The calendar might tell us that June marks the beginning of summer, but for me the seat of summer is truly in July. Dry heat has returned and no matter how busy the calendar tells me I am, time does seem to slow – to protract and stretch out luxuriously. From June to July my garden goes from mid-size to full-sized and feels jungle-like and exotic in places – blooms color every corner, winking at me – brazenly.
Who doesn’t love the garden in summer?
By month’s end the edible garden will be in full summer-swing: first ripe tomatoes, delectable peppers, sweet corn, fresh cucumbers and squash, coming in to the kitchen by the basketful.
Keep supporting your summer plants and their all-important soil with weed suppression, regular water and – for heavy feeders – a feeding every few weeks. Organic slow release fertilizer or liquid fish emulsion will do the trick nicely. A fresh side-dressing of compost along the drip lines of your larger plants will help suppress weeds as well as cool and feed the soil. Now is a good time to finish pruning your spring and summer bloomers to encourage a second flush of blooms later in the summer and to avoid pruning back flower buds forming for next spring.
As many market gardeners remind us, also by the end of the month we can have prepared some of our garden space for the planting of our fall and winter crops like carrots, tasty greens and brassicas.
While summer maintenance and fall and winter planning are on the gardening agenda this month – so too should be some down time. Some slowed down time to just be in and with your garden – with the beauty and life that it creates, and that is nurtured by it. On slow warm summer afternoons, take some time to breathe deeply in this beauty and nurturing.
The summer calendar of gardening events has some wonderful offerings around the region to encourage us in our learning and enjoyment of the gardening we love. If you are interested in our regional events, be sure to check the On-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events at jewellgarden.com regularly – events are added throughout the month. I do my very best to keep the calendar up to date and accurate, please confirm all events with the event host. If you have an event you would like listed or if you are aware of a mistake on my calendar, please send all pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com! Thanks.
JULY
July 2 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Charlie Rabbit and Friends 11 am. Presented by John & Betty Fitzpatrick. An interactive program in the Children’s Garden (or Greenhouse in rain) for children, their siblings, parents and grandparents. Join Charlie, our adorable jack rabbit puppet, in various gardening activities. Wear your favorite gardening clothes! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery
July 3 – Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society – Field Trip: CARTER MEADOW LASSEN NATIONAL FOREST 8:30 am; Meet at the west lot of Chico Park & Ride, (Hwy CA 99/32) in time to leave by 8:30 am with lunch, water, hiking gear, sun/insect protection and money for ride-sharing. Call leader for alternate meeting. We will head up Hwy CA 32 to Elam Campground and turn off on the gravel for- est road to Carter Meadow and the trailhead to the PCT. It is only 1 1/2 easy miles to a spectacular view of the old caldera of Mt Yana with present day Butt Mt to our north, Lake Almanor to the east and Humboldt Peak to the south. On the return we follow Carter Creek through several smaller meadows until we come to the very large Carter Meadow. Leaders: Woody Elliott 530-342-6053, Wes Dempsey 530-342-2293
July 7 – Paradise: Saturen Studio Botanical Illustration Classes – Summer Session II begins 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm every Thursday for 4 weeks, July 7 – July 28. 10 yrs to Adult. Create scientific illustrations of exotic flowers, leafy foliage, tantalizing fruit, and seeds – even carnivorous species. Draw flora to scale, add texture, shadows, and balance as you transfer visual references to paper. Sharpen your drawing skills and pencils as you learn techniques that create 3-dimensional drawings that appear to pop out of the paper! Terry Ashe Recreation Center in Paradise, California Paradise Recreation and Park District (PRPD) Supplies list available at PRPD office. FEE: $30.00 INSTRUCTOR: Ben Saturen. More info please email: b.saturen@yahoo.com
July 9 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: WORKSHOP: Garden Photography Award-winning photographer Harvey Spector shares secrets of composition and light while you photograph the Gardens in bloom. Digital or film shutterbugs of all ages and skill levels will receive individualized instruction in this photography skills workshop. Participants provide their own cameras. Call 242-3108 to pre-register (required). Members $8, nonmembers $10More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery
