Sorry - we seem to have had a little technical difficulty and my weekly article was not showing up properly since Friday the 18th. Here it is!

To see the late-spring woodland alight with dogwood is a sight to make most anyone happy. In the North State, the show of bloom unfolds over time slowly and steadily. It starts on the Valley floor in early spring - February through May - with cultivated garden plants. Steadily, the beauty of the flowering continues up the foothills and to the montane regions and reaches a crescendo of native trees lighting your way as your approach Mt. Shasta and the Trinitys in the north, or as you enter the Sierra to the south and east. Bright, star-like dogwood tree flowers illuminate newly re-greened deciduous forests or coniferous evergreen forests - they are heralds of the season and harbingers of warmth. Photo: Native to California foothill and mid-level mountain woodlands, the western dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) blooms near Nevada City into June.

Dogwood trees and shrubs comprise the genus Cornus in the plant family Cornaceae. There are more than 45 dogwood species which are native to North America and Eruasia. Dogwoods are primarily deciduous and highly valued by gardeners for their showy flowers (the most showy aspects of which are actually their bracts, not their petals), for their relatively small (15 - 25 feet at maturity) and graceful habits. After blooming, many dogwoods have attractive berries ranging from red to snow white and attractive foliage which can provide vibrant fall color. Many of the shrub dogwoods having striking brilliant red or yellow bark. Redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea and Cornus alba) and yellow-twig dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’) are among these, and they are planted for their jewel-toned winter interest. Photo: Native western dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) finishing its bloom near Forest Ranch in mid-May.

In the Dunsmuir area, the seasonal blooming of the woodland dogwood trees are cause for regional celebration, and one of the best places to both enjoy the woodland show and learn more is at the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens. Photo: Native to California foothill and mid-level mountain woodlands, the western dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) ”flowers” are actually most notable for their showy bracts. The flower is the more diminutive cluster at the center of the structure.

Candace Miller is Lead Horticulturalist at the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens in Dunsmuir. Candace spoke with In a North State Garden in October of 2010 about the gardens generally. This week she discusses the gardens’ wonderful collection of dogwoods – in bloom now! Photo: Candace Miller at the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens in Dunsmuir.

“We have 4 species of dogwood trees,” Candace shares: “C. nuttallii which is the native western dogwood, C. kousa, C. sericea, a shrub dogwood, and C. florida, which is the native eastern dogwood; 2 hybrids C. x ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’ and C. x ‘Venus’; and 1 groundcover variety: C. canadensis. There are many endemic native dogwoods in the gardens and about 17 other specimens of the varieties and hybrids throughout the gardens. The first non-native dogwoods were planted in the Gardens about 1995. I added the C. sericea and the hybrids in the last 2 years,” she finishes. Photo: Native to California foothill and mid-level mountain woodlands, the western dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) lights up North State spring woodlands.

“Dogwoods are appealing to me,” Candace writes, “because of their year-round interest: spring flowers, fruit, fall color and, in the case of C. sericea, beautiful red winter twigs. I hope visitors will enjoy learning more about dogwoods as they enjoy the Gardens’ setting during Dogwood Daze.” Photo: Bright fall color on dogwood foliage at the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens.

Tours of the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens’ dogwood collection- now in bloom - will be part of the upcoming Dunsmuir Dogwood Daze celebrations Saturday May 26, 2012. Botanical Gardens tours will be given every half hour from 1 to 3pm and led by Buck Lang. Photo: One of the several winter-interest redtwig dogwoods - this one Cornus alba siberica ‘Vinter’.

For more information on the Dogwood Daze festivities, please visit the Dunsmuir Chamber of Commerce website: http://dunsmuir.com/blog/2012/03/new-activities-2012-dogwood-daze/

Candace Miller is not only a horticulturalist but also a ceramic artist (you can see her creations throughout the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens). She will be hosting an open art studio as another part of the Dogwood Daze. For more information: www.cmillerart.com. Photo: A large pink flowering dogwood brightens and lightens a Valley housefront in April.

Dogwoods may very well still be blooming to light the night sky at the Botanical Gardens annual evening concert event, Tribute to the Trees, June 23rd. For tickets and more information call: 530-235-4740.

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To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com Photo: A variegated white-flowering dogwood bears bright foliage all summer.

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

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. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.

While I might rightfully be described as a gardener of many plants, master of none - I always enjoy a garden or gardener with a dedicated collection of some special plant or plant group. Photo: A mature bloom of Western trillium Trillium ovatum, which is often snow-white when first open and then ages to pink and purple.

I have recently enjoyed thoroughly several visits to the home garden of Mike Thiede in Paradise to witness the seasonal unfolding of his collection of specimen Trillium. Photo: The woodland entry to Mike Thiede’s Paradise garden. (more…)

This week In a North State Garden has the pleasure of interviewing Scott Huber, Education and Research Coordinator of the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves (BCCER) located near Forest Ranch. Scott talks to us about the reserve’s spring hike series, which really brings this large expanse of beautiful natural land to life for the public visitor. Many groups in the North State offer guided hikes in State and National Parks, Forest Service Land, Bureau of Land Management lands and more. There is a lot to be learned and enjoyed in the company of these groups with knowledgeable people leading the way. This week’s essay discusses the BCCER, and its spring hike series, as well as lists nature hikes/walks being offered by other groups of interest in the region. Some of the most consistent of these groups include the Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, the Mt. Lassen Chapter of the CNPS, the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club. With this much opportunity - you have no excuse - get out and take a hike! (more…)

“A little madness in the spring is wholesome even for the King!”

I like to think that when Emily Dickinson wrote these words, she included some heady joy in the word madness, and she included us all in the wholesome benefits. Spring makes many of us feel a bit kingly – a bit more expansive in our energies.

So much comes to life in the garden in April! Winter crops like bok choy and hardy lettuce are finishing, bolting, blooming and going to seed; spring crops are at their peak; summer crop-seedlings of peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and squashes are busting out of pots in greenhouses across the region - eager to get into the ground. Perennials like peonies, roses and herbal oregano and calamenthe are poking up and leafing out. Early blooming daffodils, witch hazel and red bud are turning over the stage to the next in line. Early seasonal farmers markets are opening: on Thursday April 5th the Chico Thursday Night Farmers Market returns, and on Saturday April 7th, the Redding Saturday Market opens for its season.

And in between rain, snow, wind and cloud cover which move swiftly across the landscape, warm pools of sunlight intermittently illuminate my bright spring blooms. In golden California poppy cups, on acid-yellow bok choy flowers, and Ceanothus the color of lapis lazuli, you can hear and see the positively kingly buzzing of our many pollinators – bees, butterflies, flies and more - at their work of collecting pollen and nectar. Their work is of course at the same time accomplishing work for both the flowers and plants and for us the gardeners who love and cultivate these plants for food and for beauty.

April is a good time in the garden for heading off the now-sprouting weed seeds in our borders, for saving or sowing seeds, for giving your trees and shrubs a feeding with a balanced slow-release fertilizer, for applying iron-supplements to acid loving plants that may look a little chlorotic (my gardenias and camellias like this boost!), and for preparing and amending soil in areas of the garden with compost. For heavy feeding beds, like vegetable beds or rose beds, I add manure-enriched compost. Because many of our native pollinators are ground nesters, I also try to leave areas of bare soil on the outskirts and native plant areas of my garden, these are generally less-watered areas of my garden, with plants that don’t want a lot of cover over their roots and around their crowns anyway.

Good things to direct seed into the garden this month include: beets, beans, leeks, lettuce (unless we get a heat wave), and radish, if you still have seed potatoes, get them in the ground! Once your area gets just past average last frost (mid-April in the Valley), you are fairly safe to sow corn, cucumbers, eggplant, pumpkins and squashes. Some interesting cut-flowers to direct seed outdoors this month include aster, celosia, cleome, cosmos, marigolds, salvia, scabiosa, sunflower and zinnia.

Some months the regional calendar of gardening events seems to have a theme of its own – that seasonal cycle of purpose. This month is buzzing with Pollinators and Pollination Passion!

The On-line Calendar of North State Gardening Events at jewellgarden.com adds events 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 the calendar, please send all pertinent information to: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com! Thanks!

March 30 - April 1 - Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society Field Trip together with Altacal Audubon: Pinnacles National Monument, San Benito County. Late March is a great time for wildflowers and nesting song birds at Pinnacles NM south of Hollister in San Benito County. Come together with wildflower and avian enthusiasts to soar with California condors after hiking the well groomed, 2 mile trail to the “High Peaks”. Then look west across the Salinas Valley toward the Ventana Range and elsewhere across the green, rolling ridges of the inner Coast Range. Shorter trails access upland habitat and through a jumble of boulders that create cool caves along a water course tumbling from an upper reservoir where water fowl are found. Nesting habitat for easy bird watching is abundant in the stream wash next to the campground on the east side of the Monument. Condors can be seen at dawn roosting in the conifers on the ridge above. The Monument’s large campground for tents and RVs (full hookups available) is a 5 hour drive from Chico down I-5 and via Hwy 152 over Pacheco Pass. Reservations for a group camp site or circle of camp sites will be made. Contact Woody at woodyelliott@gmail.com or 530 342-6053 to sign up. For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

March 31 - Forest Ranch: Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves, CSU, Chico Spring Hike Series: Outdoor Survival Skills 1 (moderate) Scott Grist Join Scott Grist for a day of learning ancient wilderness survival techniques as used by the Native Americans of this area. We will focus on the bow drill fire starting technique using natural materials found in the area. There will be a fire-making workshop where everyone can get their hands on the materials and take home their own bow drill kit. The workshop will be followed by a plant walk where we will learn the uses of some of our native edible and medicinal plants in the reserve. Scott received a degree in Geology from CSUC and has since been practicing wilderness survival in several different environments across the country. These hikes range in levels of difficulty from moderate to strenuous. Advanced signup is required via e-mail to bccer@csuchico.edu or by calling Leana at (830) 898-5010. Each hike will accommodate a limited amount of hikers so you are encouraged to sign up early.

