I recently had the good fun of accompanying a visiting native bee specialist to a few of our local gardens. He was looking for one or two area gardens to monitor over time for bee activity and behavior. All of the gardens we visited were lovely, beginning to bloom and green with spring rains, buzzing with bees and other life. The last garden we visited was the largest of them, a peaceful, many-roomed and casually welcoming gardening with dappled light here, and warm sun here. Cascading roses and fireworks of alliums here, a tree heavy with blood oranges there. No perfect lawn, no tidy edges just a profusion of garden blending seamlessly with life around it. When we left this garden, my guest turned to me and said: Isn’t it nice to just BE in a garden like that sometimes? Photo: A heritage single rose in spring bloom.

As your garden – be it a balcony of containers or an acre of market crops - grows along into the fullness of the season – I hope you get some time between planning, planting, pruning, harvesting, feeding and watering to just be there in it during this magical month of may. Photo: An enthusiastic North State public garden in May. (more…)

“In Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” –Margaret Atwood.

Any gardener can tell you that soil is the soul of the garden. It is the foundation on which all else is built. If you look carefully at the health (or non-health) of your plants, you can tell quite a lot about what is happening in your soil. Or what is not happening in your soil. Got a problem with a plant? Want to grow a new kind of plant? One of the first things most good gardeners might say to you is: Test your soil.

But step back a second. Look up from your tomato plant, your vegetable bed, your shrub or perennial border and cast your eyes to the horizon: look at the formation of the lands all around you as you garden, as you hike, as you drive. Look at lay of the land and this will tell you even more about your soil.

Look at the lay of the land with Andrew Conlin, Soil Scientist with the USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), by your side and you will learn learn much much more than that. You will begin to see not only what is happening in the world beneath you feet right now, but also what did happen - last season, 10 thousand years ago, millions of years ago.

Andrew Conlin reads soil. Based on years and years of study and the systematic mapping of hundreds of square miles of soils in Northern California, Andrew can read the geomorphology of the lay of the land in front of you with his eyes analyzing colors, textures, gradients, and associated vegetation. He can read much about the composition and history of soils with his hands as he moves from soil type to soil type on a walk. Walking with Andrew brings to life the dramatic history of climactic events that have created the amazing landforms and soils of Northern California. This in turn brings new meaning and the beginning of a deeper understanding about the soil I hold so dear in my garden.

On a yearly basis, Andrew offers guided walks of some of the soils in our area. These lively and intriguing walks are like seeing the story of our part of the planet unfold before your eyes in the 3-D, high-def technicolor that is the great outdoors: Volcanoes churn like “cement mixers” and erupt in the distance; lava and mud flows for miles and miles; ash flies; boulders and rock rumble across the landscape; rain and mammalian movement wear pathways and crevices; winds blow; creeks and rivers rise and flood; soil forms, ages, developing complex microbiology; oaks and pines, alders and sycamores, buckbrush and toyon, grasses and forbs root themselves in their preferred soils; and the storyline continues on.

“Big plants need big soils!” Andrew point outs emphatically. “You can look across this landscape and as you look more closely, you can see how the vegetation strata - the layers of plant life - correspond to the rock/soil strata in which they are growing.”

Andrew is leading two of these guided soils walks for the public in the Chico area this spring, you will enjoy every minute of each one them:

On April 21st, at 9 am, Soils, Landforms and Vegetation of Upper Bidwell Park
In association with Gateway Science Museum, Andrew will be offering a guided tour of the soils of Upper Bidwell Park. MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Andrew will walk you through time, space and the shifting soils of the many elevations of this area - from the top of the sweeping plateau to the river bed below. Meet at Parking Area B (the second parking area on your left as you drive into Upper Park). Come dressed for walking and being outside. Bring water and snacks for a 1 - 4 hour amble. For more information contact Jennifer Jewell, Volunteer Coordinator Gateway Science Museum: jjewell@csuchico.edu or 530-588-6369.

May 19th, Saturday Soils, Landforms and Vegetation of the BCCER (moderate)
Andrew Conlin, Soil Scientist, Natural Resource Conservation Service
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 the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve. Join us to gain a ‘deeper’ understanding of how what you see relates to what’s beneath your feet. For more information contact Outdoor Education Coordinator Scott Huber at whuber@csuchico.edu or (530) 898-5010.

Andrew Conlin, USDA-NRCS and the Great Soil Surveys of Northern California

The USDA- NRCS Soils division and its associated mapping of the majority of the soils of the United States, including Northern California, traces its beginning to the great Dust Bowl tragedy of the 1930s in the American midwest. After this great environmental disaster, it was clear and imperative that the integrated and comprehensive oversight and management was needed for one of our countries greatest natural resources: our soils.

Over time, the work and efforts to understand and map the nations soils and to disseminate the resulting information to people and organizations (like farmers, ranchers, miners, city planners, gardeners and you and me), have been under one government department or another, but is currently part of the USDA- NRCS. The USDA-NRCS has soil offices across the country, including 8 in California, 3 in Northern California.

The information collected and managed by the USDA-NRCS soils staff is put to practical use in many ways by the department’s soil offices and soil scientists, as well as being compiled online. “Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey, an effort of Federal and State agencies, universities, and professional societies to deliver science-based soil information. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The WSS website is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.”