July 9 – Whitmore: Tuscan Heights Lavender Gardens 6th Annual Lavender Garden Festival 10am – 5pm Tuscan Heights Lavender Gardens 12757 Fern Road EAST, Whitmore, CA 96096 (530) 472-3066. Come join us for our Sixth Annual Lavender Garden Festival in the Beautiful Shasta Cascade foothills of Whitmore, CA. TUSCAN HEIGHTS LAVENDER GARDENS LLC 2011 LAVENDER SEASON OPENS TO THE PUBLIC SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS JUNE 4TH THRU JULY 31ST 2011
July 9 – Davis: UC Davis Arboretum: Guided Tour: Arboretum All-Stars & Pollinator Plants 10 a.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Drive, UC Davis. Gardeners thinking about adding to their home landscapes can visit the new demonstration plantings at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery during a special tour on Saturday, July 9. The tour will focus on the best plants for our garden climate, including the Arboretum All-Stars—the Arboretum horticultural staff’s top recommended plants for sustainable Central Valley gardens, selected for their beauty, reliability, heat and drought tolerance—and plants that attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other native pollinators. The tour will meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, on Garrod Drive across from the School of Veterinary Medicine on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour, and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 55. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
July 9 – Corning: SLOW FOOD EVENT: 2nd Saturday at the Mill Lucero Olive Oil and Slow Food Shasta Cascade present “Meal at the Mill” 6:30 – 9:00pm Lucero Olive Oil’s Mill in Corning. 2120 Loleta Avenue. Come and experience a mouth watering appetizer buffet provided by local Orland eatery Farwood Bar and Grill. Products from Predrozo Cheeses, Skylake Ranch Pomegranate Products, and Lucero Olive Oil, will be featured in the delicious appetizer buffet. Appetizer Buffet is $15 pp and includes one adult beverage. These local producers will also be sampling and selling their products at the event for you to take home and rediscover. The event series is open to all guests and vendor sampling is FREE. Our featured winery will be Dakaro Cellars from Whitmore Ca. Advanced buffet ticket sales are available at Lucero Olive Oil’s retail store. Tickets also available at the door – please call to reserve your ticket. 530-824-2190 Lucero’s event series shares Slow Foods’ support for sustainable food from local producers.
July 14 – Redding: Shasta Chapter of California Native Plant Society: Field Trip to Kangaroo Lake Fen Trail 7:30 am meet at Back of City Hall. Join us for an all day fieldtrip to the Kangaroo Lake fen trail in the Klamath Mountains of Siskiyou County (west of Weed). This will be a joint fieldtrip with a group of about 18 botanists/naturalists from England, who will join us in Mt. Shasta on the way to the Lake. We should see wildflowers such as California pitcher plant, Scott Mountain phacelia, gentian and calochortus. We will leave Redding at 7:45 AM, from the back side of City Hall (Parkview Avenue side), 777 Cypress Avenue. Bring water, lunch and adequate hiking footwear. No dogs, please. Call Jay or Terri Thesken at (530) 221-0906 for details.
July 15 – FULL MOON
July 16 – Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society – Field Trip: FENS AT HELLGRAMMITE LAKE LAKES BASIN RECREATION AREA PLUMAS NATIONAL FOREST 8:00 am; Meet at the west lot of Chico Park & Ride, (Hwy CA 99/32) in time to leave by 8 am. Take lunch, sturdy shoes, wa- ter, sun/insect protection and money for ride sharing. Call leader for an alternate meeting. We will go from Chico on the Feather River Scenic Byway (Hwy CA 70) following the North and Middle Forks of the Feather River, 105 miles to the Mohawk Ranger Station where we meet our Forest Service guide. Lakes Basin is the gem of the Plumas National Forest with fifty crystal alpine lakes confined within five small glacial basins. We will visit one of the larger glaciated lake basins, hiking a gradual two miles to Hellgrammite Lake, 6900 ft, and visit nearby fens. A fen is like a bog but it supports a more diverse plant life and has floating edges or islands of matted vegetation. Expect to see a colorful flowering plants and shrubs in a forest setting. Individual Options – Stay overnight at one of the lodges, dinner before driving home at the Gold Lake Lodge or in Grayeagle. Leaders: Gerry Ingco 530- 893-5123, Wes Dempsey 530-342-2293.