March 31 - Chico: Friends of the Chico State Herbarium Workshop Emerging Botanical Field Methods: Using new technologies to identify, map, and explore wild diversity by Dan Gluesenkamp 9:30 am - 4 pm; Rm 129 Holt Hall, CSU, Chico. Learn how to use your iphone, android, tablet or GPS camera to precisely map plants. Find out how to report beautiful or important plant discoveries and explore plants from mountaintop, desktop or laptop. This workshop will introduce the use of all of the latest technology to be ready for your best spring wildflower season ever! This workshop will meet Saturday, March 31, 2012, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Holt Hall room 129 at CSU Chico. The registration fee is $100.00 personal, $125.00 business, $40.00 student (only 2 seats at this price), $90.00 for members of Friends of the Herbarium. Please register in advance; class size is limited to 25 participants (class cancelled without a minimum of 10 participants). For more information about workshop content please con- tact Dan Gluesenkamp at dan@calflora.org or 415-939-6681. For more in- formation about workshop registration please contact the Biology office at (530) 898-5356 or jbraden@csuchico.edu.

March 31 - Oroville: California Dept of Fish & Game WILDFLOWER TOURS OF North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve: 10 am and 1 pm each Saturday in March and April. Each 2 hour/2 mile tour is free, but limited to 25 attendees and attendees MUST pre-register on-line at www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region2/northtable.html. For more information: 916-358-2869.

March 31 - Vina Plains Preserve with the Nature Conservancy - Vernal Pool Tours: 10 am - Noon. Enjoy a 1 mile hike across some of our most beautiful and interesting scenery in Northern California. Tours will be led by California Native Plant Society botanists, knowledgeable in the plants and ecology of these rare treasures. Wear Boots for uneven and muddy terrain, bring binoculars, snack and water - no DOGS, To register or for more information: nature.org.

March 31 - Arcata: Humboldt Permaculture Guild’s 14 Annual Seed And Plant Exchange 11am - 4pm, admission is free. Arcata Community Center. Workshops, speakers, live music, food, raffle, seeds including Redwood Seeds, and starts. 321 Community Park Way, Arcata.

March 31 - Sacramento: Sacramento: Gardens Gone Native 10 am - 3pm 10am to 3pm Tickets: Free, attendance is limited & registration is required Contact: gardensgonenative@gmail.com, Attn: Tara For more information: (916) 374-8116 or cnpsgarden@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CaliforniaNativePlantGarden.

March 31 – 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

March 31 - Paradise: Mendons Nursery hosts Selby Apiaries Beekeeping Classes: 10am and 2 pm. Help save the honeybees! Pick up live beehives perfect for home gardens. For more information call Fred Selby: 530-566-4736.

APRIL

April 1 - Chico: The Plant Barn and Gifts Workshop “Designing with Succulents” 2 - 4 pm. Call for more information. 406 Entler Ave Chico, Ca 95928 530-345-3121/fax 530-345-5354 www.theplantbarn.com

April 1 - Chico: Breaking Bread, Breaking Ground - building a new Community Garden 4:30 - 8 pm. Help Us Build a New Community Garden Doors open at 4:30 — Dinner at 5ish Local gourmet meal, Silent Auction, No-Host Bar Music by Stevie Cook (4:30) and The Railflowers (6:00) Tickets are $25 each Table of eight is $200, and includes two bottles of wine Hosted by the Butte Environmental Council and Cultivating Communities Tickets available soon. ARC Pavilion 2020 Park Avenue Chico. For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/393182280698183/

April 2 - Chico: 2012 Chico Organic Gardening April Classes: Worm-Farming 101! Compost, Vermacompost, and Worms! 6:30-8:30 $10.00 at the door. Join us for an informational evening with Mark Purser of THE WORM FARM and learn how to transform kitchen food waste into the best compost money can buy through WORMS! Mark will teach us how to house, feed and put worms to use to produce year-round soil enhancing nutrients for your garden and plants. A method so easy and efficient you can even keep your worm bin in the house! In “Worms Eat My Garbage” by Mary Appelhof, 1lb of redworms will eat 1/2lbs of garbage per day easily transforming daily waste into rich fertilizer, saving energy, reducing waste disposal cost and saving you money because you will have your own supply of compost. Mark is a great speaker, passionate about the topic of worms, vermacomposting and compost in general and will help you launch the system that’s right for you in order to enhance the productivity of your garden or farm and save you money and energy as well. If you’ve wanted a compost system but didn’t want to strain your back or give it much thought, Mark will teach you how to start with worms. As one Chico worm enthusiast says, “My worm bin not only eats my garbage daily but I always have worms to fish with, feed my chickens for extra protein and jump-start my clippings and leaves pile. Plus, I don’t have to turn my worm bin and strain my back!” Monday April 2, Matthews Café, 1600 Mangrove.

April 4 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW presents: “Keeping Company with Flowers: a glimpse into the world of pollinators”, by John Whittlesey, plantsman and owner of Canyon Creek Nursery & Design 7:30 pm CARD Center in Chico. Gateway’s Museum Without Walls Spring 2012 Lecture series is titled: Butterflies, Bees & Bats! Native Pollinators of Northern California. The series runs every Wednesday from April 4th to May 2, 2012. Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. Question and answer period will follow each program.

April 4 - Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society Regular Monthly meeting and Program: Exploring the Outback at Kangaroo Lake, presented by Marjorie McNairn 7:30 pm Butte County Library, Chico. In the Klamath National Forest, Kangaroo Lake Botanical Area is located along the spine of the Scott Mountain Range in the southeastern edge of the Scott River Ranger District. It is the most easily accessible of several adjacent Botanical Areas noted for high elevation ultramafic soils and home to many rare and sensitive plant species. The Fen Trail is representative of this unique environment and the plants that inhabit it. For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

April 6 - FULL MOON

April 7 - Redding: Roses & Rust Vintage Home and Garden Market 8 am - 5 pm Redding Civic Auditorium from 8 am to 5 pm. The entrance fee is $5.00, with children under 16 free. The Market is presented by 4 creative ladies, which include Bonnie Burhart as the director, Lynni Miller, Zizi Ukestad and Kimberly Snowden. Awarded the honor of being one of the Top 10 Romantic Flea Markets in the Nation by Romantic Homes Magazine in August 2011, we are even more inspired to create an event that showcases businesses and provides beauty and inspiration to all who attend.What you will find is fabulous treasures for your home and garden from French Chic to Rustic Farm Chic, Up-cycled, Salvaged and Re-Purposed goods, plus hand-crafted jewelry, food, music, and more! Visit our blog at www.RosesandRust.blogspot.com and our Facebook page: Roses AndRust http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002674864446&sk=wallwww.RosesandRustVintageMarket.blogspot.com

April 7 - Oroville: Oroville Wildflower Festival hosts Selby Apiaries Beekeeping Classes: 10am and 2 pm. Help save the honeybees! Pick up live beehives perfect for home gardens. For more information call Fred Selby: 530-566-4736.

April 7 - Oroville: California Dept of Fish & Game WILDFLOWER TOURS OF North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve: 10 am and 1 pm each Saturday in March and April. Each 2 hour/2 mile tour is free, but limited to 25 attendees and attendees MUST pre-register on-line at www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region2/northtable.html. For more information: 916-358-2869.

April 7 - Davis: UC Davis Arboretum Guided Tour: Plant Sale Preview2 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Drive, UC Davis; Gardeners thinking about adding new plants to their home landscapes can visit the demonstration plantings at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery during a special tour on Saturday, April 7. The tour will focus on the best plants for our garden climate, including the Arboretum All-Stars, plants selected by the Arboretum’s horticultural staff for their beauty, reliability, heat and drought tolerance, and value in attracting butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators. There will be time for questions and answers about participants’ own gardens and any special problems they might have. No plants will be for sale during the guided tour, but visitors will get a special preview of the plants that will be for sale at the Arboretum’s spring plant sales on April 14 and May 19. The tour will meet at 2:00 p.m. at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, on Garrod Drive across from the School of Veterinary Medicine on the UC Davis campus. Free parking is available along Garrod Drive and in Visitor Lots 50 and 55. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

April 7 - Redding: Wyntour Gardens Kids Easter Basket Planting 10 am - noon. Kids get to plant a basket of pansies. Free. 8026 Airport Road, Redding CA. More info: 530-365-2256/wyntourgardens.com

April 8 - Forest Ranch: Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves, CSU, Chico Spring Hike Series: Flower Identification Hike (moderate) Robert Fischer This hike is meant for the wildflower enthusiast of any skill level. Our goal is to learn a few new foothill plants, take photos, share any knowledge we have on the characteristics that separate our local species, and learn their common or Latin names. We will develop a sharper eye for plants, large and small, and a few of the details that separate them from each other. For further details, such as the on-site meeting spot, call Robert Fischer 343-3620 or write to rdfischer@comcast.net. Bring your favorite identification book and a hand lens if you have one. These hikes range in levels of difficulty from moderate to strenuous. Advanced signup is required via e-mail to bccer@csuchico.edu or by calling Leana at (830) 898-5010. Each hike will accommodate a limited amount of hikers so you are encouraged to sign up early.

