| Nights and mornings are turning crisp; afternoons can still be quite toasty. Trees are beginning to show fall color. The FALL PLANTING SEASON is under way. |
BARE-ROOT: Order bare-root grapes, fruit trees and berries now for delivery during the winter dormant season. |
| BULBS: Plant or chill tulips and hyacinth (species tulips like Tulipa clusiana and T. saxatilis need no pre-chilling). Plant daffodils, Dutch iris, crocus, babiana, freesia, muscari, scilla, watsonia, sparaxis, tritonia, ranunculus, ixia, leucojum and more. NOTE: Only tulips and hyacinths benefit from 6-8 weeks of chilling in the refrigerator. Ask if your bulbs have been pre-chilled. Visit nurseries soon for the best selection. Get 'em in the ground by early December at the latest. |
ANNUALS: Plenty of cool-season annuals are available for planting now. Look for pansies, primrose, Iceland poppies, ornamental kale, forget-me-nots, snapdragon, sweet peas, stock and more. Plant flowering sweet
peas from seed. |
| NATIVE
PLANTS: Fall
is the best time for planting natives! Look for fall native plant sales on the Events Calendar. Most nurseries, including Bushnell Gardens Nursery and Capital Nursery, carry a varying supply of natives. Just ask. For native bulbs, try Far West Bulb Farm. Cornflower Farms, a wholesale native plant grower, is open to the public the 2nd Saturday (click to download schedule) of most months. Upcoming dates include: October 9 and November 13. Download Plant Availability List. |
| WILDFLOWER SEEDS: Fall is also a great time for planting wildflowers. Try Peaceful Valley Farm Supply's Central Valley Wildflower Mix containing: California Poppy, Deerhorn Clarkia, California Blue Bell, Sweet Alyssum, Plains Coreopsis, Sulphur Cosmos, African Daisy, Blanketflower, Showy Blue Gilia, Gazania, Showy Evening Primrose, Mountain Garland, Chinese Houses, Globe Gilia, Scarlet Flax, Arroyo Lupine, Five Spot, Black-eyed Susan, Goldfields, Tidy Tips, Yellow Lupine, Moss Verbena, and New Mexico Evening Primrose. Native California wildflower purists? Try the California Native Wildflower mix , containing: Tidy Tips, California Poppy, Godetia, Five Spot, Sky Lupine, Chinese Houses, California Blue Bell, Mountain Garland, Globe Gilia, Showy Blue Gilia, Bird’s Eyes, Goldfields, Yellow Lupine, Arroyo Lupine, Baby Blue Eyes, Beach Evening Primrose, Blue-Eyed Grass and Mountain Phlox. |
| PERENNIALS: This month is a great time to plant hardy perennials. Since fall conditions promote root growth, you'll be rewarded in spring with plants ready to burst into growth and bloom. |
| HERBS: It's never too late to plant perennial herbs. Nurseries are very well-stocked with the likes of rosemary, thyme, tarragon, etc. |
VEGETABLES:
Plant
cool-season
veggies: garlic, green onions, peas,
radishes, spinach, lettuce and more.
See the Vegetable
Planting Calendar for more info. To chart the best time for planting
in your area, download and print the UC VRIC's Fall
Planting Schedule, counts backward from your garden's average first
frost date to determine when to plant each variety. (download requires
free Adobe®
Reader®). According to UC VRIC, Sacramento's average first frost
date is November 14. |
LANDSCAPE
TREES: Fall
tree-planting season is upon us! It happens to be the best season for
landscape tree planting. It's an especially good time for selecting fall-color
trees because you'll be able to see what you're going to get in the way
of color, since color can vary from tree to tree (even of the same species). |