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UCCE Master Gardeners of Tuolumne County
UCCE Master Gardener Training
Master Gardener training will be in Calaveras County.
Begins January 24, 2019
UCCE Master Gardeners of Tuolumne County
Open Garden Day and Plant Sale
September 8, 2018 10:00am- 1:00 pm
251 S. Barretta St., Sonora
Featuring Master Gardener Grown Plants
"Grown Here to Grow Here"
Presentations start at 10:30
Winter Vegetable Gardening
Permaculture (Guest Speaker!)
Gardening Tips for October
- Clean out flower and vegetable gardens to discourage diseases and pests from overwintering in your beds.
- Rake leaves from ditches to make way for the rain that's coming.
- Re-program drip system timers for cooler weather and rain.
- Update your garden journal, noting what worked and what didn't work. Look around at the fall color you might want to plant for next year
- Mulch or mow leaves on your lawn and add to your compost pile - either an existing one or a new one.
- Apply a thick layer of compost to enrich your soil for spring planting.
- Apply mulch to bulbs and tubers left in the ground.
- Deadhead spent flowers.
- Lift tuberous begonias.
- Lift and divide dahlias, dust with sulfur before storing.
- Divide lilies.
- Cut back and divide spent perennial phlox asters.
- Cover compost bins with plastic tarps once the rains begin.
- Clean out bird houses and bird feeders.
- Cut old berry canes and tie the new canes to support wires. It's easy to identify the old canes now - they're turning brown.
- Finish pruning any fruit trees after the last fruit is removed.
- Check dates of Master Gardener classes.
Click on the button above to make a gift to the UCCE Master Gardeners of Tuolumne County.
Have a Gardening Question?
Contact the Master Gardener Hotline: 209-533-5912 or fill out the "Ask a Master Gardener" online form.
More Information:
Become a fan of UCCE Master Gardeners of Tuolumne County Facebook page by clicking here.
Have a turf lawn in the summer-dry foothills? Go to http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/TURF/ to learn how to test your sprinkler output.
Coping with Drought
Calendar of Events
Blog
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Posted 10/22/2018 - They can't drain your bank account. They can't open up new credit cards. They can't get medical treatment on your health insurance.
But they are identity thieves, nonetheless.
Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee.
Indeed, it's about the size of a honey bee. In its adult form, it's a pollinator, just like the honey bee.
Unlike a honey bee, however, the drone fly "hovers" over a flower before landing. And unlike a honey bee, the drone fly has one set of wings,...
What This Scientist Discovered in an Insect and Why It Matters
Posted 10/19/2018 - What this scientist discovered in an insect and why it matters...
Naoki Yamanaka, an assistant professor at UC Riverside (UCR), is known for his innovative and creative research. In fact, the National Institute of Health (NIH) just awarded him a $2.4 million grant in its High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program to study the role of steroid hormone transporters in insect development and reproduction. A UCR news release pointed out that he will "translate that knowledge into new ways to...
Pollinators on the Beach? Fancy Meeting You Here
Posted 10/18/2018 - So you're walking along Doran Regional Park Beach in Sonoma County on Tuesday, Oct. 16 and thinking about the pollinators in your back yard. (Don't we all?)
And then: what a delight to see. Apis mellifera (honey bees) and Eristalis tenax, syrphid flies (better known as a "drone flies") nectaring on the tiny blossoms of a sea rocket plant (genus Cakile).
This particular plant species? The European sea rocket, Cakile maritima, a succulent annual that's a member of the mustard...
Hungry, Hungry Caterpillars!
Posted 10/17/2018 - It starts out slow.
Beginning in the spring (and sometimes year-around in some locales) Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) lay their eggs on their host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora).
They deposit their eggs on the tendrils, on the leaves, and sometimes on the fence, wall or door where the passionflower vine climbs.
When fall approaches and the Gulf Frits are still laying eggs, you won't recognize your vine. It is skeletonized. The caterpillars, incredible shredding machines,...
They Don't Announce Their Arrival or Departure
Posted 10/16/2018 - They don't announce their arrival or departure.
If you're an insect photographer, or a wanna-be-insect photographer, expect the unexpected and don't go anywhere without your camera.
That applies to such simple things as walking out your back door and stepping into your pollinator garden.
It was Friday morning, Oct. 12, and we watched a gust of wind stir the African blue basil, tousle the milkweed, and whip the 12-foot-high Mexican sunflower. "Ah, wind," I thought. "A good day for...