April 9 - Chico: 2012 Chico Organic Gardening April Classes: Canning, Drying, Freezing & Putting Up. Now that you’ve grown it What To Do With It? with Mary Berglund 6:30-8:30 $10.00 at the door. Mary Berglund will show us how to preserve our garden food. After raising her family on fresh fruits and vegetables from her backyard Chico garden, Mary is the master of “Putting Food By” and will impart her knowledge in this informative, practical workshop. Simplicity, variety and a bit of daily diligence is the key to fitting it all into a busy life and Mary specializes in growing it and getting it to the table all year ‘round. Her genius is in her own technique of blending the elegant and beautiful with presentable home-grown product. Tonight we will hear all about it and be able to pick Mary’s brain! A Not-To-Be-Missed Class, this is the one I get the most requests for and the beginning of the season is the perfect time to plan for what to do with all that bounty….from Asparagus to Zucchini! Mon April 9, Matthews Café, 1600 Mangrove, 6:30-8:30 $10.00 at the door.

April 9 - Paradise: Paradise Garden Club Monthly Member Meeting and Program 1 pm. Terry Ashe Rec Center Paradise. For more info: http://paradisegardenclub.org/

April 11 - Magalia: Magalia Beautification Association Regular Monthly Meeting & program: The MBA meets on the second Wednesday of the month at the POA Racine Center in Magalia (map); 12:30 for lunch, 1:00-3:00 for business. Please join us! The sole qualification is an interest in gardening, horticulture, civic art, and/or beautification in Magalia. For more info: http://magaliagardeners.webs.com/aboutus.htm

April 11 - Davis: UC Davis Arboretum Walk With Warren Noon. 12 p.m., Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, Old Davis Road, UC Davis; Join Arboretum Superintendent Emeritus Warren Roberts for a lunchtime stroll in the UC Davis Arboretum’s native plant collections on Wednesday, April 11. Enjoy the early spring weather, learn about the Arboretum’s collections, see spring wildflowers in bloom, and get a little exercise. Meet at noon at the Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, located on Old Davis Road at Mrak Hall Drive, across from the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour. Parking is available for $7 in Visitor Lots 1 and 2 and the Mondavi Center parking structure. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

April 11 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW presents: “Nectar and Pollen in Northstate Wildflowers: Food for a Diversity of Native Pollinators”, by Dr. Rob Schlising, professor emeritus of Biological Sciences, CSU, Chico 7:30 pm CARD Center in Chico. Gateway’s Museum Without Walls Spring 2012 Lecture series is titled: Butterflies, Bees & Bats! Native Pollinators of Northern California. The series runs every Wednesday from April 4th to May 2, 2012. Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. Question and answer period will follow each program.

April 12 - Oroville: Lake Oroville Area Garden Club Regular Monthly member meeting Meetings are held September-June on the 2nd Thursday of the month. “Coffee, Cake and Conversation” from 9:30 to 10:00am with the General Meeting beginning at 10:00am. Meetings are generally adjourned around 11:30am although this may vary depending upon that month’s scheduled program. Meeting location is Trinity Presbyterian Fellowship Hall at 2350 Foothill Blvd, Oroville, CA (North of Olive Highway on Foothill Blvd.). We invite guests to attend +++ your first meeting is FREE. For More Info: http://www.loagardenclub.com/

April 13 & 14 - Redding: McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens 20th Annual Spring Plant Sale! Friday, 5:00-8:00pm, Turtle Bay Members Night Event (Memberships available at the gate) Saturday, 9:00am-2:00pm, General Public Sale! Our ever-popular, heirloom vegetables are a main feature of the spring plant sale - and they sell out fast! In addition, we have available an enormous stock of unusual, drought-tolerant, and hard-to-find perennials, shrubs, and trees, as well as California native plants and a wide variety of sought after ornamental grasses, all grown here in our Nursery and acclimated to Redding’s vigorous climatic conditions. Sale includes a discount for the public, and an even greater (than the everyday 20% off) discount for Turtle Bay members. FREE admission into the Gardens. Arboretum & Gardens Nursery 1100 Arboretum Drive (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery) Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Nursery on immediate left.

April 14 - Forest Ranch: Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves, CSU, Chico Spring Hike Series: Wildflowers, Geology, and Natural History (strenuous) Dr. Paul Maslin Dr. Maslin has spent the last twelve years learning, understanding, preserving and restoring the 4,000 acre Reserve and has an intimate familiarity with it’s natural history. Join him for an insightful exploration of the property. This hike is several miles on trails but over some rough terrain. Hikers should be in good physical condition. These hikes range in levels of difficulty from moderate to strenuous. Advanced signup is required via e-mail to bccer@csuchico.edu or by calling Leana at (830) 898-5010. Each hike will accommodate a limited amount of hikers so you are encouraged to sign up early.

April 14 - Redding: Shasta Chapter California Native Plant Society Field Trip: Yana Trail area of the Sacramento River Bend Recreation Join Jay & Terri Thesken for an 8- to 9-mile hike to the Yana Trail area of the Sacramento River Bend Recreation Area north of Red Bluff. The bluffs adjacent to the Sacramento River are typically covered with wildflowers at this time of year. This will be a long, all-day hike that requires good hiking boots, water, and lunch. No dogs, please. Space will be limited, so call Jay & Terri at 221-0906 for time, directions, and further information. For more info: http://www.shastacnps.org/calendar.html

April 14 - Davis: UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sale: 3Bs—Birds, Bees, and Beneficials 9 a.m.–1 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Drive, UC Davis; Central Valley gardeners can enhance their gardens with beautiful spring plants from the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale on Saturday, April 14, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. The sale will feature hundreds of different kinds of plants, most of which have been grown in Davis and will thrive in Central Valley conditions, including newly-introduced and unusual garden plants that are hard to find or not available in commercial nurseries. This sale has a special focus on plants that attract and support pollinators in the home landscape. Many of the Arboretum All-Stars, the Arboretum’s top recommended plants for Central Valley gardens, will be for sale. Experienced gardeners will be on hand to advise on the best plants for shoppers’ garden conditions. At the Plant Doctor booth, plant pathology graduate students will diagnose plant pests and diseases—shoppers can bring samples of problem plants in a sealed plastic bag for advice. Anyone can join the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum at the door and receive a 10% discount on purchases. New members get a coupon worth $10 off their purchases in addition to the 10% member discount. The Arboretum Teaching Nursery is located on Garrod Drive across from the School of Veterinary Medicine on the UC Davis campus. Free parking is available along Garrod Drive and in Visitor Lots 50 and 55. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

April 14 - Oroville: California Dept of Fish & Game WILDFLOWER TOURS OF North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve: 10 am and 1 pm each Saturday in March and April. Each 2 hour/2 mile tour is free, but limited to 25 attendees and attendees MUST pre-register on-line at www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region2/northtable.html. For more information: 916-358-2869.

April 14 - Vina Plains Preserve with the Nature Conservancy - Vernal Pool Tours: 10 am - Noon. Enjoy a 1 mile hike across some of our most beautiful and interesting scenery in Northern California. Tours will be led by California Native Plant Society botanists, knowledgeable in the plants and ecology of these rare treasures. Wear Boots for uneven and muddy terrain, bring snack, binoculars and water - no DOGS, To register or for more information: nature.org.

April 14 - Redding: Shasta Community Teaching Garden Workshop “Non-Toxic Insect Management”, presented by Jim Collins 1 - 3 pm. Shasta College Main Campus. Insect problems are generally an indicator that the gardener needs to correct something out of balance. Pesticides further degrade this balance leading to more and worse problems and sending the gardener backwards in her efforts to grow nutritious food, like the children’s game chutes and ladders. Garden Manager Jim Collins will be discussing new developments in ecoagriculture and sustainable practices, as well as time-honored methods of managing problem insect populations while simultaneously encouraging pollinators and other beneficials— nearly impossible if you use pesticides. There will be ample time for questions and specific problem-solving. Presenters: Jim Collins Fee: $15.00. For more info or to Register on-line at www.shastacollege.edu/EWD and click on Pathways. Or, call: 530.242.7630

April 14 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum Sustainability Gardens Workshop: Full of Beans: A Legume Extravaganza 2 - 4pm. Gateway Science Museum outdoor amphitheater. Join Kalan Redwood of Redwood Seeds and GRUB for this hands on workshop all about dry beans, including a hands-on bean art activity. Beans offer a valuable source of protein and nutrition in a small homestead or urban garden. Learn the ins and outs of planting, seed saving, harvesting, and cooking. Part of the class will include a “taste testing” event with many varieties of dry beans, including Tiger Eye and Orca, cooked up for eager taste buds. If you grew dry beans this year and want to include your beans in the Taste Test contact Kalan Redood at info@redwoodseeds.net. This workshop is FREE, but does not include admission to the museum. Please note, if you wish to visit the Gateway Science Museum, general admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children over the age of 3, and free for children under the age of 3. For more info: www.gatewayscience.org

April 14 - Redding: Wyntour Gardens 20th Anniversary Celebration 10 am - noon. Fun-filled day of classes, workshops, specials! 8026 Airport Road, Redding CA. More info: 530-365-2256/wyntourgardens.com

April 15 - 22 - California Native Plant Week!

