- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Folks are looking forward to the next open house at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis.
It's set Saturday, Sept. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. and the theme is "Museum ABC's: Arthopods, Bohart and Collecting." It's free and family friendly. Parking is also free.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis, hosts open houses throughout the academic year. It's an opportunity to talk one-on-one with the scientists and see the displays.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. Plus, it maintains a live petting zoo (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, posters, books, collecting equipment and more.
The Bohart scientists kept regular visitors' hours this summer on Tuesdays. Visiting hours are now over for this summer. Also, starting Monday, Sept. 1 and continuing through Sept. 22, the insect museum will be closed to the public. See website. Also see the Bohart video from last year, featuring then director Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology and now emerita, as of Feb. 1, 2024. She continues her research at the Bohart and also continues as the newsletter editor.
Assuming the reins of director, as of Feb. 1: Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Meanwhile, mark your calendar for Saturday, Sept. 28. If you're lucky, you may see a monarch flying around on campus on its way to an overwintering site along coastal California. If not, visit the Lepidoptera collection, curated by entomologist Jeff Smith. You'll see lots of monarch specimens.
Smith says the number of moth and butterfly specimens at the Bohart is about 825,454. Of that number, some 618,750 are moth specimens and the rest are butterflies.
For more information, access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/ or email bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
![Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, with a drawer of monarch specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, with a drawer of monarch specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108509.jpg)
![A closeup of a male monarch on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A closeup of a male monarch on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108510.jpg)
![A closeup of a female monarch on lavender in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A closeup of a female monarch on lavender in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108511.jpg)
- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
Due to climate change, California's Central Valley weather is getting hotter and drier with longer periods of drought likely, interspersed with occasional wet years. Growing native plants in our gardens is one of the ways we can have water-wise, environmentally friendly, colorful plants that support local wildlife.
If you are interested in learning about native plant gardening, how to start planting and caring for native plants, what plants are California natives, come to one of the Stanislaus County UC Master Gardeners' library talks during September. Like many of my fellow Master Gardeners, I love to share my love and knowledge of native plants!
Denise Godbout-Avant has been a UC Master Gardener in Stanislaus County since 2020
![Date Time Branch
9/3 Tues 6:00p.m. Salida
9/7 Sat 2:00 pm Empire
9/9 Mon 1:00 pm Ceres
9/10 Tues 6:00 p.m. Oakdale
9/12 Thurs 1:00 pm Patterson
9/14 Sat 2:00 pm Riverbank
9/17 Tues 2:00 pm Denair
9/23 Mon 5:30 pm Modesto
9/24 Tues 2:00 pm Waterford
9/25 Wed 6:00 pm Turlock Date Time Branch
9/3 Tues 6:00p.m. Salida
9/7 Sat 2:00 pm Empire
9/9 Mon 1:00 pm Ceres
9/10 Tues 6:00 p.m. Oakdale
9/12 Thurs 1:00 pm Patterson
9/14 Sat 2:00 pm Riverbank
9/17 Tues 2:00 pm Denair
9/23 Mon 5:30 pm Modesto
9/24 Tues 2:00 pm Waterford
9/25 Wed 6:00 pm Turlock](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108494.png)
- Author: Paula Pashby
I have a potted Meyer lemon tree (Citrus Meyer) that I have regrettably neglected these past few months. I recently took some time to give it some tender loving care and was relieved to discover that my tree was doing well and even sprouted some new growth. On closer examination, I noticed that the newly discovered shoots looked quite different from the rest of the lemon tree. The main lemon tree has medium-sized, oblong-shaped leaves, whereas the new growth has small, three-lobed, narrow leaves.
So, I had to ask myself - should I keep this new growth? And the answer turned out to be a gigantic NO! I learned that the new growth must be removed in order to keep the integrity of the current tree, because the new growth could possibly take over the original tree and likely not produce decent fruit. The reason it is unlikely to produce good-quality fruit is that it is a “graft rootstock sprout”, a product of citrus tree grafting.
The grafting process is a technique used to grow the best possible fruit tree by joining parts from two or more plants to create one new hardy plant or tree. Grafting is accomplished by binding a scion (upper part of plant) selected for its desirable fruit, with a root stock (bottom part of plant) selected for its strong root system.
With my Meyer lemon tree, I discovered that often times the graft rootstock is taken from a completely different type of citrus tree, called Trifoliate orange. Trifoliate orange is a preferred rootstock because it is cold and drought tolerant, and very strong and hardy. But you wouldn't want the full tree, as it is known to produce very sour fruit that can be rather inedible unless cooked.
I thanked the Trifoliate orange portion of tree graft for providing the lemon tree with such a strong root system, and then using a disinfected pair of clippers, I carefully removed the graft rootstock sprouts. I made sure to cut close to the main tree but leave enough room for the wound to heal. The Meyer lemon tree is feeling loved again.
![Trifoliate orange, with fruit by Martin LaBar is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Trifoliate orange, with fruit by Martin LaBar is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108493.jpg)
- Author: Christian Jordan
Shasta College will host a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Forest Resilience workshop this October. The course has been developed with industry partners and will provide practical, applied experience in the use of GIS to support project management for forest and wildfire resilience. The workshop will take place on four consecutive Saturdays, beginning October 5th. The attached flier includes further details. For additional information or questions, please reach out to Dan Scollon: dscollon@shastacollege.edu.
SC24 4695 GIS Forest Resilience Course Flyer PRINT
- Author: Bob Niklewicz, MG at the Fuller Park Rose Garden
We had a tremendous amount of heat in July and August. Many of our bushes suffered greatly from heat stress. Leaves turned brown, looked wilted and/or just fell off to preserve the moisture in the bush. Extra watering or, better yet, more frequent watering to keep the root ball moist is like CPR.
Leaves will also turn yellow from the heat or be susceptible to black spots. Pick those off the branches and off the surrounding ground to reduce the fungus from spreading. Remember to sterilize your pruners after each bush to reduce the spread of the black spots. Note: We are not totally past severely hot days this summer; protect your roses. Even putting a cover/shade or umbrella over them during the hottest part of the day will save them from the worst part of the heat.
You may also see aphids now. For the majority of cases, just using a high pressure hose spray will wash off those soft bodied pests. Do it every couple of days until the problem is reduced greatly or cleared. Also, make sure your irrigation systems is working correctly so that your plants receive proper moisture.
Rose of the Month: Angel Face
Remember when pruning: Toss plant debris into your city compost bin and not your own compost pile. The Napa City compost center produces higher temperatures to destroy the spores while your backyard pile will not do so. When it comes time to add mulch, consider getting it from the Napa recycling center.
If you have questions about the Fuller Park Rose Garden and the Master Gardeners (MGs) who maintain the rose garden, we are usually in the garden the first Sunday and third Thursday of each month between 10:00 and 12:00, weather permitting.
You can also go to our Master Gardner website: napamg.ucanr.edu for more details.
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.