UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden » Events

Second fall plant sale showcases planting plans for DIY landscapers

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:25:06 +0000

At the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum's second and final plant sale of the fall season themed "Copy & Paste: Transferring Arboretum Style to Your Landscape," customers were invited to utilize planting plans and ideas from the Arboretum for inspiration! Attendees received print outs with designs created by Director of Horticulture Ellen Zagory with a variety of plant suggestions perfect for any Valley-wise landscape. Download a copy of these planting plans here. Perfect weather, a relaxed atmosphere and recommended shopping lists translated to individual customers purchasing more plants per person than the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum has seen before! Despite the total number of customers decreasing slightly from past plant sale events, their total sales remained steady, no small feat considering the difficult economic times that most nurseries have faced nationwide over the past few years. Thanks go to UC Davis Arboretum volunteers and student groups without whom these fundraisers could not take place! Checkout the photos from the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Sunday Plant Sale here. Photos by Susie Nishio.

Premiere 2012 fall plant sale inspires admirers and acquirers!

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:20:17 +0000

Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum hosted their first plant sale of the fall season on Saturday, September 29. The theme, “Showcasing the Plants of Nature’s Gallery Court,” highlighted the connection between the Nature’s Gallery Court GATEway Garden, the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden and the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. In the nursery, customers were introduced to the wide array of plants featured on the Nature’s Gallery Court mural; at the mural, visitors could see which plants were available for purchase at the nursery; and, in the Storer garden they walked the landscape that inspired the mural and discovered the beauty of the plants in their mature forms. Docents and Arboretum experts were available in each location to answer questions, tell our visitors and customers the story of our latest community-built emblem and assist them in making the right choices for their own landscapes. Great press coverage encouraged another great turnout! Read the articles here: _______________________________________
Link to Davis Enterprise article _______________________________________
Link to Sac Bee article _______________________________________ Link to UC Davis Dateline article _______________________________________ Check out our photos from the event!

“Sizzling” plant sale scorches last year’s numbers

Community Engagement — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:25:14 +0000

"Some Like It Hot: Summer Bloomers and Sizzling Clearance Deals," the May 19 Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale, ended the spring plant sale season with number-busting counts for attendees (+26%) and proceeds (+44%) over 2011's spring closer. Providing region-appropriate plants and outreach to the public helps the Arboretum transform home and community landscapes, share sustainable gardening strategies, and enhance wildlife habitat region-wide. In turn, plant sale proceeds support UC Davis Arboretum programs and operations. Fortunately, May 19 temperatures broke no records. Customers, staff, and volunteers enjoyed a warm, delightful morning amid beautiful plants, advisors and specialists, partner nursery displays, sustainability experts, children, neighbors, plant lovers, and even a few well-behaved dogs! The Regional Water Authority selected this event as one of a handful of "Ask a Green Gardener" sites in honor of Water Awareness Month. The Davis Botanical Society, a long-time partner, sold an enticing array of exotic plants, as well. Many customers offered feedback on signage ideas for the Geology and Animal Science GATEways Gardens on campus. Arboretum volunteers, Solano County Master Gardeners, City of Davis staff, and UC Davis students from Plant Pathology, Alpha Phi Omega, and the ROTC helped to make this popular event a success. SAVE THE DATES! We look forward to next fall's plant sale season with the festive Plant Faire and Sale scheduled for Saturday, September 29, followed by a Sunday sale on October 14. Check out our slideshow of photos from this plant sale!

April Plant Sales: Recap

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:25:47 +0000

The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum are almost done with another successful season of plant sales at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. With four successful sales under their belts (and two record-breaking sales) they have one sale left on May 19th from 9 am - 1 pm. "Some Like It Hot: Summer Bloomers and Sizzling Deals” is one of the featured events in the Green Gardener Program put on by the Regional Water Authority. This is one of the favorite sales of the year, known for its special deals on roses and other select plants. Along with the Green Gardeners, Solano Master Gardeners will be exhibiting irrigation methods that conserve water. The Arboretum will also be soliciting input from customers on newly designed signage ideas for Arboretum gardens, Arboretum t-shirts will be available for purchase, and Swabbies taco truck will be on site. Read a recap of the March 10th Friend Us! Member Appreciation plant sale here. UC DAVIS PRIVATE PLANT SALE The UC Davis Invitational, held Friday, April 13, was a successful new plant sales event designed especially for the UC Davis community, including staff, faculty, students, CAAA members, retirees, and volunteers associated with the UC Davis campus and its professional schools. This weekday sale permitted the Arboretum to open its Teaching Nursery gates to the UC Davis community on a weekday, when folks were already on campus. Late hours permitted members of our Sacramento offices and the Med Center to attend as well. Despite the rain, there was excellent turnout. Sales that brought in more than $13,000 will be used to fund programs and operations at the UC Davis Arboretum. View a slideshow of the April 13th sale here. The 3Bs PLANT SALE: BIRDS, BEES, and BENFICIALS The first public sale of the season: "The 3Bs: Birds, Bees and Beneficials," set yet another attendance record. Featuring plants that encourage beneficial wildlife for the home landscape, this event was enhanced by a vermiculture composting exhibit. View a slideshow of the April 14th sale here. ARBORETUM INVITATIONAL Garden clubs, master gardening groups and landscape designers enjoyed a morning of open-house tours of the Arboretum collections followed by lunching and plant shopping in the Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

Plant sales and excellent press!