April 15 - Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society Field Trip: NOMLAKI TRAIL MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST Meet at Chico Park & Ride west parking lot (Hwy 99/32) at 9 am. The hike area is located about 27 miles northwest of Corning, CA. We will walk downhill through the regrowth of an old burn area in chaparral, and expect to see Indian warrior, late fawn lilies, wooly sunflower, Ithurial’s spear, and various shrubs. Bring lunch, water, sun protection, and hiking shoes for a 4-mile round-trip walk. Bring money for ride sharing. Call for secondary meeting place. Leader: Marjorie McNairn 530-343-2397 For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

April 15 - Redding: Shasta Community Teaching Garden Workshop “Permaculture: Re-Thinking the Way We Use Our Yards”, presented by Stephanie Ladwig-Cooper 1 - 3 pm. Shasta College Main Campus. Permaculture is the practice of working with, rather than working against nature. Stephanie Ladwig-Cooper will introduce you to permaculture philosophy, ethics, principles and goals, and teach you the basics of designing an ecological landscape. Stephanie is a certified Permaculture Landscape Designer, co-owner with her husband of Gaia Creations in Chico, providing landscape design services in Butte County and the Northern California region. Presenters: Stephanie Ladwig-Cooper Fee: $15.00. For more info or to Register on-line at www.shastacollege.edu/EWD and click on Pathways. Or, call: 530.242.7630

April 16 - Chico: Chaffin Family Farms and Weston A. Price Foundation present famed-family-farmer Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms 5:15 pm doors open Neighborhood Church of Chico. Ticket Price: $12 per ticket paid online. Joel’s newest book, “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” speaks to consumers about how far we’ve gotten away from common sense and what really works in the natural world. It talks about the trade-offs we’ve made for the conveniences of our modern society. So while I think Joel will spend a brief amount of time recapping his farm and all the amazing work he does, this year his lecture will be completely different and dive to a whole new level of depth surrounding food, farming, and culture. I saw part of his new lecture recently and I have to admit it’s funnier than ever. If you know Joel, than you know you get lots of humor mixed into his sobering message. I think you’ll leave not only educated but also inspired to create change and support our local community in new ways. Chico Neighborhood Church 2801 Notre Dame Boulevard, Chico, CA For tickets go to http://salatinchico.eventbrite.com/

April 18 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW presents: “Bees and Flowers, the Love Affair Continues”, by Dr. Gordon Frankie, professor and research entomologist in the Division of Insect Biology, College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley 7:30 pm CARD Center in Chico. Gateway’s Museum Without Walls Spring 2012 Lecture series is titled: Butterflies, Bees & Bats! Native Pollinators of Northern California. The series runs every Wednesday from April 4th to May 2, 2012. Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. Question and answer period will follow each program.

April 18 - Redding: Shasta Rose Society Regular Member Meeting and Program with Carole Schmitz, Consulting Rosarian, with a program on Propagating Roses from Cuttings. 7 pm. City of Redding Corporation Way, 2055 Viking Way, Building 4, room 401. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. www.shastarosesociety.org

April 19 - Redding: Shasta Chapter California Native Plant Society Regular Member Meeting and Program 7 PM at the Shasta College Health Science & University Programs building in downtown Redding, 1400 Market Street, Community Room 8220 (clock tower building at the north end of the Market Street Promenade; enter on south side of building). A Board meeting will be held before the regular meeting, at 5:30 PM at Angelo’s Pizza Parlour in the Foundry Square, 1774 California Street, Redding.

April 19 - 21- Redding: Shasta College Spring Plant Sale This 3-day spectacular spring plant sale will be held at the greenhouse/horticulture area of Shasta College. We will be selling our spring-blooming native plants, so call Jay & Terri Thesken at 221-0906 to volunteer for a few hours to help out. Set-up is on Wednesday, April 18, from 4 PM to 6 PM. The plant sale is 8 AM to 5 PM on Thursday and Friday, and 9 AM to 4 PM on Saturday. For more info: http://www.shastacnps.org/calendar.html

April 20 & 21 - Oroville: Butte College Campus Nursery annual spring plant sale Friday Apr 20 from 9am - 5pm and Sat Apr 21 from 9am - 3pm. There is an early bird special from 9 am - 10 am on both days, plus 30% off all plant material and 50% off of selected items. We will have lots of veggies along with plants and trees. Butte College Campus off of the number 4 parking lot (follow the signs). For more info: Allison Burns: msaliburns@yahoo.com

April 21 - Chico: Landforms, Soils, and Vegetation of Upper Bidwell Park, led by Andrew Conlin, NRCS soil scientist stationed at the Chico Cooperative Soil Survey Office 9 am - 1 pm. Meet at parking area B (second parking area on your left) in Upper Bidwell Park at 9 am for this 2 - 4 hour stroll through soil and time. The best way to understand why things live and grow where they do is to understand the soils and landforms beneath them. Andrew Conlin has spent the last 20 years conducting soil surveys of areas including Butte County and Lassen Volcanic National Park and has created the soil map covering Butte County. Join us to gain a ‘deeper’ understanding of how what you see relates to what’s beneath your feet, and the intricate association between soil, vegetation and wildlife and human history. Walking tour - please wear sturdy walking shoes and appropriate clothing. For more information: www.gatewayscience.org

April 21 - Chico: The Plant Barn Nursery & Gifts hosts Selby Apiaries Beekeeping Classes: 10am and 2 pm. Help save the honeybees! Pick up live beehives perfect for home gardens. For more information call Fred Selby: 530-566-4736.

April 21 - Oroville: California Dept of Fish & Game WILDFLOWER TOURS OF North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve: 10 am and 1 pm each Saturday in March and April. Each 2 hour/2 mile tour is free, but limited to 25 attendees and attendees MUST pre-register on-line at www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region2/northtable.html. For more information: 916-358-2869.

April 21 - Redding: McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens Vegetable Gardening Class 10 am - 12 noon. Join local organic gardener Cleo Lane for a lively discussion of vegetable gardening in our climate with a focus on: seasonal planting, growing more tomatoes, gardening with children, pollinators, pests and diseases, and organic gardening methods. FREE for Members, $3 for Nonmembers. Meet at the Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office (1135 Arboretum Drive next to Nursery Greenhouse)

April 21 - Sacramento: Historic City Cemetery OPEN DAY in the Gardens 9:30 am - 2 pm. Come enjoy spring in the California Native Plant Demonstration Garden, The Rose Garden and the Perennial Garden. The Old City Cemetery Committee, Inc. provides unique events for people of all ages. FREE - Donations are always appreciated.Parking within the cemetery is very limited. Please park across the street at the Sacramento Works building and enter the Cemetery at the main gate on 10th Street and Broadway.

April 21 - Chico: Chico Creek Nature Center “Celebrate the Jewel!” Earth Day festivities celebrating all things Bidwell Park. MOUNT LASSEN CHAPTER OF CNPS SPRING PLANT SALE!! 11 am - 3 pm. More details at http://www.bidwellpark.org/page/calendar/events.php?mo=4&yr=2012

April 21 - Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society RARE PLANT TREASURE HUNT: PULGA TO MAYARO, FEATHER RIVER Meet at Chico Park & Ride west parking lot (Hwy 99/32) at 9 am, with lunch, water, and walking gear. Thomes Creek Ecological Reserve northeast of Corning: looking for dwarf downinga, Ahart’s nailwort, Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop, and Henderson’s bent grass. For details and to sign up, email: rareplantschair@mountlassen.cnps.org For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

April 21 & 22 - Chico: Leo T. Clark annual Iris Show and Plant Sale! April 21-22, 2012; Place: Chico Mall, 1950 East 20th Street, Chico, CA Show Chair: Claudia Owen, 837 Miller Ave., Chico, CA 95928; Phone: 530-899-7784

April 22 - EARTH DAY

April 22 - Forest Ranch: Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves, CSU, Chico Spring Hike Series: Spring Bird I.D. (moderate) Dawn Garcia 8:30 am-12:30 pm. Join master bird banding expert and Altacal Audubon Society’s Conservation Chair Dawn Garcia on a bird identification walk through the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve. Expect to see early arriving migrants like black-headed grosbeak, warbling vireo, Bullock’s oriole and yellow warbler. We’ll meet at the Chico Park-n-Ride (east lot) at 8:30 am and have you back to your vehicle at 12:30 (app.) These hikes range in levels of difficulty from moderate to strenuous. Advanced signup is required via e-mail to bccer@csuchico.edu or by calling Leana at (830) 898-5010. Each hike will accommodate a limited amount of hikers so you are encouraged to sign up early.