July 16 – Davis: UC Davis Arboretum: Guided Tour: Plants of the Redwood Ecosystem 10 a.m., Wyatt Deck, Old Davis Road, UC Davis. Learn about California’s iconic redwoods during a free guided tour at the UC Davis Arboretum on Saturday, July 16. This walk will provide a brief introduction to the complex and fascinating ecosystem of the redwood forest and the most common plants found with the redwoods. The tour will meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Wyatt Deck, located on Old Davis Road just west of the redwood grove in the UC Davis Arboretum. There is no charge for the tour and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 5, at Old Davis Road and A Street. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
July 23 – Davis: UC Davis Arboretum: Guided Tour: Romance and Legend—Roses of the Storer Garden 10 a.m., Gazebo, Garrod Drive, UC Davis Arboretum. Enjoy a fun walk through the history of the rose on a guided tour of the roses of the UC Davis Arboretum’s Storer Garden on Saturday, July 23. The tour leader will discuss the history and geography of wild roses leading up to today’s cultivated varieties. The roses in the garden were chosen for their suitability for Central Valley conditions and don’t require chemical pesticides or fertilizers. The tour will meet at the Arboretum Gazebo, on Garrod Drive on the UC Davis campus, at 10:00 a.m. There is no charge for the tour, and free parking is available along Garrod Drive and in Visitor Lot 55. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
July 23 – Chico: The Plant Barn’s Annual Summer Soiree!! All day fun in the sun with your favorite (and costumed!) Flower Floozies. Music, refreshments, great plants and great company. Stop in for some fun. Saturday 10 am – 4 pm. The Plant Barn is located at 406 Entler Avenue. Entler Ave. is right off the Midway, in South Chico, on the way to Durham. For more information call: (530) 345-3121
July 24 – Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society – Field Trip: WILSON LAKE LASSEN NATIONAL FOREST 8:00 am; Meet at the west lot of Chico Park & Ride, (Hwy CA 99/32) in time to leave by 8 am. Take lunch, water, sturdy shoes, sun/insect protection and money for ride sharing. Call leader for an alternate meeting. We will drive 65 miles on Hwy CA 32 to CA 36 to the southern slopes of Las- sen Peak in Plumas County. We will then travel graveled county roads enjoying easy “hikettes” as our cars will take us to some lovely floral displays and interesting areas in and around Wilson Lake. Experience great views of the North Fork Feather River headwaters. Leaders: Emilie White 530-894-805, Gerry Ingco 530-893-5123.
July 28 – Chico: Chico State Herbarium: Workshop on Introduction to Native Bees as Pollinators by Rob Schlising & Robert Irwin 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 28 July 2011, in 129 Holt Hall (the University Herbarium) on the Chico State University Campus. For many people the word “bee” is synonymous with “honeybee.” Some people may also know about bumblebees, but there are MANY more kinds of bees in nature, and even within urban areas in northern California. Many people are simply missing out on perceiving these beautiful, interesting, and beneficial little insects! This workshop will showcase native bees for people who like nature, and for those who are involved in land management and conservation. The workshop will also promote inviting these pollinating insects to “work” and live in your own gardens. Presentations on the subject will range from basic and introductory to technical. No specific knowledge of bees is needed ahead of time, although a basic understanding of general insect morphology and some familiarity with dichotomous keys is expected. The registration fee is $100.00 personal and $125 business ($90.00, for members of Friends of the Herbarium). Register in advance, using the form on the next page. Class size is limited to 18 participants; class will be cancelled if there are not at least 10 registered participants. For information about workshop registration please contact the Biology Office at (530) 898? 5356 or jbraden@csuchico.edu. For more information about the workshop content contact the instructors. Rob Schlising, California State University, Chico (retired); rschlising@csuchico.edu; phone: (530) 343?3411 Robert Irwin, Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum; rirwin@water.ca.gov; phone: (530) 528?7401
July 30 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Walk With Lisa Endicott, Horticultural Manager 11 am. Bring your notebooks and camera! We’ll make our way through the Gardens with frequent stops for discussions about (what else?) plants! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery
July 31 – Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society – Field Trip: CASTLE LAKE TO HEART LAKE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS SHASTA-TRINITY NATIONAL FOREST 8:30 am; Meet at the west lot of Chico Park & Ride, (Hwy CA 99/32) in time to leave by 8:30 am. Phone leader for an alter- nate meeting. Take a lunch, water, sturdy shoes, sun/in- sect protection and money for ridesharing. Drive I-5 past Shasta Lake and rugged Castle Crags to the Mt Shasta exit, 95 miles, then southwest on paved county and forest roads to the Castle Lake trailhead. The moderate 2-mile round trip, trail skirts the eastern shore of Castle Lake, at 5436 ft. The trail climbs 600 feet in elevation through several wildflower habitats and subalpine hanging mead- ows. Heart Lake is perched in granite cliffs at 6000 ft. We will be greeted with a spectacular view of Mount Shasta across the valley. Leaders: Marjorie McNairn 530-343- 2397, Gerry Ingco 530-893-5123.
More of my environmental writing can be found in the Chico News & Review, and Pacific Horticulture
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In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California. It is made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum – Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell – all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here.
