My neighborhood is having their 2nd annual garden tour on September 17th, and lucky me, I've been asked to participate. As much as I might be stressing about how "unconventional" my garden is, I'm also very excited to share some of my passions with complete strangers, and be able to highlight some of my favorite businesses in the process. The first thing I'm going to tell visitors: protect wildlife and protect the environment. I got my my garden certified as a wildlife habit through the National Wildlife Habitat a few years ago, and I'm very excited to help homeowners do the same with their own gardens. Step one in completing my certification was coming to a mutual understanding with the squirrels! If you live in Sac, you know exactly what I'm talking about!
The second thing I'm excited about sharing is how this is a KID friendly garden. My daughter taught me how to "let go" when it comes to a garden design (the word design is a loose term here- I have no design!). She's picked out half of the plants you'll see in our garden, and I heavily encourage her to consider this space her own. Our garden is also the best CLASSROOM I can offer her. If you have a youngster in your house and want help in getting them outside to enjoy it, please let me know! I'd be happy to share with you what has worked with my daughter, and please feel free to bring your kids to my garden (we are a kid-friendly garden, I won't freak out if they want to pick flowers or eat our tomatoes).
The 3rd thing I will be emphasizing will be LAWN REMOVAL. Yeah, unless you have a soccer team (small shout out to the Team Tigers, my daughters soccer team! Grrrr!), why do we have so much lawn?! To my dear neighbors, we're getting METERS. The cost of water will be going up for us and we have these expansive lawns that we NEVER use. Why not remove the lawn, switch to drip lines, and put in pretty flowers? How about some edibles? Even better: NATIVES! I'd be happy to share some of my favorite resources for doing this!Interested in the tour? Here's the details!
Arden Park Garden Tour
Saturday, September 17th, 2011, 10:00am-3:00pm
Map and passport is handed out at 1213 Eastern Ave. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. For information/tickets contact last3lives@aol.com or call (916) 487-5445
If you're unable to make the tour, please visit some of my favorite businesses listed below (they will all have handouts, catalogs, etc available at my place on the tour). Not only do I stand behind the products these companies sell, but their websites and/or staff are some of the best around and have a wealth of information that will assist any/all homeowners!
Corona Tools offers heavy-duty, durable tools at a reasonable price! For over 80 years they've been in tool making business, building tools that will last you a lifetime. I've had my hedge shears from them for over 10 years, but my favorite tool is their orange snips, which just so happens to be the first tool they ever made. With 10 citrus trees, these snips come in HANDY when I need to pick a lot of fruit all at once! They are also great on my apple trees! Corona Tools was nice enough to send trowels for me to give away to my first 50 visitors on the garden tour- PLUS they are sending a huge basket of tools to be part of our big giveaway! A big thank you to Corona for their generosity- go tell them how much you love their tools on their Facebook page here!
TrailMix.Net is my absolute favorite store! Located in Old Sacramento, they have everything you need to help get your kid (and you!) outdoors! The lovely folks at Trailmix.net have donated a copy of Sharon Lovejoy's book, "Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots" for our giveaway! I adore Sharon's books, but this one is my favorite for any parent wanting help with gardening with their children. In addition to Trailmix.net's recent newsletter, we'll have copies of their famous Old Sacramento Scavenger Hunt for you to do with your children or grandchildren. Check out their website, and "like" them on Facebook!
Authentic Haven Brand's Natural Brew Tea- Moo Poo Tea for your plants! Annie Haven has sent some for us to include in our giveaway- so you might want to get to my place early! For more information on this natural soil conditioner, visit their website or call 949-248-1249. And go "like"them on Facebook!
Costa Farms is one of the premier indoor and bedding plant companies in the US. A few years ago they launched O2forYou, a program to help clean the air in your homes and businesses by offering plants that can improve the air quality in your space that can be tainted by carpets, plastics, and paint. They also just launched GrowingStyle, a premier content destination for indoor plant enthusiast's (also available for your iPhone, iPad, and Android)! They are also on Facebook! And, did I mention I have like 200 plants to give away from them? That's right! We have a bunch of O2forYou plants to give away!