April 22 - Redding: Shasta Chapter California Native Plant Society Plant Propagation/Clean-up Session Two-hour work session starting at 10 AM at the Shasta College greenhouses. The greenhouses are located at the back of Shasta College, near the livestock barns. We will be sprucing up, weeding, and potting up nursery starts and rooted cuttings. Bring rooted plants, clippers, and any other tools you might need. Please call Susan Libonati at 347-4654 or Jay & Terri Thesken at 221-0906 for further information. For more info: http://www.shastacnps.org/calendar.html

April 23 - Colusa: Garden Club of Colusa County Regular Monthly Meeting & Program 6:30 pm. We meet on the fourth Monday of the month at 6:30 pm at St. Stephen’s Church, 642 Webster St. in Colusa. We have a short social time with refreshments followed by a short business meeting and a program. For more info: http://colusa-garden-club.webs.com/

April 24 - Northstate Public Radio: In a North State Garden One-Hour, Live, Spring-Special Call-In: The North State Food Shed: an Overview Panel Discussion with Earl Bloor of Edible Shasta Butte, Noelle Ferdon of Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Wayne Kessler of Shasta Community Teaching Garden and Chris Kerston of Chaffin Family Farm. Join us! 10 - 11 am on fm 91.7 in Chico, or fm 88.9 in Redding. For additional translators or to stream-live go to www.kcho.org, or www.kfpr.org.

April 24 - Chico: 2012 Chico Organic Gardening April Classes: TUESDAY All Things Tomatoes Class & SALE! Growing Heirlooms, Best Varieties for Our Area, and Secrets to Growing Mouth Watering Tomatoes AND Plant Sale! with Nancy and Brian of Sawmill Creek Farms 6:30-8:30 $10.00 at the door. Nancy and Brian of Sawmill Creek Farms sell some of the most diverse tomato plants obtainable and they are Passionate about growing tomatoes. Want to know what heirlooms are, which ones do well here and how to grow them? Want to know determinant vs. indeterminant and which is best for you? Get ready to not only hear all the tricks of the tomato-growing-trade but also bring home beautiful, robust, hardy, ready-to-plant tomato starts and know exactly what you’re getting and how to grow them. Even a novice or seasoned tomato grower will love the Passion and knowledge these farmers have for their tomatoes! Save the Date-Plan to Get Your Tomato Starts Here-It’s Worth the Wait! Tues. April 24, Matthews Café, 1600 Mangrove, 6:30-8:30 $10.00 at the door.

April 24 - Chico: Butte Rose Society Regular Monthly Meeting and Program 7 pm. General meetings of the Butte Rose Society are held on the last Tuesday of the month January-May and August-November. Meetings begin at 7 pm and are held at the Chico Veterans Memorial Hall at 554 Rio Lindo Ave. Membership is open to all interested in roses, but anyone may attend the General Meetings. Membership is $20.00 per year and provides you with the monthly award winning newsletter and special invitations to members-only events held throughout the year. CONTACT US AT: Butte Rose Society, PO Box 8888, Chico, CA 95927. http://www.butte-rosesociety.org/

April 25 - Chico: Chico Horticultural Society regular member meeting and Program on Gardening for Pollinators with Statewide Coordinator of the Master Gardener Program, Pam Geisel 9:30 am gather, 10 am program. Butte County Library, Chico. PUBLIC WELCOME. For more info email jennifer@jewellgarden.com

April 25 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW presents: “Bats of Northern California”, by Mary Jean “Corky” Quirk, founder of NorCal Bats 7:30 pm CARD Center in Chico. Gateway’s Museum Without Walls Spring 2012 Lecture series is titled: Butterflies, Bees & Bats! Native Pollinators of Northern California. The series runs every Wednesday from April 4th to May 2, 2012. Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. Question and answer period will follow each program.

April 27 - Oroville: Friends of the Chico State Herbarium Workshop “Reproductive Biology of Table Mountain Wildflowers” with Dr. Rob Schlising and Dr. Adrienne Edwards 9:30 am to 4 pm. This workshop will meet in the field, on Friday, 27 April 2012, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Table Mountain, approximately 5 miles north of Oroville. Gain intimate knowledge of the plant- and pollinator-strategies for survival on the Lovejoy basalt! Enjoy a day really getting to know the wildflowers on world-famous North Table Mountain, near Oroville, California. This workshop will include a long walking tour to examine and determine distinguishing features of Table Mountain flowers and fruits in this wildflower meadow. Attention will focus on at least four aspects of plant biology: 1) pollination, 2) life form and phenology, 3) propagule dispersal, and 4) seed and seedling biology. The registration fee is $100.00 personal, $125.00 business ($90.00 for members of Friends of the Herbarium), $40.00 student (only 2 participants allowed at this price). Registration must be completed by Wednesday 25 April; class size is limited to 16 partic- ipants (class cancelled without a minimum of 10 participants). For more information about workshop content please contact either instructor at aledwards@csuchico.edu or rschlising@csuchico.edu. For more information about workshop registration contact the Biology office at jbraden@csuchico.edu or (530) 898-5356. Registered participants will be emailed a map of the meeting site on 25 April.

April 28 - Davis:UC Davis ArboretumYour Sustainable Backyard: Pollinator Gardening 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m., room 1001 Giedt Hall, UC Davis; Fee: $45, includes coffee/scones and boxed lunch. Learn how to support pollinators and enhance the environmental potential of your home landscape during a special workshop on Your Sustainable Backyard: Pollinator Gardening. Sponsored by the California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis, the workshop is designed to inspire gardeners and show them how simple gardening practices can support healthy populations of pollinating insects. Following talks by entomologists, horticulturalists, and garden design experts, participants will have the opportunity to tour the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven Garden and talk to bee habitat experts. Then visit the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery to tour the pollinator plantings and enjoy a special pollinator plant sale. The workshop will take place on Saturday, April 28, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., in room 1001 Giedt Hall at UC Davis. The fee is $45 and includes parking, morning coffee, tea and scones, and a gourmet boxed lunch. For more information or to register, visit ccuh.ucdavis.edu or contact Missy Gable at 530-752-6642 or mjborel@ucdavis.edu.

April 28 - Forest Ranch: Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves, CSU, Chico Spring Hike Series: Identifying Spring Bird Song (moderate) Scott Huber 7:00 am – 12:30 pm. Learning to identify bird song will increase your ability to detect the presence of many bird species and greatly enhance your enjoyment of time spent in the outdoors. Scott Huber has led numerous workshops and field trips on western bird song identification, and in addition to pointing out songs, calls and the species they belong to, he will share tips and clues to audio identification. Bring your binoculars – you’ll want to match the visual field marks of the birds you see to their songs! Meet at the Chico Park-n-Ride (east lot) at 7:00 am and be back to your vehicle at around 12:30. These hikes range in levels of difficulty from moderate to strenuous. Advanced signup is required via e-mail to bccer@csuchico.edu or by calling Leana at (830) 898-5010. Each hike will accommodate a limited amount of hikers so you are encouraged to sign up early.

April 28 - Oroville: California Dept of Fish & Game WILDFLOWER TOURS OF North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve: 10 am and 1 pm each Saturday in March and April. Each 2 hour/2 mile tour is free, but limited to 25 attendees and attendees MUST pre-register on-line at www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region2/northtable.html. For more information: 916-358-2869.

April 28 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Whole Earth Day and Watershed Festival 2012 Whole Earth Day and Watershed Festival Saturday, April 28, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Celebrate Earth Day at Redding City Hall Visit Turtle Bay’s Forestry Learning Center to learn about the important role forests play in our world. The purpose of this event is to increase the awareness of the fragile state of our planet and share information about how individuals and our communities can work together to help the Earth thrive. By bringing together numerous organizations, businesses, and individuals in celebration of Earth Day, we hope to inspire commitment to live more sustainably, build community, and have fun! Visit www.wholeearthandwatershedfestival.org for more information. Free community event! Redding City Hall Community Room and Sculpture Park

April 29 - Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society Field Trip: PULGA TO MAYARO, FEATHER RIVERMeet at Chico Park & Ride west parking lot (Hwy 99/32) at 9 am, with lunch, water, and walking gear for a drive along the PG&E power line road above the Feather River with several stops to look at Fritillaria, snowdrop bush, bleeding heart, and many others. The road is rough and mostly 1-lane. At Pulga we start in the serpentine and higher up we run into granite and quite a different plant community. The road is gated above Mayaro but we will hike along it for a short distance. A gorgeous waterfall at Camp Creek is near the lunch stop. Call for directions to alternate meeting place. Leaders: Wes Dempsey, 530-342-2293 and Gerry Ingco, 530-893-5123. For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

April 29 - Davis:UC Davis ArboretumArboretum Nature Discovery Drop-in 1–3 p.m., Wyatt Deck, Old Davis Road, UC Davis; Got nature? Naturalists of all ages are invited to visit the UC Davis Arboretum for a special chance to explore, observe, investigate, and enjoy hands-on activities. Who knows what plant and animal treasures you’ll discover when you drop by! All ages welcome. The Nature Discovery Drop-in will take place on Sunday, April 29, 1–3 p.m., at the Wyatt Deck, located on Old Davis Road next to the redwood grove in the UC Davis Arboretum. 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.