Katie Hetrick — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:35:09 +0000

The UC Davis Arboretum Nursery is bustling to get ready for two plant sales. The sales received some really great press so members of the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum have their fingers crossed for an excellent spring fundraising season! Below is the rundown of the week's upcoming sales events as well as the review of where the sales were featured.

TODAY! UC Davis Private Plant Sale, Friday, April 13 from 11 am - 6 pm: In honor of the Arboretum's 75th anniversary, members of the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum is opening the doors to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery for the first time exclusively to our UC Davis community of students, faculty, staff, volunteers, retirees and members of the California Aggie Alumni Association. GO TO THE EVENT PAGE
The 3B's: Birds, Bees & Beneficials, Saturday, April 14 from 9 am-1 pm: It's the first public plant sale of the spring season. This sales event will highlight plants that attract pollinators (birds, bees & beneficials) to your home landscape. And, as always, you’ll also find a great selection of plants that thrive in the Central Valley like Arboretum All-Stars! GO TO THE EVENT PAGE

IN THE NEWS

The UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sales have once again received excellent coverage in our local newspapers thanks to Ellen Zagory, Director of Horticulture and Diane Cary, Director of Communications. Sacramento Bee: Seeds: We need bees, and now bees need our help Davis Enterprise: Sustainable garden highlights pollinators On campus press: Dateline: A plant sale just for us, a plant sale for everyone

Friend Us! Member Appreciation Plant Sale Recap

Katie Hetrick — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:10:34 +0000

The March 10, 2012, kickoff event for the spring plant sale season broke all records for this annual member event. This fundraiser for the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum garnered more customers, more income, more memberships! SEE PHOTOS from the event. For the best slide show click the play arrow, then the four arrows icon in the lower right corner to expand the photo size. If you like to read our captions, click on 'Show Info' link in the upper right hand corner.

Spring Plant Sale season begins March 10

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:12:40 +0000

If you didn't already know, the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum is kicking off its spring plant sale season this Saturday, March 10 at the Friend Us! Member Appreciation Sale. Visit the event page. This sale is for members of the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and the Davis Botanical Society. Our teams have been working hard to make this a successful fundraiser. We have gotten great press and are hoping for big crowds. We hope to see you all there! Can't make this date? Come to our public sales on April 14 or May 19! Plant Sale in the News: UC Davis Dateline Davis Enterprise

Renowned conservationist Dr. Peter Raven lauds Public Garden plan

Katie Hetrick — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:59:26 +0000

Peter Raven, the internationally respected botanist, president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden and a recipient of the National Medal of Science, attended a planning meeting with Arboretum staff and campus partners last month focusing on the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden initiative, a plan to transform campus plantings into sustainable teaching landscapes. Dr. Raven spoke enthusiastically about the project’s potential for educating students and visitors about the university, environmental science and global climate change:

“This is really an exciting moment. The campus is on the verge of dedicating itself to sustainability and environmental issues, with the Arboretum as the center of campus renewal. Building a Central Valley aesthetic is important. With human pressures all over the world, people are wondering how to reform land management. [The public garden initiative] is a great local experiment. This can be a model for the world—a pleasant, interactive campus, with a sense of community and place, a model for how to use land and form cities. I urge you to continue as intensely and rapidly as possible.” --Dr. Peter Raven

The opportunity to include both Drs. Peter and Pat Raven in our planning for this unique initiative was instrumental in meeting a variety of internal goals as well.

"Getting a vote of confidence from a world-renown botanist that our endeavor will succeed is huge. I am inspired to do everything I can to assemble a master plan for this campus that reinforces the connections between global biodiversity, sustainable agricultural systems and climate change." --Bob Segar

"Informing the Ravens about our initiative and garnering their support has not only taken our initiative to the next level for our teams, it has worked to build further support from our academic partners, development partners, and the public garden community." --Kathleen Socolofsky

The Ravens are so confident in the future success of our project, they donated artwork for our future 'Discovery Center.' The piece you see above was purchased at a recent California Native Plant Society auction and slated for a position in their home. Upon learning more about our initiative, they generously donated the piece in support of our mission. For them the piece represents the importance of biodiversity and the support of life in its many forms. We cannot thank them enough! Read about the initiative and this event in the news:

Master planning session with Dr. Peter Raven

Katie Hetrick — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:28:28 +0000

About

Dr. Peter Raven is one of the world’s leaders in botanical research and conservation. Mary Burke, Director of Planning and Collections at the UC Davis Arboretum, has collaborated with Dr. Peter Raven on several projects and was able to help schedule his visit to UC Davis in partnership with the College of Biological Sciences. As Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, widely held to be one of top three public gardens in the world, Dr. Peter Raven well understands how public gardens can serve as the bridge between scientists and the community. Through his insights and experiences, he will inspire our staff and stakeholders with the possibilities for what our campus landscape can be. He can also provide practical guidance on shaping and focusing our vision of the university campus as an innovative and transformative model for public gardens. As UC Davis extends concepts developed in the Arboretum over 75 years to the entire campus, we are thrilled to benefit from the guidance of an expert with close ties to northern California and to our own campus.

