September in Sonoma County

Tickets Now Available for 40th Anniversary Lecture featuring Dr. Matt Ritter, PhD.

California is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots with over 6,000 native plants, many of which are found nowhere else. Join us at our 40th Anniversary Lecture event to hear Dr. Matt Ritter’s presentation “California’s Native Plants and Urban Forests.” Dr. Ritter, an award-winning author, botanist, and professor, will share an engaging botanical tour of California, with natural and cultural history stories of our most iconic plants. Tickets are $20 and seating is limited. Buy your ticket today.

California Native Plants

If you are thinking of adding natives to your garden, this is a good time to start planning. Look through our page on California natives and pick the right plants for your garden.

You may want to start visiting nurseries that offer native plants. Remember, not all the plants are available when you are ready, so you may want to grab them and care for them till you are ready to plant in the fall.

We have a Youtube playlist dedicated to Sonoma California Natives. Two of our most popular videos are Building a Mostly Habitat Garden and Favorite Local Natives.

Wildfire Preparedness

Fire risk is a huge concern in August as is it can be one of the hottest and driest months of the year. By implementing informed landscape practices, and by creating zones of defensible space, we can help ensure our landscapes are more fire resilient, beautiful and safer habitats for wildlife. Read more on Wildfire Preparedness in the Home Landscape.

Climate Forward Trees Webinar (replay)

If you didn't get a chance to join our zoom workshop Climate Forward Trees, this is one you don't want to miss. This video is available on our YouTube channel. Learn how to water trees during the drought and rebates available for efficient tree irrigation. Find out how to select trees that will thrive in our changing climate and, once established, will need little water. We also present the outcome of the Climate Forward Trees project, a list of trees Santa Rosa residents can plant now that will thrive for the next 30-50 years.

Drought is still here! Save Water. https://www.sonomawater.org/drought

Without a doubt we are still in a severe drought! We can all help by saving water. Here are resources and information:

Food Gardening

Visit our Food Gardening web page for monthly food garden tasks and tips and food gardening articles.

Garlic blossom. Image by Michael Reichelt from Pixabay

If you haven't planted your fall and winter food garden, it's time to get busy! You can still plant garlic along with a few other vegetables.

Visit our Food Gardening page to learn more about planting garlic and preparing your cool-weather food garden along with water saving tips and food gardening tips and tasks.

Managing Vining Plants

Video: Managing Vining Plants (time 3:29)

In the late summer, you need to prune the vining plants such as tomatoes and winter squashes to help the formed fruit to maturity. Prune stems, to manage excess vining and encourage larger fruit size.

Check out our YouTube channel to view our gardening videos such as When is a butternut squash ready to pick?

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Buy 40th Anniversary Lecture tickets today featuring Matt Ritter! Limited seating.

Upcoming Events

Note: Registration is required.

Event Name	Date
Succulent Saturday Pop-up Sale - Healdsburg	9/24/2022
Succulent Saturday Pop-up Sale - Santa Rosa	9/24/2022
Resilient Landscaping: Gardening in the Defensible Space	9/27/2022
Plant Sale - Jail Industries- Santa Rosa	10/1/2022
California’s Native Plants and Urban Forests featuring Matt Ritter	10/19/2022

Managing Plant Problems

FIRE BLIGHT

Fire blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is a common and destructive disease of pome fruit trees and related plants in Sonoma County. This includes pear, quince, apple, crabapple, and firethorns. Click here for more information on this disease.