April 29 - Redding: Shasta Chapter California Native Plant Society Field Trip: Davis Gulch Trail The Davis Gulch Trail is a fairly easy 3.5-mile walk at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, but does have some rough terrain, so some agility is required. The trail starts out under a canopy of canyon live oak and black oak with an understory of snowdrop bush; transitions to bigleaf maple and white alder in a canyon with sword fern, chain fern, bracken fern, and maidenhair fern; climbs through chaparral and a thick grove of Brewer’s oak; and ends in a grove of ponderosa pine. Participants will receive a copy of our ever-increasing plant list for this trail. Meet at Redding City Hall’s south parking lot on Parkview Avenue at 9:30 AM, or at the trailhead at 10 AM. Parking permits are required at the recreation area. No dogs, please. For more information, call David Ledger at 355-8542. For more info: http://www.shastacnps.org/calendar.html

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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. Weekly essays can also be found at ANewsCafe.com.

In this day and age of budget and labor cuts in all areas of society: private, city, state, federal, non-profit and corporate, volunteers are often the stopgap measures between families and organizations grinding to a dismal halt or continuing on. Volunteerism can work well or it can work not-so-well depending on myriad circumstances and variables. When volunteerism works well, it’s a thing of beauty, bringing benefit to the volunteers themselves, the organization for which they are volunteering and to the greater community in which they live.

Successful volunteerism and the betterment of our community - as well as one of our region’s well-known plant communities - are just a few of the rewards of an almost-4-year partnership between the City of Chico Parks Department, the Chico High School Agriculture program, and the Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). (more…)

I have always enjoyed cemeteries, but especially ones with age and history. Often carefully laid out and tended, cemeteries can include a sense of art, architecture, order and peace. I grew up visiting cemeteries in the North East, where cemeteries are often right in the middle of small towns and cities and used as public open spaces. During my high school years in a small town on the outskirts of Boston, the town cemetery was directly across the street from my house. The historic, green, landscaped space was where we teenagers walked, ran, ate lunch, studied - sometimes even walked hand-in-hand by moonlight along the storied paths. Photo: Signs of life in the Historic City Cemetery Native Plant Demonstration Garden: a bird preens himself on a headstone. Wildflowers get ready to bloom below, California lilac (Ceanothus) and deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) fill out behind. (more…)

March in the garden is both maddening and full of spring’s mirth. Even with our terribly low winter precipitation thus far, the garden and countryside are moving along – unfolding in flower, fruit and seed.

We’re lucky that our relatively mild climate allows us to plant flowers, fruits and vegetables from seed almost every month of the year – but even so March may take high honors as the big seasonal Seeding – indoors and out. (more…)

Nature is by far the most genius of garden designers, the most creative of floral arrangers. And if there’s one thing Nature loves, it’s color. Bright, mellow, bold, muted, clear: the whole rainbow of color. Most of us do too, which is why the new expanded and full-color edition of “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide“, is both a treat of photography and a useful tool of information for plant lovers of our region. Photo: Wildflowers at table mountain.

Written by Albin Bills and Samantha Mackey, illustrated by Larry Jansen, designed by Carole Montgomery and Elizabeth Quivey, and published by Studies from the Herbarium at California State University, Chico, “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide” is available at local bookstores and from the Chico State Herbarium. Albin Bills and Samantha Mackey will be at Lyon Books in Chico for a book signing event on Thursday February 23rd at 7 pm. Photo: “Canyon Delphinium. Its red tubular flowers attract hummingbirds.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Most towns and regions have their “special spots” - their places of supreme natural beauty to which residents not only take visitors and guests, but to which they themselves return annually if not more often - to be calmed, to be inspired, to be reminded of how little we are and how much awe-inspiring and abundant beauty there truly is in this young-old world of ours. Table Mountain outside of Oroville is such a place. Revered with possessive pride by locals, it also transcends regional pride. By many experts, Table Mountain is considered one of the “premier wildflower destinations in all of California” - a state known for the beauty and vast number of plant and flower species. Photo: Wildflowers on a blue-bird day at Table Mountain. “Patterns and sheets of color for which Table Mountain is justly famous.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

The story of the formation in rural Butte County is ancient: “Set against the rounded foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada, about 5 miles north of the town of Oroville, the mountain’s dramatic cliffs and distinctive flat top rise hundreds of feet above the Sacramento Valley. What was once an ancient stream of lava flowing down a broad river channel is now an elevated plateau perched above the surrounding terrain. Growing on top of this improbable platform are the extraordinary flower gardens that we chronicle in this book,” describes Bills in the book’s introduction. Photo: “Vernal Pools. These ephemeral pools on Table Mountain rest on a substrate of basalt (most other vernal pools in California sit on some sort of clay-based hardpan, not a lava flow.) It is a special habitat designated “Northern Basalt Vernal Pools,” found in less than half a dozen other places in the state. These presence of these pools was one of the chief reasons for setting it aside as a reserve.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

The introduction to this book leads you understand that you are in for more than just straightforward plant identification handbook. You are rather in for a true naturalist’s guide as the title claims, that marries facts such as “botany and geology are always linked” with accessible and enjoyable language for novice wildflower enjoyers. As the first edition of the book claimed: “This book is first an illustrated field guide to the flowers of Table Mountain, designed especially for use by visitors from the general public. But it also includes a comprehensive list of all known plants on Table Mountain, for use by the more accomplished botanist.” Photo: Butte County Golden Clover (Trifolium jokerstii). Named in honor of Jim Jokerst, whose memorial plaque we feature on the dedication page of our book. See p. 113 for the interesting details about this plant. Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

A naturalist and photographer himself as well as a professor of Field Biology at Butte College for more than 30 years, Albin Bills has been exploring and appreciating Table Mountain since the early 1970s. Photo: “Purple Owl’s Clover. One of everyone’s favorites.” And, lower photo, Albin Bills on a back-packing trip. “I look forward to backpacking every summer.” Photos and captions courtesy of Albin Bills.

“It didn’t take me long,” says Albin, “to realize how special this mesa is. You might say it was love at first sight. I have spent over three decades exploring its natural history. It is a place that can be enjoyed on many levels—strolling through fields of wildflowers, puzzling over their abundance and patterns, hiking to remote waterfalls, encountering salamanders and horned lizards, piecing together the mesa’s geologic history, or simply enjoying a beautiful spring day as a bald eagle soars by. The more you look, the more there is to see. Like all wild places, Table Mountain has much to teach. I hope our new book will open the doors of discovery for those who read it.” As well as writing and expanding on the original book, Bills took the majority of the color photographs in the newest edition. Photo: “Coal Canyon Fall. Note that I use the singular of fall instead of ‘falls.’ “Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Samantha (Sam) Mackey, co-author with Bills on both editions of the book, claims (with some delight) to have been in charge of the “annoying nit-picky details” in the course of both books. A field and research botanist, Mackey received her Masters Degree in Botany from CSU, Chico in 1999, she clearly has a talent for such details as well as a love for Table Mountain. Photo: “Cow pruning on an old growth California Buckeye”. Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills. Lower Photo: Sam Mackey at home in Chico.

It was in the mid-1990s that Sam first journeyed to Table Mountain and like many before her, she was moved by its unique and vast beauty. While the regional botanist James Jokerst (now deceased) had compiled a much-consulted “The Vascular Plant Flora of Table Mountain, Butte County, California” in 1983, Sam among others was amazed that a field guide had not been created for the site. “Table Mountain is a stupendously beautiful and botanically interesting place that was just screaming for a book since there was no local source of information about the natural history of the place for all the folks that like to visit it,” explained Sam in her bio for the first edition. Photo: “Close up of Foothill Poppies.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Sam was working in the labs at Butte College when she and Albin Bills met and then together with line-drawing botanical illustrator Larry Jensen, began work on the first edition of the book in 2000 and 2001. For the most part the content began with the Jokerst plant list and cross-referenced herbaria notations, both of which were then confirmed by personal sightings of the plants through the seasons by Albin or Sam. Photo: “Foothill Poppy. There are no California Poppies growing naturally on the top of Table Mountain.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

For the second edition, besides the addition of the beautiful color photographs depicting the color and variety of flowers as well as the topography and some of the wildlife (for instance, newts and cows), the plant list has been expanded to include confirmed sightings of plants since the first edition in 2003. Further, the new edition was able to take advantage of the fact that many herbaria (including the Chico State Herbarium) now have digitized collection catalogues. Likewise, Sam was able to consult and keep their book consistent with the most recent version of the “Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California”, officially published in 2012, and considered the “single most comprehensive resource on California’s amazingly diverse flora.” Photo: “Sky Lupine the species that paints the mesa blue. Note the sharp borders which separate it from its neighbors-a result of differences in soil type and depth.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Walking through changes that plant people might be interested in, Sam explains that with the second edition of the “Jepson Manual” some plants have changed plant families, some have changed genera: “For instance, what was once Arabis brewerii is now Boechera breweri spp. shastaensis; monkeyflower (Mimulus) has moved into the Lopseed (Phrymaceae) family of plants.” Photo: “Butte County meadowfoam. By reading page 112 in our book you should be able to see why this species is so important to the story of Table Mountain. Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills. Sam recently related the story of finally sighting the elusive and endangered Butte County Meadowfoam. Although it had been included in Jokerst’s original Flora list, neither Sam nor Albin had a confirmed viewing and so it was not included in the first edition of the “Wildflowers of Table Mountain”. One day after looking thoroughly, Sam and her hiking companion encountered it on the way back to the car, and it is now proudly listed in the 2nd edition with a color photo.

