivals


DC Festival History

Cherry Blossom Festival in Georgia

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

SF Flower Show

Gardening Australia - Search Floods and Orchids


LOCAL EVENTS:

UC Davis Arboretum Plant sale Tomorrow

UC Davis Arboretum Programs

Soil Born Farms - A Day on the Farm

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

African Violet Judged Show and Sale

Amador Flower Farm

The Flower Farm

Save Jan Park at Windmill Nursery

Veg Garden and Native Plant Clinics at Windmill Nursery

Fair Oaks Hort. Open Garden Day

Daffodil Hill Opening postponed till March 25th due to rains

Sacramento Co-op

Sacramento Tree Foundation

Bring Back the Natives Tour