Events to jumpstart your growing season in Sonoma County

SONOMA: Bubbles & Blooms Festival set

Gloria Ferrer Winery toasts the return of spring with its annual Bubbles & Blooms Festival, where solid information on sustainable gardening is served the Wine Country way - with a glass of bubbly.

Timed to Earth Day, the Saturday festival features talks on sustainable gardening and composting and the best uses of succulents and color in baskets and containers. Highlights include vineyard tours, hands-on floral workshops and an indoor floral market with ready-made arrangements for sale, food and wine pairing and on-the-go snacks.

Tickets are $65. Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. 23555 Arnold Drive, Sonoma. For information and tickets visit gloriaferrer.com.

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GLEN ELLEN: Visit Quarryhill Botanical Garden

Quarryhill Botanical Garden opens its gates to visitors for free Saturday with a big lineup of activities and presenters, all in celebration of Earth Day.

The Sonoma County Beekeepers Association, the Living Treasures Succulent Project, NorCal Bats and The Hungry Owl Project are among the groups that will have displays in the garden. This is also a chance to buy rare and unusual Asian plants for your garden that have been propagated from plants at Quarryhill, a 25-acre botanical garden created directly from seed collected in the wilds of China.

There will be cultural performances, wildlife to meet, rare gems, bubbles, face painting and arts and crafts for kids and other activities. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. $10 parking. 12841 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen. Quarryhillbg.org or 707-996-3166.

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FORT BRAGG: Rhododendron Show coming

The North Coast is one of the best environments for rhododendrons. The region has celebrated these showy bloomers since the first Rhododendron Festival at Van Damme State Park in 1937. Rhodie loves will again converge on the North Coast on Saturday and Sunday for the 40th Annual Rhododendron Show at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Co-sponsored by the Noyo Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, the juried show will feature more than 700 entries, including flower trusses, plants, bonsai, photos and floral arrangements of rhododendrons. There will also be plants for sale, educational displays and refreshments. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Free. 18220 N. Highway 1, Fort Bragg. 707-964-4362.

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PETALUMA AND SONOMA: Irrigation for conservation

Demystify the language of irrigation during one of two free workshops put on by the Sonoma County Master Gardeners. Learn about basic irrigation equipment, how it functions and fits together and how to convert your spray irrigation to drip. Saturday at the Petaluma Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sonomamastergardeners.org.

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SONOMA COUNTY: Plant sale crawl slated

Clear out your best cargo vehicle, grab a tarp and hit the road this weekend for a plant sale crawl.

Garden clubs and organizations throughout the county are holding plant sales Friday-Sunday.

The Men's Garden Club sets up a concession inside the Coddingtown Mall Friday and Saturday, with geraniums, tomatoes, succulents and dish gardens, among other finds. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

On Saturday head out to Yulupa Avenue for a two-fer. The Harvest for the Hungry Garden at 1717 Yulupa Ave. and the Santa Rosa Garden Club at 2050 Yulupa, are both holding their annual sales piggy-back style from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Harvest for the Hungry is food central with hundreds of edible starts, both heirloom and hybrid varieties. The Santa Rosa Garden Club emphasizes drought-tolerant and deer-resistant plants, as well as a selection of topiaries and succulent dish gardens created by members.

A special attraction will be a selection of mature rose bushes dug up from the garden of a member who is moving. Bring your dull tools for a sharpening by Art Dowling the “Tool Man.” He will be available at 11 a.m. and give a brief talk on tool maintenance at 11:30 a.m.

Club members have also dug through their garages and sheds for an indoor garage sale featuring garden-related items. For details call 707-537-6885 or email gardenclubevents@yahoo.com.

The Windsor Garden Club holds a plant sale on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of the Windsor Earth Day Festival on the Green.

The Valley of the Moon Garden Club will be out in force from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., with vegetable and herb starts, perennials and pollinator plants and handmade bluebird houses.

The Green Thumb Garden Club in Cloverdale will be in the Ace Hardware parking lot, 750 S. Cloverdale Blvd., with an abundance of riches grown or transplanted from their own gardens, along with white elephant finds. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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ROHNERT PARK AND SANTA ROSA: Varmint control

Learn how to reclaim your garden from pesky gophers during one of two free workshops led by Master Gardeners Fred Revetria and Tom Donovan. They will cover traps and how to tell trails and markings of gophers. Saturday at the Rohnert Park Library, 6250 Lynne Conde Way, and April 29 at the Rincon Valley Library, 6959 Montecito Blvd., Santa Rosa. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

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ROSS: ‘New American Garden' class

The new American Garden School is holding a class on “The New American Garden” April 22 at The Marin Art and Garden Center.

The comprehensive course will cover the necessary components that go into creating gardens that are interactive and environmentally sensitive and move beyond the common, water-sucking lawn.

The class will cover site analysis, design, plant needs and soil health, weed, pest and disease control and irrigation design.

The class ends with small bits and wine. 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The American Garden School is geared to home gardeners, landscapers, school garden coordinators and very small farmers, who may not have the time to commit to college-level horticultural classes. Classes are taught by horticulturist, designer and Press Democrat columnist Kate Frey, and landscape manager and designer Christa Mone. The classes focus on themes timely to western gardening, including drought-tolerance, organic and science-based practices and sustainable methods. The class is $130. 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. 415-455-5260, or magc.org.

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SANTA ROSA: Architecture course set

For those who appreciate Bay Area architecture there is a new short course starting April 19 at Santa Rosa Junior College.

“The Architecture of Julia Morgan and Bernard Maybeck” will explore in depth some of the most significant buildings by these two titans of early 20th century architecture, who were classically trained in Paris, associated with the Arts and Crafts movement but ultimately were eclectic.

The class will meet from 3-5:30 p.m. Wednesday for six weeks in Room 4246 of Doyle Library on the main Santa Rosa Junior College campus. The class is taught by Mark Wilson, a junior college art history instructor, who has written books on both Morgan and Maybeck. For information call Wilson at 510-273-9393 or visit communityed.santarosa.edu.

Send Home and Garden news to meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or call 707-521-5204. Please submit items at least three weeks in advance of an event.