In addition to the flower photos and detailed plant descriptions that will be useful to plant lovers in a great portion of the North State, not just at Table Mountain, I enjoyed and found useful the opening discussion on geology, and the ending sections on animals of Table Mountain. Photos and discussions of the birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles that add life and interest to your wanderings among wildflowers will further deepen your knowledge. Photo: “California Newt. Hundreds of these salamanders migrate every winter to the streams of Table Mountain, where they breed and lay their eggs.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Knowledge is of course power - in this case power to be more caring and careful. “Special” places in our world are fewer and farther between in my experience than they were in my childhood, in my parent’s childhood. To gain understanding, to learn the names and the characteristics of places, plants and animals we encounter is often to feel more connected to them, to place more value in them and as a result to take ever better care of them for the future to enjoy fully as well. While “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide” is a solid field guide for botanists and other naturalists, it is also a celebration of the life and world around us. As Albin Bills writes in the book’s introduction, Table Mountain offers us “Sheets of lupines, goldfields, and poppies paint the basaltic plain blue, yellow and gold, in a spectacle that makes you glad to be alive.”

Get out and revel in it. “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide” 2nd edition will only add to the fun.

Good wildflower viewing sites throughout the season include: (generally listed moving from the south to the north)

➢ Table Mountain and Feather Falls, both near Oroville, are great walk/hikes open to the public year round. Follow these links for maps and hike descriptions: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/publications/pdfs/hiking/fr_featherfalls_infomap.pdf; http://www.calphoto.com/clcwl/table.pdf

➢ Near Lake Oroville, The Potter’s Ravine Trail in bloom March through April and early May.

➢ Lumpkin Ridge Road – further up in the Plumas-National Forest and east of Oroville, west of Quincy – should be in full-bloom in May and “The Harlequin Lupine (Lupinus stiversii) will knock your socks off,” Forest Service Botanist Chris Christofferson told me.

➢ Rim Road above Concow is a rare plant community habitat on serpentine outcroppings and is a good place to watch fire recovery in action after the 2008 summer fires.

➢ Magalia – all along the Skyway provides great views over wildflower meadows and oak habitat.

➢ Bidwell Park in Chico: Horsehoe Lake and Trails in Upper Bidwell Park as well as most of Lower Bidwell park as well will be good wildflower viewing March – early May.

➢ Vina Plains Preserve is managed by the Nature Conservancy and they often host wildflower tours in spring. The site is home to more than 280 species of plants and you should see Adobe Lily (Fritillaria pluriflora). Because Vina Plains Preserve is a working ranch, it is open to the public on a very limited basis. For more information, call (530) 527-4261. Photo: Butter and Eggs (Triphysaria eriantha) blooming en masse in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico in March.

➢ The Sacramento River Bend Area, just north of Red Bluff, offers spectacular wildflower displays throughout the spring. Vast vistas of yellow and purple fields are common during a springtime hike along the Yana trail. Contact the Redding Field Office at (530) 224-2100 for more information.

➢ Sacramento River Trail in and around Redding – runs through part of the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

➢ Shasta Lake Clikapudi Trail on the south side of Shasta Lake is a good place to watch fire recovery in action–it burned several years ago in the Bear Fire. Here’s a link to a trail map:http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity/documents/st-main/maps/rogs/shasta-lake/trails.pdf.

➢ Blue Door Flat - northeast California, south of Alturas. “The Blue Door Flat area provides an interesting area to watch waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds, as well as colorful wildflowers…in spring the meadow provides a fantastic array of color…” Contact the Alturas Field Office at (530) 233-4666.

➢ Later in the season, Waters Gulch and Squaw Valley Creek are good–see
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/WatersGulch/index.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/SquawValley/index.shtml

➢ Also later in the season - Bunker Hill Ridge on the Pacific Crest Trail should be in full bloom June/July. The trail around Little Grass Valley Reservoir provides a great view of the lake and the wildflowers in June/July.

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To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events in the North State region? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

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. Weekly essays can also be found at ANewsCafe.com.

In the winter days, I spend my daydreaming time thinking about things I might want to change about my garden, or add to my garden. With such little precipitation in the past few weeks or in the coming few weeks, my mind keeps returning to the loveliness of the design elements and the plant choices in the Oroville home garden created by Catie and Jim Bishop. Thought this was a good time to re-run the piece. Happy winter dreaming and planning for your North State garden!

An Oroville couple brings their love and knowledge of the spare splendor shared by California’s deserts and alpine zones to their home with a low-water, low-maintenance, habitat-friendly, high diversity and high-enjoyment desert garden. Photo: Catie & Jim Bishop’s colorful desert garden in front of their Oroville home illustrates the beauty that a spare, dry garden can provide. (more…)

The sign at the entrance to the ornamental garden in Sacramento’s William Land Park reads: WPA Rock Garden, Established 1940. The sign is not original to the garden’s 1940s-era design and construction, it was erected less than 20 years ago by gardener Daisy Mah. In charge of this distinct one-acre garden since 1988, Daisy - a City of Sacramento Parks Department employee - wanted the garden on which she spends hours each day to have an entrance sign with its own name. “When I first began work here more than 20 years ago, people called the garden ‘The Jungle’ or ‘The Maze’ or the ‘Ivy Garden.’” Because many of the surrounding Land Park neighborhood residents regularly visit the garden’s meandering paths and magical plantings, Daisy polled the neighborhood for what the official name of the garden should be. The majority of responses were that the garden should be called “Daisy’s Garden” - but Daisy ultimately settled on the simply stated name and rustic metal and wood sign you see today. Photo: The entrance sign for the WPA Rock Garden at William Land Park in Sacramento. The garden is on 15th Avenue across the street from Fairytale town and beside to the park’s amphitheater.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a Depression-Era work-relief program instituted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 as part of his New Deal. The WPA employed out-of-work professionals, artisans, craftspeople, fine artists, and writers to work on projects that to improve towns and cities all over the country. Sacramento’s WPA Rock Garden, a one-acre naturalistic garden set on a sloping hillside between Fairytale Town and the Duck Pond in William Land Park was one such WPA project. Like many WPA projects after the New Deal funding ended, the WPA Rock Garden was left in large part untended for many years. When Daisy took on the job of the garden’s restoration in 1988, the site was overgrown with invasive vinca and ivy. One mature, now-well-tended, tree-like specimen of the original ivy still grows in the garden. Photo: A sketched overview of the WPA Rock Garden’s layout.

Having graduated with a degree in Art from San Jose, Daisy returned to the Sacramento area to be close to her parents - both of whom immigrated to the US from China, her father as a young boy. Daisy became really interested in gardening and horticulture when she and her husband bought their first house in the early 1980s. She subsequently studied Horticulture at the American River College and got her first job with Sacramento’s Parks Department working in the Rose Garden in McKinley Park. When the then-Superintendent of Parks showed her the overgrown WPA Rock Garden, its intriguing space in which you could lose yourself and potentially find secret delights along each pathway and around each corner, was far more interesting to her than the monoculture of the Rose Garden. Photos: A curve in pathway of the WPA Rock Garden, with a close-up of Iochroma cyaneum violacea, attracting multiple pollinators, below.

When Daisy won a $400 scholarship for her horticultural work in 1988, she wanted to use some of the money to give back to the community. She took half of the money and placed an order for flowering perennials from local grower Cornflower Farms with which to begin replacing ivy and restoring the plantings of the WPA Rock Garden. Daisy has been at it ever since: researching plants, propagating those she wants, ordering others, receiving still others from plant people all over the world, and then planting, weeding, pruning, reworking plantings, dragging enormous hoses to water, and generally tending thoughtfully to this lively garden. The result of Daisy’s labors is now a garden where the the public can lose themselves in the magic of a place where they can “satisfy that inner-need to connect with nature and beauty”, even in the heart of the city, remarks Daisy. Photo: A view to a mature crepe myrtle seen through one of the openings in the stone and metal semi-circular seating area in the center of the WPA Rock Garden. This seating area is not original to the WPA-era garden, but was designed by Daisy based on a photo she saw of a Jens Jensen-designed circular seating area. Built by volunteer masons using discarded stone used as ballast on ships and left at the city dump, the seating area is dedicated to a long-time volunteer in the garden: Norma Clevenger. The dedication plaque describes her as “A gardener’s gardener and a fierce liberal!”