As described by the USDA-NRCS: “If you look in a soil pit or on a roadside cut, you will see various layers in the soil. These layers are called soil horizons. The arrangement of these horizons in a soil is known as a soil profile. Soil scientists, who are also called pedologists, observe and describe soil profiles and soil horizons to classify and interpret the soil for various uses.”

“Soil horizons differ in a number of easily seen soil properties such as color, texture, structure, and thickness. Other properties are less visible. Properties, such as chemical and mineral content, consistence, and reaction require special laboratory tests. All these properties are used to define types of soil horizons.”

Some key things to keep in mind about the big picture of soil and how and why it’s important to us all, as summarized by the USDA-NRCS include:

“Soils perform vital functions: sustaining plant and animal life above and below the surface; regulating the flow of water and soluble materials; Filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying; Storing and cycling nutrients; Providing support to structures. Andrew pointed out one example of such function as we walked recently: “This soil here is very shallow and fragile above bedrock. This thin layer of soil is incredibly important in conveying water laterally - like a paper towel.” This steady controlled conveyance in turn affects erosion and in turn water quality in the creek below.”

“Soil is the Basis of the Ecosystem: The living systems occurring above and below the ground surface are determined by the properties of the soil. We often ignore the soil because it is hard to observe.”

“Soils Support Life: Organism Types Roles & Benefits
bacteria decomposition
fungi release nutrients
protozoa create pores
nematodes stabilize soil
arthropods
earthworms

“Soil Management Affects Soil Quality”

“Soils Have Unique Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties Important to Their Use: Soil is a natural body of solids, liquid, and gases, with either horizons, or layers or the ability to support rooted plants.”

“Soil-Forming Factors Determine the Location and Kind of Soil: There are 23,000 soil series in various combinations with different slopes and surface textures in the U.S. Soil Forming Factors include:
Parent Material Climate Living Organisms Topography Time”

“Soils Have Limitations Which Must Be Understood: Concerns for life and properties include: allergies, corrosivity, dust, flooding, gypsum dissolution piping, contaminants crop loss erosion, frost action, liquefaction, radon, rapid runoff, sand blowing, septic failure, sinkholes, soil borne disease, sulfidic materials, water tables, salt build up, sedimentation, shrink-swell, slope failures, subsidence, urban hydrology.”

“Scientific Names for Soils
• Like plants and animals, soils are classified
• The system is called Soil Taxonomy
• The highest level is the soil order (12)
• The lowest level is the soil series, often a
place name”

“Soil Science is interwoven into much of we do and study: Science: ecology, biology, chemistry. Social Studies: world trade, land use. Mathematics/Engineering: soil loss, soil formation. History:
settlement of the U.S., development and evolution of agriculture, dust bowl.”

“Soil Survey is a Scientifically-Based Inventory: A soil survey includes maps, descriptions, properties, climate, and interpretations. These are excellent sources of information.
About 3000 counties (including the counties in the North State) in the United States have a soil survey.”

Have you seen yours? Andrew Conlin or a soil scientist in your area can walk you through it! Join Andrew April 21st and May 19th. You will never see the lay of our land, the soil in your garden, in quite the same way.

Like Jewellgarden.com/In a North State Garden on Facebook

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.

“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

Like Jewellgarden.com/In a North State Garden on Facebook

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 my experience, gardening is a motivating and compelling force to bring people together. Even with our time and attention constantly split and fractured, we still find ways to come together over gardening - perhaps particularly so over food gardening. While there are pros and cons to the ever increasing presence of technology in our lives, many gardeners have found that technology can be an incredible boon to our gardening knowledge and resources and connections. Photo: Members of Chico Garden Share Project at a project-hosted permaculture workshop “Making Bokashi and Creating a Winter Garden with Sheet Mulch”. Members shown include Agb biotics, Rosie, Wendy and Joseph Wiklund, Leslie Wilson Corsbie, Laurie Niles and Monica Bell. (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.

Follow Jewellgarden.com/In a North State Garden on Facebook - become a fan today!

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.

We as gardeners face many dilemmas, some more difficult than others. For many gardeners, pruning falls under the heading of garden dilemma. Every year, I get questions regarding how and when to prune various things in our North State gardens. Recently I’ve had questions regarding hydrangeas and shrub-type salvias. Both of these I would describe as summer and late summer bloomers, but in the milder portions of our region these beauties often keep blooming all the way through December and beyond. Photo: A combination planting of old-fashioned mop-head and oak-leaf hydrangea in summer bloom. (more…)

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…)

I think many gardener/naturalist types will agree with me when I write that one of the greatest personal results of being a gardener/ naturalist is how these interests and activities tie me into the larger network of life and its many processes. To work in the dirt amongst my flowers or fruit, to play in the duff beneath familiar trees, birds and bugs buzzing about, is to feel grounded, and to be reminded on almost every level of the interconnectedness of all life. Within this sense of interconnectedness, I am allowed a comfortable perception that I belong. I am part of these processes. I have some basic understanding. I have some control. Photo: Jack-o-lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olivascens). According the “Mushrooms Demystified” by David Arora, these mushrooms are common in Northern California “from fall through early spring, especially on oak, manzanita, madrone, and chinquapin.” Said to be luminescent at night, jack-o-lantern’s size and color make them dramatic even without nighttime bio-luminescence. PHOTO BY JOHN WHITTLESEY. (more…)