Talini's Nursery: 5601 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento CA 95819. Phone: (916) 451-8150, hours M-Su 8-6. Check them out on Facebook to keep up to date on new items and sales in the nursery! Talini's will be supplying some MaxSea fertilizer packets, plus they will be helping me pimp out my garden with their fabulous selection of garden decor and plants (did I mention they carry Annie's Annuals too?) . Oh- and soon they will be carrying chicken coops!!!!!
Annies Annuals & Perennials: 740 Market Ave, Richmond CA. Phone: Nursery, (510) 215-5301, Orders, (888) 266-4370. One of my favorite nurseries, they are a quick jump off the freeway if you are stuck in Bay Area traffic, not to mention the staff there is super fab- and their selection of plants is mind-blowing! If you have a weakness for plant crack, I have a nice supply of their summer catalog for you plant fanatics to drool over, and I will have a nice stack of coupons for you to go buy plants for your fall garden (after all, Fall is the best time to plant here in Sacramento!). I swear I have tried to grow every single plant they carry, so if you want advice on what will work well here in Sacramento, please come and ask me! And did I mention they are also participating in my garden tour giveaway? Yep! They are! We'll have a few items from them in the giveaway to help you in becoming a fellow Flower Floozie!
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, 125 Clydesdale Court, Grass Valley CA 95945, toll free (888) 784-1722. They have the most extensive supply of organic products for your garden! As much as I love their website and catalogs, I prefer a nice autumn drive to Grass Valley to see the fall colors, and get to visit the nursery and store in person. The staff there are SUPER helpful, and I highly recommend you check out their fruit tree selection. If you come on the garden tour, make sure you ask me about the multi-fruit tree's my husband bought me from there! Visit the vendor table to grab a copy of their catalog (and psssst, there may be some seeds in it for you seedy folks!)
Dripworks, 190 Sanhedrin Circle, Willits CA 95490. If you are interested in converting your sprinklers to drip to utilize the cost/water savings, please check out their website! Not only do they have really cool videos for you DIY'ers, the folks from Dripworks are just SUPER COOL. They visited my garden a couple weeks ago and I fell in love with them, it's SO much fun to meet the "faces" behind the business and I can honestly tell you that Dripworks has your best interest in mind! Go "like" them on Facebook here, and don't forget to sign up for their email list (because you MAY see a couple familiar faces in their videos, like me.....and our favorite local farmer, Farmer Fred!)
H. Potter, Distinctive Home and Garden Accents, (509) 921-1640, if you are on the garden tour, please check out the garden torches in my backyard! They are from H. Potter! If you can convince my husband to let me buy like one of everything from their website, I would greatly appreciate it (you might think I'm joking, but I'm not!). They also have some pretty awesome guest authors affiliated with their site to help you decorate your garden- like Daffodil Planter! She's awesome, I love her, you will too :)
Schreiner's Iris Gardens, 3625 Quinaby Road N.E., Salem, OR 97303, Phone: (800) 525-2367. Not exactly local, but they have an awesome selection of irises (my husband's favorite flower), and they are from Oregon (oh hey- so is my husband!). Two things in life are true, 1.) people from Oregon are cool, and 2.) Irises are some of the easiest flowers to grow, it also helps that they are down right pretty! You won't be able to see the 18 varieties I have from them blooming on the garden tour, but you CAN grab a copy of their catalog and check out the spring time bloom action that your garden may be missing!
Talini's Nursery: 5601 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento CA 95819. Phone: (916) 451-8150, hours M-Su 8-6. Check them out on Facebook to keep up to date on new items and sales in the nursery! Talini's will be supplying some MaxSea fertilizer packets, plus they will be helping me pimp out my garden with their fabulous selection of garden decor and plants (did I mention they carry Annie's Annuals too?) . Oh- and soon they will be carrying chicken coops!!!!!
