Being good to Mother Earth begins at home. Learn how at some of the community Earth Day events around Sonoma County this weekend.
The city of Santa Rosa will offer education activities and information from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 23, in Old Courthouse Square. Activities will highlight water conservation, climate-friendly transportation, zero waste, green energy and more. Pick up a free WaterSmart tool kit and enjoy crafts and games for kids as well as live performances by environmentally focused performance group ZunZun.
On Sunday, April 24, the Windsor Community Garden will hold its Earth Day Open House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stroll the garden and learn about sustainable vegetable gardening and how to create a welcoming space for native pollinators. There also will be helpful information on water conservation and free water conservation kits. The event is put on by the Windsor Garden Club, the Windsor Community Garden Committee and the town of Windsor. The garden is at Windsor Road at Joe Rodota Drive, across from the Town Hall parking lot.
The Sebastopol Climate Action Committee and the city of Sebastopol will host an Earth Day organic compost giveaway on Sunday. The free event is open to home and school gardeners from the Sebastopol to Occidental area. People can come to the compost pickup site at 425 Morris St. in Sebastopol between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., or until the pile is gone. Bring shovels, gloves, a tarp and a car with containers or a pickup truck and be prepared to load the compost yourself. Volunteers will be on hand to assist with parking at the compost site. If you need help loading the compost, let the onsite volunteers know you will need assistance.
For questions or to volunteer to help at the compost giveaway, email Sebastopolsinkscarbon@gmail.com or ClimateActionCommittee@cityofsebastopol.org.
One of the North Bay’s leading experts on pelargoniums and geraniums will give the lowdown on these beloved plants during a talk Monday before the Santa Rosa Garden Club.
Robin Parer, an Australian horticulturist who lectures throughout the U.S., will talk about how to identify, select, propagate and grow these popular flowering plants, which are both in the Geraniaceae family. She also will discuss soil, placement, pests, diseases and pruning to help you grow your best blooms.
During the 38 years Parer has owned the Geraniaceae Nursery in Marin County, she has propagated 500 geranium species and published “The Plant Lover’s Guide to Hardy Geraniums.”
The meeting is at 1:30 p.m. at the Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa. For information, visit santarosagardenclub.com.
Plant shoppers, overwhelmed with choices, may have a hard time deciding which plant sales to hit this weekend. Sales are popping up everywhere. Target a few or make a day of it hopping from one to another.
The Santa Rosa Garden Club and the Redwood Empire Rose Society are holding their spring sales in tandem on Saturday at the Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa.
Both groups will have plants for sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and garden experts will be on hand to help with selection and ideas for plant placement. Rose Society members also will have cactuses and succulent container gardens, pots, books and other garden treasures for sale.
Across the street from the Art & Garden Center, the Harvest for the Hungry Garden will be selling leftover plants by appointment only on Saturday. All the available time slots are taken, but you can stop by at the end, from 3-4 p.m., to grab the spoils. 1717 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa, behind Christ Church United Methodist. The garden raises fresh food for people in need. harvestgarden.org
Look for tomatoes, eggplants, squash, melons, cucumbers and more warm-season crops during the April open house at Jail Industries on Saturday and Sunday.
No appointment is needed to shop a wide selection of warm-season veggie seedlings and annual flowers, including more than 50 varieties of tomatoes. They also have a selection of drought-tolerant and California native plants. The Sonoma County Master Gardeners will be on hand with succulents for sale and expert advice. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cash or check only. Revenue from plant sales funds the educational programming offered through the Nursery at Jail Industries and supported by Five Keys Schools and Programs and the Sheriff’s Office of Sonoma County. 707-239-1611. 2254 Ordinance Road, Santa Rosa.
The Sonoma County Master Gardeners will hold a pop-up succulent sale in Healdsburg on Saturday. They will have a wide variety of 4-inch and 1-gallon container plants as well as an array of arrangements. A limited selection of custom-made potting benches also will be available for sale. The sale supports the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 402 Tucker St., Healdsburg.
The Valley of the Moon Garden Club will hold its annual spring plant sale from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. They will have vegetable starts, flowering plants and succulents in 4 -inch pots. Garden club members also will bring plants from their own gardens. Proceeds will benefit school gardens and a high school scholarship in Sonoma Valley. The sale will be at Altimira Middle School, 17805 Arnold Drive, Sonoma.
Willowside School’s student-supported nursery is reopening Saturday for another sale with a variety of landscape plants. Look for California natives, succulents, grasses, abutilons and plants beneficial to wildlife. For this sale they also will have some dahlias, two types of lavender, Echinacea ‘Magnus Superior,’ Scabiosa ‘Pink Mist’ and Achilles ‘Little Moonshine.’ $6 for a 1-gallon container. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Willowside Road at Hall Road in Santa Rosa.
Send home and garden news to meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. Please submit three weeks in advance of an event.
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