Construction of William Land Park began in 1922, when noted Landscape Architect Frederick Noble Evans was Superintendent of Parks for Sacramento. An early graduate of the Landscape Architecture school at Harvard University in Boston, Evans served as Superintendent of the Parks Department for 26 years. It was under his design-eye and leadership that William Land Park was designed and built - including the many WPA- constructed wood and masonry elements, such as a rustic pergola with built-in benches, roadway curbing throughout the park, an amphitheater, the park’s many ponds and lakes, and the WPA Rock Garden. Photo: Another turn in a pathway of the WPA Garden and a late-summer illuminated rose. Two pollinators examine the rose before exploring further.

The Rock Garden’s wandering walkways were laid out by the WPA crew and flanked by local-granite masonry raised beds. The park as a whole was part of a nationwide movement known as the Reform Park Movement and is an example of Naturalistic Park Design. The call for such naturalistic green spaces to be incorporated into densely populated, unrelentingly-grid-patterned cities began in the late 1800s on the east coast in cities such as Washington DC, New York and Boston. These carefully-designed informal and naturalistic green spaces were intended to offer both physical and psychological respite as well as the health benefits of nature to urban dwellers, many of whom could not afford take time off from their industrial jobs, or to get out of the city if they could get time off. New York’s Central Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, is perhaps the most famous example of the Naturalistic Park Design era. Photo: Along one of the central pathways in the WPA Garden, an industrial-sized hose hugs the side of a stone wall. Most of the plantings that Daisy has put into the garden are hand-watered by Daisy and her volunteers while they are getting established. An automated irrigation system was added to the garden only less than 10 years ago.

Walking through Sacramento’s WPA Rock Garden with Daisy Mah in late October, the garden is full of life around each corner. Through many years of work on her part, and on the part of Conservation Corps workers, other park workers, and various local garden club members - the ivy, vinca and other weeds are long gone. They have been replaced over the years by a succession of plantings. Daisy first began restoring the garden with traditional rock garden and alpine plants, but these proved too fragile and tender for a public garden. “The pressure of the public can be pretty hard,” admits Daisy - some plants - especially when they are little and getting established, get stepped on, trash gets left, I’ve even had large plant specimens dug up and carted off!” Photo: Deep blue salvia and bright orange-red California fuchsia contrast and play off one another in late October at the WPA Rock Garden.

The sometimes damaging effects of an admiring public does not seem to deter Daisy’s enthusiasm for providing a space that welcomes the public. One anecdote she shared was that when she had the semicircular seating area in the center of the garden built a few years back to mimic the look and feel of the WPA stone and metal work, she considered having thin wire anchored up the stone pillars so that she could train some vines up the pillars; “But the first day one wire was up, a boy came by and yanked them down. That’s clearly what he thought they were for,” she explained understandingly, “So I rethought the idea of the vines!” Photos: The rustic stone and metal semi-circular seating area in the heart of the WPA Rock Garden. Designed by Daisy, the seating area frames views into other sections of the garden and a place for visitors to meet and gather.

Currently, Daisy focuses on California native plants - including re-seeding annuals and bulbs - as well as sweeping variety of non-native, drought tolerant, climate appropriate Mediterranean plants. Deep blue salvias and red California fuchsias are blooming brightly here, roses and society garlic are blooming there. Although nothing bears labels or tags, which might distract from the sheer experience and enjoyment of the space, the Parks Department does have a pamphlet noting much of the garden’s plantings. Photo: A long view of the succulent bed which Daisy began to experiment with in 2001.

Daisy of course knows them all, and each plant or insect, even visitor holds a story for her. She points out a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), butterfly and notes that the host plant for its larva is the passion vine. She says hello to a man and his dog walking through and the man responds, “Hi, Daisy!” As we wander around corners, sunlight hits foliage and blooms up ahead, drawing you along. Specific plants unfold a variety of stories, and altogether these cumulatively tell not only the story of this garden and this gardener in the past quarter-century, but they likewise illuminate much of the story of horticulture in Northern California over the same time period: “I began gardening - like many new gardeners - with a feeling that I wanted it all right NOW!” remembers Daisy wryly, “But now each plant needs to tell some story or add to the story of the larger garden…This large-leaved Petasites came from Ed Carmen,” she says off-hand, pointing to striking, generously rounded leaves and referring to a well-known Pacific Coast nurseryman and award-winning horticulturalist of the region. “This rose I am not sure of the name - but it’s an old variety that I got from a garden in Oak Park - an older city neighborhood.” Photo: A WPA Rock Garden view and a Gulf Fritillary butterfly on an agave.

In the garden blooms a red flowering maple (Abutilon) that Daisy calls A. ‘Louise Blakey’, but a horticultural friend calls the same plant A. ‘Daisy’s Red’, because it grows in his garden since having received it from Daisy Mah. Photo: Abutilon ‘Daisy’s Red’

Tall trees - Cupressus cashmeriana, Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ and ‘Galaxy’, redbuds, and Arbutus ‘ Marina’, Gingko biloba, deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara)- provide shade and dimension to the space. Some are beginning to color-up with fall’s cooling temperatures and waning daylight. Over such a span of time, Daisy has seen large trees come and go - some have fallen over with age, others she has grown from seed to near-maturity. Hundreds of perennials have been planted, seeded, reseeded, lost and re-found in the 34 individual raised planting areas. Daisy has experimented with an all white-blooming border, she has experimented with fragrance and tough, good-looking succulents. “It’s not hard, it just takes time.” Daisy Mah - 95-pounds of dedication - has given a lot of time and makes the hard-won results look easy. Her efforts are profoundly evident in thriving, interesting plant choices, striking plant combinations and visitors who are positively affected by the garden at all times of year. Photo: Daisy Mah beneath a bunya-bunya tree (Araucaria bidwillii) that she grew from seed in the WPA Rock Garden.

In early 2010 a Cultural Landscape Survey and Evaluation of William Land Park was conducted for the City of Sacramento - evaluation and inventorying the park in order to determine the park’s eligibility for being nominated to be listed in the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources, the California Register of Historical Resources, and the National Register of Historic Places. In October of 2011, the draft of the final report was published and the park - including its unique WPA Rock Garden easily meets criteria for listing in all three registers. According to the report, William Land Park, the largest park in the city of Sacramento, “meets evaluation criteria due to its association with important local trends in the following areas of significance: Community Planning and Development, Government, Entertainment/Recreation, and Landscape Architecture.” Included in these are its elements built from 1922-1969 embodying the Reform Park Movement, Naturalistic Park Design and WPA-construction features. Photo: Shining seed heads along a pathway leading into Daisy and her husband’s home garden in Sacramento.

Walking through the historic ornamental WPA Rock Garden in Sacramento’s William Land Park with the quiet- strength of gardener Daisy Mah leading the way, it is clear to me that the reasons for the garden’s construction originally are just as true today as they were 80 years ago: everyone benefits physically and psychologically from fresh air, green plants, and even momentary transport and escape from the lock-step, grid-patterned-daily-life-tensions that many of us face. “I grew up as the youngest of six siblings,” shares Daisy. “My father left China and its abject poverty for a better life in the US, and as a result, our garden growing up was an important resource for the edibles it could provide. Ornamental gardening was not seen as valuable. As an older man, my father visited my ornamental garden, exploring and enjoying the beauty and the life. He said to me after: ‘Your garden makes me feel like a rich man.’” Photo: Daisy’s light-hearted laughter filling a corner of the WPA Rock Garden, a garden she has grown and tended for more almost a quarter of a century.

Daisy Mah’s contributions to gardening in Northern California through her 23 plus years of work at the WPA Rock Garden adds richness to the lives of all of us who walk the garden’s pathways - be it a quick morning walk or a leisurely afternoon wedding. Photo: A sweep of purple society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea )catch the mid-day sun at the WPA Rock Garden.

A fixture of Sacramento’s plant community, Daisy is an active garden designer, horticultural speaker, and member of the Perennial Plant Club of Sacramento. She has designed a traditional Chinese Garden in Locke, California in the Delta region near where she grew up, as well as a Healing Garden at Sacramento’s Sutter Hospital. Additionally, she has been instrumental in the implementation and design of round-a-bout gardens in several of Sacramento’s urban neighborhoods. Besides the WPA Rock Garden, Daisy oversees long stretches of roadside gardens throughout William Land Park and several island gardens in the park’s various ponds and lakes. Photo: A working pot standing guard at the entrance to Daisy’s home garden. Known as Chinese egg pots, these ceramic vessels “were once used for shipping thousand-year old eggs, which my uncle in San Francisco incorporated in Chinese pastries. My uncle has died and eggs are now shipped in styrofoam,” she related.

More of my environmental writing can be found in the Chico News & Review, and Pacific Horticulture. Follow Jewellgarden.com/In a North State Garden on Facebook. Photo: One of the William Land Park’s island gardens that Daisy tends in addition to the one-acre WPA Rock Garden. Lower picture shows the colorful, heat-loving bloom in one of Daisy’s roadway plantings in the park: blue salvia, salvia clevelandii, yellow single-flowering marigold and red cosmos.

To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events in the North State region? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

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. 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. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.