In the News

Thanks to Dave Jones of University Communications for the following Dateline articles: Campus in transition to academically-oriented public garden "UC Davis’ Public Garden Initiative is gaining national attention from such luminaries as Peter Raven, the internationally respected botanist, president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden and a recipient of the National Medal of Science..." Click here to read full article.>>> GIS assists Raven in coming here to give lecture " Thanks in part to GIS, Peter H. Raven is finding his way to UC Davis next week to deliver a Storer Lecture. The life sciences lectureship committee first invited the botanist nearly 30 years ago..." Click here to read full article.>>> Other: Dr. Raven will also be giving a lecture as part of the Storer Lecture series sponsored by the College of Biological Sciences on Wednesday, January 18th. This lecture is open to the public. Click here for more details.

Save the date

Katie Hetrick — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:21:46 +0000

Dr. Peter Raven, former director of the Missouri Botanical Garden (widely considered to be one of the top three botanical gardens in the world), is scheduled to be part of a master planning session with our UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden team on Thursday, January 19. Mary Burke, Director of Planning and Collections at the UC Davis Arboretum, has collaborated with Dr. Raven on several projects and was able to help schedule this visit in partnership with the College of Biological Sciences (CBS). CBS has invited Dr. Raven as a speaker on major issues in biology for their prestigious Storer Lectureship seminar series. Thanks are due to the Storer Committee and CBS for extending Dr. Raven's stay so our team may take advantage of his unparalleled conservation and master planning skills to envision UC Davis’ new role as a campus-wide public garden, and help us consider the future of our plant collections and a sustainable, engaging, visitor-friendly campus. More details about this visit will be coming soon!

Fall Plant Sales Recap

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:24:33 +0000

The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum hosted its final plant sale for the fall season on Sunday, October 9. The theme of this sale, Growing a Green Future, celebrated the UC Davis Arboretum's 75 years of sustainable gardening by showcasing landscape plantings that save water, reduce pollution, support native pollinators and still manage to provide jaw-dropping beauty! Attendees learned that by making smart planting choices means they really can have it all! Despite a challenging economy, revenues were almost as high as last year's record-breaking totals, not to mention the fact that our audience grew by over 400 visitors! Thank you to all our volunteers and staff whose efforts continue to make this fund raiser better with each and every sale!

Last Fall Plant Sale this SUNDAY!

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:15:25 +0000

The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum is hosting its second and last Fall Plant Sale of the season at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery this Sunday. In honor of the Arboretum's 75th Anniversary, the theme of this sale, Growing a Green Future, is all about sustainable gardens. Attendees will learn how they can save water, reduce pollution, support native pollinators, and still enjoy a beautiful home landscape.

First fall plant sale a huge success

Katie Hetrick — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:11:46 +0000

Last Saturday’s Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Faire & Sale attracted over 1,300 people--one of the best attended ever--with gross sales estimated to be well above $56,000; a remarkable feat considering fewer people are landscaping during this economic downturn. Designed as the launch for the 75^th Anniversary for the Arboretum, this plant sale singled out 75 favorites of the nursery’s 500 plus plant species as selected by volunteers, staff and community members. When the gates opened, customers were greeted with an inventory of over 17,000 plants, knowledgeable plant advisers, commemorative 75^th anniversary pins, live music, and children’s activities. Mark your calendars! The second and last sale of the Fall 2011 season occurs on Sunday, October 9 from 9 AM—1 PM at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive.

End of the season Good Life Garden herb harvest

Katie Hetrick — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:55:24 +0000

Spread the word and make sure to attend our last-chance free basil harvest. Basil will be removed after this harvest to make room for our fall plants, so get your Ziploc bags ready! WHEN: Friday, September 30 TIME: Anytime between 9 AM and 2 PM WHERE: UC Davis Good Life Garden - in the courtyard of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. click here for directions. Please bring the following items:

scissors or pruning shears
a bag to hold your herbs
wet paper towels to put in the bag with the herbs (if you don’t have a refrigerator to keep them in for the day)

Plant Sale This Weekend!

Katie Hetrick — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:59:19 +0000

If you didn't already know, the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum is hosting its first Fall Plant Sale at the Teaching Nursery on Saturday. The 75th Anniversary and Plant Sales work teams have been working hard to make this a grand celebration. We have gotten great press and are hoping for big crowds. Thanks to Civil and Industrial Services for advertising the plant sale on their electric freeway signs. We hope to see you all there!