Annies Annuals & Perennials: 740 Market Ave, Richmond CA. Phone: Nursery, (510) 215-5301, Orders, (888) 266-4370. One of my favorite nurseries, they are a quick jump off the freeway if you are stuck in Bay Area traffic, not to mention the staff there is super fab- and their selection of plants is mind-blowing! If you have a weakness for plant crack, I have a nice supply of their summer catalog for you plant fanatics to drool over, and I will have a nice stack of coupons for you to go buy plants for your fall garden (after all, Fall is the best time to plant here in Sacramento!). I swear I have tried to grow every single plant they carry, so if you want advice on what will work well here in Sacramento, please come and ask me! And did I mention they are also participating in my garden tour giveaway? Yep! They are! We'll have a few items from them in the giveaway to help you in becoming a fellow Flower Floozie!
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, 125 Clydesdale Court, Grass Valley CA 95945, toll free (888) 784-1722. They have the most extensive supply of organic products for your garden! As much as I love their website and catalogs, I prefer a nice autumn drive to Grass Valley to see the fall colors, and get to visit the nursery and store in person. The staff there are SUPER helpful, and I highly recommend you check out their fruit tree selection. If you come on the garden tour, make sure you ask me about the multi-fruit tree's my husband bought me from there! Visit the vendor table to grab a copy of their catalog (and psssst, there may be some seeds in it for you seedy folks!)
Dripworks, 190 Sanhedrin Circle, Willits CA 95490. If you are interested in converting your sprinklers to drip to utilize the cost/water savings, please check out their website! Not only do they have really cool videos for you DIY'ers, the folks from Dripworks are just SUPER COOL. They visited my garden a couple weeks ago and I fell in love with them, it's SO much fun to meet the "faces" behind the business and I can honestly tell you that Dripworks has your best interest in mind! Go "like" them on Facebook here, and don't forget to sign up for their email list (because you MAY see a couple familiar faces in their videos, like me.....and our favorite local farmer, Farmer Fred!)
H. Potter, Distinctive Home and Garden Accents, (509) 921-1640, if you are on the garden tour, please check out the garden torches in my backyard! They are from H. Potter! If you can convince my husband to let me buy like one of everything from their website, I would greatly appreciate it (you might think I'm joking, but I'm not!). They also have some pretty awesome guest authors affiliated with their site to help you decorate your garden- like Daffodil Planter! She's awesome, I love her, you will too :)
Schreiner's Iris Gardens, 3625 Quinaby Road N.E., Salem, OR 97303, Phone: (800) 525-2367. Not exactly local, but they have an awesome selection of irises (my husband's favorite flower), and they are from Oregon (oh hey- so is my husband!). Two things in life are true, 1.) people from Oregon are cool, and 2.) Irises are some of the easiest flowers to grow, it also helps that they are down right pretty! You won't be able to see the 18 varieties I have from them blooming on the garden tour, but you CAN grab a copy of their catalog and check out the spring time bloom action that your garden may be missing!
Urban Renewal Landscaping will be participating in our giveaway by offering TWO of our lucky visitors a free irrigation consultation! I met the owner, Jason, when I got my certification as a Green Gardener, and I'm happy to say that as of a few months ago I have URL helping me with my garden!
Who else might be here? Um.... how about a couple of my favorite local bloggers! If you're interested in bee's, you might want to search for Amy from The Lamm Farm (and if you're coming from out of town, book a room at The Citizen Hotel where she works)! Also, my favorite Davis resident, Kristi, from Not So Crafty might be here too (make sure you tell her congrats on her recent wedding!)
Interested in hearing about other NorCal garden events? Check out Dirt du Jour! They dish the dirt on all garden related events in NorCal, and scour all of the blogs and websites so you don't have to! Sign up for their email list to get email updates on upcoming tours in your area!
Who else might be here? Um.... how about a couple of my favorite local bloggers! If you're interested in bee's, you might want to search for Amy from The Lamm Farm (and if you're coming from out of town, book a room at The Citizen Hotel where she works)! Also, my favorite Davis resident, Kristi, from Not So Crafty might be here too (make sure you tell her congrats on her recent wedding!)
Interested in hearing about other NorCal garden events? Check out Dirt du Jour! They dish the dirt on all garden related events in NorCal, and scour all of the blogs and websites so you don't have to! Sign up for their email list to get email updates on upcoming tours in your area!
Wow, looks like your going to have a wonderful garden tour! Best wishes for a successful event I'm honored to have Authentic Haven Brand "Moo Poo Tea" there with you Annie <|;-)
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