Several weeks ago, when I wrote “Let the show begin!,” I certainly did not intend to invite the aphids. Nevertheless, the show has begun and the aphids are here to enjoy it along with us. So are the weeds. I am not much of a believer in death-by-chemical, and so I am once again enjoying my spring morning ritual of pulling a few weeds and squashing as many aphids as I can. The aphids are mostly clustered along the stems and young flower buds of my clematis vines and rose bushes, so I am able to squash quite a group with one gesture. Soon enough the beneficial bugs (aphid wasps, assassin bugs, lacewings, ladybugs, praying mantises, etc.) that feed on the aphids will be along to help me in my work and until then the morning squashing is oddly satisfying. If I lose my zeal for squashing, I can always pull out the hose and give the plants a strong spraying, which helps to dislodge a large portion of the aphids. Photo: Aphids very happily cover a clematis stem and bud.
To escape our spring gardening reality of aphids and weeds (and the reality of high-country gardeners of late-winter snow and frost), we have spring Flower & Garden Show season followed closely by Early Summer Garden Tour season. Unlike aphids, garden shows and garden tours at their best are all about fantasy and possibility. They are – dare I say it? – sexy and seductive with the garden temptations and promise they hold out to us. In the past two weeks I have attended two good garden shows: The world-class San Francisco Flower & Garden show this year was in its new location at the San Mateo Events Center. I was duly impressed with the display gardens and duly overwhelmed with the plant and garden vendor booths (every garden thing you can think of from books to orchids to garlic presses) and next year I hope to go for two days so that I can take advantage of some of the speakers and seminars offered. The Soroptimists’ Home, Garden & Antique show in Chico last weekend had some nice floral competition displays and several very good plant vendors sales and demonstrations – regional plant groups including the Iris Society, the California Native Plant Society, the Orchid Society, the Bonsai Society, the Audubon Society and Chico Horticultural Society were there with displays, information and even plants for sale. Several other regional Home & Garden shows and the first of the regional garden tours are coming up in the next few weeks. Photo: While my home garden does not have space for a fountain quite like this one – I so admired the design of it, I had to take a picture for my files.
This weekend, March 27, 28, and 29, the Redding Spring Home & Garden Expo will be at the Shasta District Fairgrounds. April 4 and 5, the Redding Home and Garden Show will be at the Convention Center. Both will feature lots of of home and garden ideas and resources. Photo: A flower-arranger does last minute touch-ups to a Youth Class competition entry at the Chico Home, Garden & Antique show.
April 19, the Mount Lassen Chapter of the CNPS Wildflower Plant Sale and Art Show! will be held at the CARD Center in CHICO, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. each day. This major Biennial Fundraiser for the Mount Lassen chapter of the CNPS will feature displays of more than 200 species of plants from local plant communities. A Native Plant Sale and a Native Plant Art Show will feature photographs, paintings and other native-plants art by regional artists. For more info contact Ellen Copeland, 530-345-1826.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, The Red Bluff Garden Club is having its 48th annual flower show “Garden Magic” – Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. -5 p.m., at the Tehama District Fairgrounds in Red Bluff. The show has a horticulture division for cut flowers and branches, potted plants, and combination plantings; a design division for creative arrangements made using various sorts of plant material (and maybe flowers); a creative crafts division for wreaths, decorated hats, and decorated gourds; and an educational division with informative displays. There will also be a plant sale, with many good bargains. The show is free, and everyone is welcome.
Finally, St. John’s Episcopal Church 26th Annual Garden Tour in Chico kicks off the garden touring season on Saturday, May 2, 2009. This self-guided tour features five gardens within reasonable driving distance of one another. Tickets also include lunch at St. John’s Church and access to an amazing plant and gift boutique with lots of interesting gifts to choose from – perfect for mother’s day. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 the day of. The garden locations and a map are on your ticket, are open for viewing from 11-4. Tickets are available in Chico at Magnolia Gift & Garden, 1367 East Avenue; Christian & Johnson Floral, 250 Vallombrosa; Fostine’s Nursery, Nord & East avenues; The Gifted Garden, 1238 Mangrove; Little Red Hen Gift Shop, 897 E. 20th Street; Little Red Hen Therapeutic Plant Nursery, Eighth & Wall streets; PIP Printing, 970 Mangrove; Zucchini & Vine, Second & Main Streets; and at St. John’s Episcopal Church Office, 2341 Floral Ave. Also in Paradise at Mendons’s Nursery, 5424 Foster Road. Proceeds go to supporting the St. John parish and many other local charitable organizations, which this year include Youth and Family Programs, Sarah Home for Women, Peg Taylor House, Esplanade House, Jesus Center, Passages, and the Torres Community Center. The gardens featured this year include the expansive, the intimate, the whimsical and the formal. I loved last year’s tour and I can’t wait for this one! Photo: One of the gardens on the 2008 St. John’s Garden Tour displayed this clever use of an old mailbox to stow hand tools in the garden. If I added one to my garden, perhaps I would be less likely to leave my hand-tools lying about in flower beds?
Other Upcoming Garden Tours Include:
Butte Rose Society Members-Only Garden Tour: June 6
Paradise Garden Club 2009 Garden Tour – June 6-7. Six outstanding gardeners will open their gates. Highlights this year include water features both large and small, rose gardens, cozy gazebos, stunning views, and entertaining gardens. Tickets are $15 and include two drawings for a fountain or a red Japanese maple tree each worth $400, courtesy of Paradise Nursery. Two homes feature vintage cars. Refreshments, composting demonstration, benefit drawing and homegrown plant sale are also included on the tour. Tickets available in Chico: Fostine’s Nursery and Magnolia Nursery. In Oroville at Lambert’s Feed. In Paradise: Fir Street Gallery, Mendon’s Nursery, Paradise Garden, Reid’s Nursery, Country Touch Florist, Hallmark Cards, Heaven Scent Candles. In Paradise Pines: Whisker Pines Pet. Call Jean Sherman, 530-877-7193, for more information.
Shasta Rose Society – 16th Annual Rose Garden Tour, Saturday, May 20, 2009
Admission of $10 includes Garden Tour, Boutique and Plant Sale, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The garden tour will feature five beautiful local gardens. Tickets will be available at local nurseries by April 1. Money raised from this event is used to sponsor horticultural scholarships at Shasta College. For more info call 530-378-2567 or 530-221-1852, or email tastarr@charter.net. Photo: This display garden at the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show used very bold painted panels, the flamboyant colors of which were repeated throughout the flowers and hardscape of the garden.
Due to Northstate Public Radio’s Spring fund-drive March 25 – April 4, regular radio programming of In a North State Garden will resume on Saturday, April 11. A one-hour call-in special edition of In a North State Garden will air Tuesday, March 31 from 10 – 11 a.m., with special guests Carl Rosato of Woodleaf Farms in Oroville and Rebecca Yarrow of The Plant Barn in Chico, talking with us about Edible Landscaping and how to get started with your vegetable, fruit and nut gardening in 2009. Join us!
In a North State Garden is a radio- and web-based outreach program of the Gateway Science Museum – Exploring the Natural History of the North State and based in Chico, California. In a North State Garden celebrates the art, craft and science of home gardening in California’s North State region, and is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell – all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio KCHO/KFPR radio, Saturday mornings at 7:34 PST and Sunday morning at 8:34 PST. Podcasts are available.
