Stock your spring garden at these Sonoma County plant sales

SONOMA COUNTY

Farm hop for fun and education

Sonoma County farms and ranches welcome visitors April 29 and 30 for “Blossoms, Bees and Barnyard Babies,” a weekend of farm-hopping for fun and education.

Each destination is a chance to meet with farmers and producers and learn more about their lives, the origins of local food and the soils and systems that sustain the county’s bounty.

Visitors can learn from beekeepers what they can do in their own yards to help struggling pollinators survive. There will also be flower arranging, animal cuddling and petting, from piglets to water buffalo calves, tastings of honey, cheese, wine, olive oil and more, games and crafts for kids and farm stands for stocking up.

The event is put on by Sonoma County Farm Trails. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To receive a schedule and map of participating farms call 707-837-8896 or visit farmtrails.org.

NAPA VALLEY

Tour home kitchens

Gather up inspiration for your home projects, or just entertain your eyes with a great design during the Kitchens in the Vineyards Home and Garden Tour April 28 and 29.

The 20th anniversary self-guided tour includes a mix of five properties, small to estate-sized, all styled by professional designers and florists, and located in the St. Helena area.

A Preview Party Friday, April 28, includes a private, champagne tour aboard luxury mini-coaches followed by a catered dinner at Robert Mondavi Winery.

Tickets for the self-guided tour are $70 in advance or $75 the day of the tour. Tickets for the preview party are $250 and are limited. Proceeds benefit Music in the Vineyards, Napa’s annual chamber music festival Aug. 2-27 at select Napa Valley wineries.

For information or tickets call 707-258-5559 or visit musicinthevineyards.org.

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.

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.

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 lovers 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.

PETALUMA AND SONOMA

Irrigation for ?conservation

Demystify the language of irrigation during a free workshop 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. April 22, at the Petaluma Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sonomamastergardeners.org.

SONOMA COUNTY

Plant sale crawl

Clear out your best cargo vehicle, grab a tarp and hit the road for a plant sale crawl through Sonoma County. Garden clubs and organizations throughout the county are holding plant sales in April, with bargains galore. Here are some for your list:

St. John’s United Methodist Church in Rohnert Park will have hundreds of plants for sale, including tomatoes, zucchini, maple trees, herbs, peppers and house plants, in addition to garden mulch and manure to get them growing, during their Earth Day Festival, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 22. 5150 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. stjohnsunitedmethodist.org, stjohnsumc@sonic.net or 707-584-9780.

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. Arrive early for the best selection. This sale attracts crowds, for good reason.

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 of the sale 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. Saturday, April 22.

Willowside School in Santa Rosa offers thousands of plants and trees at $4 for a one-gallon container during at its periodical sales throughout the season. Next one up is Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5299 Hall Road, Santa Rosa.

Petaluma Bounty Community Farm will have thousands of food plants for sale for your summer garden, with seedlings starting at $3 at their annual Spring Plant Sale on Sunday. 55 Shasta Ave., Petaluma.

The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center holds one of the biggest plant sales this weekend and April 29-30. All plants are cultivated from the center’s Mother Garden, on site. All starts are open-pollinated and are 100 percent certified organic.

Look for a huge selection of edibles, including herbs and greens, as well as perennials, medicinals, Andean tubers, more than 40 varieties of salvias and low-water-use landscaping plants.10 a.m. to 5 p.m. all four days.

Free tours of the center’s 43-year-old organic gardens and testing grounds will be offered at 1 p.m. Sunday and the same time on April 30. Those who become Friends of the Nursery for a minimum contribution of $50 annually, and those who volunteer to work the sale all will receive a 20 percent discount on plants.

To volunteer call Plant Sale Coordinator Mary Zovich at mary@oaec.org. 15290 Coleman Valley Road, Occidental. 707-874-1557. Oaec@oaec.org.

Members of The Healdsburg Garden Club offer a huge selection of plants, from herbs and veggie starts to baskets of annuals and a multitude of succulents. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 29.

They will also offer clipper sharpenings for $5 a tool and will have a special guest offering information on medical marijuana plants. Healdsburg Senior Living Center, 725 Grove St., Healdsburg.

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.

SANTA ROSA

They promise you ?a rose garden

Members of the Redwood Empire Rose Society show off their best blooms during the annual Rose Plant Sale and Rose Show April 29. In addition to beautiful roses to ogle you can buy some to take home, along with great companion plants for rose gardens.

Rosarians will be on hand to answer your rose-related questions. 1-4 p.m. April 29. Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa Ava., Santa Rosa.

SEBASTOPOL

Burbank farm ?open house

Who better to buy plants from than the “Plant Wizard” himself? Luther Burbank’s Experiment Farm at Gold Ridge, where the great horticulturist conducted most of his plant experiments, holds an Open House on April 29 and 30, with a plant sale, docent-led tours, rope-making for kids, refreshments and a special appearance by Lilith Rogers, who tells the story of environmentalist and writer Rachel Carson.

For your spring garden there will be four types of tomatoes, cucumbers, Seascape Strawberries, Burbank’s Amarcrinum (the Naked Lady wearing a skirt), white grape vines, ‘Surprise’ yellow Daylily, Spineless Cactus, mature succulents in decorative pots and more.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. Gold Ridge Farm is located above Burbank Heights and Orchards, at 7777 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol.

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.