The plants of the Nature's Gallery ceramic mural take center stage at the arboretum's first plant sale of the season, this Saturday (Sept. 29) at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery..

As always, garden experts will be available to give advice and answer questions, and the Plant Doctor Clinic will be up and running. The Plant Faire and Sale also features children's activities and music to accompany your shopping.

Nature's Gallery depicts drought-tolerant plants and their associated insects from the arboretum's Ruth Risdon Storer Garden. The sale will feature many of those plants (but not the insects!).

UC Davis students, staff and faculty, plus members of the community, crafted the more than 140 tiles that comprise the mural, recently installed in its new, permanent  home adjacent to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. During the plant sale, docents will welcome visitors to the court.

Nature's Gallery Court and the Storer Garden are not far apart, so, visit both of them — and you are sure to get some ideas about what you may want to buy at the plant sale!

The first two hours, 9 to 11 a.m., are reserved for Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and members of the Davis Botanical Society. Not a member? No worries: You can join at the gate. Members receive 10 percent off theirpurchases; every new members receives an additional $10 off.

Everyone is welcome during the final two hours, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The second and final plant sale of the season is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14 — open to the public the entire time.

The theme is Copy and Paste: Transferring Arboretum Style to Your Landscape, featuring planting plans from the arboretum.

MORE AT THE ARBORETUM

Folk Music Jam Session — Pull out your fiddles, guitars, mandolins, penny whistles, pipes, flutes, squeezeboxes — you name it! — and join your fellow musicians during the lunch hour for a little bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic, klezmer and other world music. All skill levels welcome. Listeners, too! Noon-1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, and Oct. 12 and 26, Wyatt Deck.

Opening Night: Readings by the Creative Writing Faculty — With award-winning fiction writers and poets from the Creative Writing Program. This program features Joshua Clover, Greg Glazner, Pam Houston, Yiyun Li, Joe Wenderoth and Alan Williamson. Co-sponsored by the Department of English. 7 p.m., Wyatt Deck (rain location: 146 Environmental Horticulture).

Take a Walk on the West Side — Alumni Relations co-sponsors this leisurely walk on Homecoming Saturday, inviting alumni and anyone else to take in the arboretum's beautiful vistas and new projects. 9-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, meet at Nature's Gallery Court.

Walk With Warren — Warren Roberts, the arboretum's superintendent emeritus, leads a tour of the west end gardens. Noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, meet at the gazebo. Roberts' walks are scheduled during the noon hour on the second Wednesday of every month; meeting place varies.

Poetry in the Garden: Spring Warren and Jill Stengel — The Davis poets  share their unique works amid the beauty of the arboretum. Warren, who grew up on a Wyoming ranch, is the author of The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn and Fed My Family for a Year. Stengel brings an interest in a number of writing efforts, and actively participates in the poet-moms listserv community. Noon-1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, Wyatt Deck.

Science Café: How Plants and Animals Use Chemicals for Survival and Defense — Chemistry professor Chris Jeffrey of the University of Nevada, Reno, speaks on chemical communications between plants and other organisms, or “chemical ecology.” Co-sponsored by Professor Jared Shaw and the UC Davis Department of Chemistry. 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, Wyatt Deck (rain location: 146 Environmental Horticulture).
 
Ornamental Grasses — A tour of the west end gardens to observe ornamental grasses in their finest season of the year, and to learn more about the design and habitat contributions that the grasses make to the perennial landscape. 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, meet at Nature’s Gallery Court.

All programs are free and open to the public. More information on arboretum events: (530) 752-4880 or arboretum.ucdavis.edu (for directions, click on “Plan Your Visit”).

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