UC Sacramento County Master Gardeners

06/19/2026

🌿✨DESIGN DAY FRIYAY✨🌿

😔 time to get our dilly dallying on! 😌🙌

Log off, engage with nature, do something unexpected! It's good for us and good for the things we care for. 💚

06/18/2026

Native Plant of the Month #2: Coyote Mint, Monardella villosa

Another standout for your garden? After visiting the native plant gardens at Effie Yeaw Nature Center this week, I had to showcase this one.

Coyote mint is a perennial subshrub or groundcover found throughout California. It is known for its mint scented foliage and clusters of lavender colored flowers in May through August. Inland and coastal indigenous peoples of California, including the Nisenan, Maidu, Miwok, Cahuilla, and Ohlone, used coyote mint for stomach upset, respiratory conditions, sore throat and poultices.

Habitat: Locally this plant prefers partial shade and can be found on the edges of oak woodlands and rock outcroppings.

Wildlife: The flowers are known to support bees (pollen and nectar), butterflies, moths, birds, bats and caterpillars.

In The Garden: Locally this plant will do best in well draining soil, partial shade, limited summer water and light pruning to maintain flowers and green foliage. Late summer dormancy is normal. This subshrub will grow 1'-2' high and 2' - 3' wide. It is considered deer resistant.

Close up of coyote mint with small green leaves, clusters of purple flowers and a Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papillo rutulus, butterfly feeding on a flower. The butterfly is yellow with a black outline and markings. At the base of the wings are two tails as well as blue, red and white markings. Photo by Danielle Creedon.

06/17/2026

Stories from the Garden: The citrus leafminer!

Milan was at the edge of the leaf again, but it felt different this time.

The hunger was gone.

He felt full. Bigger. Older. Definitely more mature.

There would be no U-turn today, no return to his childish pastime of endless eating. The winding trail behind him was long enough.

It was time.

Time to pupate.

Time to grow up.

Time to earn his wings.

-the reflections of Milan, a citrus leafminer caterpillar about to pupate into a moth
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Photo and story by Kimberly Steinmann, Master Gardener

Note: Leafminers are the larvae of several different kinds of insects that feed between the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf, creating winding trails, blotches, and patterns known as mines. Surprisingly, leaf mining has evolved in many unrelated groups, including moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies.

A distinctive identifying feature of the citrus leafminer is the frass (waste) trail it leaves behind—a thin, dark line running through the center of the mine like a pencil mark drawn through the trail's maze.

The citrus leafminer begins life as a tiny egg laid on the underside of a young citrus leaf by a small, feathery, silvery-white moth. When the egg hatches, the caterpillar burrows just beneath the leaf surface and begins feeding. As it grows, its winding mine becomes increasingly visible, and the caterpillar itself can eventually be seen within the tunnel, reaching about 3 mm in length. When fully grown, it leaves the feeding portion of the mine and forms a pupal chamber beneath a curled leaf edge, where it transforms into a moth and the cycle begins again.

Older citrus trees can usually easily withstand damage caused by citrus leafminer. Younger trees with high populations of leafminers may experience reduced growth. For more information about citrus leafminer, see: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/citrus-leafminer/ .tab=0

06/16/2026

W**d Management in Landscaping:

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/w**d-management-in-landscapes/ .tab=0

W**ds will invade any area in a landscape including pots, raised beds, and anywhere bare soil is available. Prevent w**ds by planning ahead for new planting areas and using a combination of competitive plants, mulches, and w**d removal by hand. Removing aggressive perennial w**ds before they set seed is especially important. Home gardeners usually won’t need to use herbicides in existing landscapes.

Before and right after you plant:

• Dig out w**ds or remove by hand. Follow up by irrigating, then removing newly emerged w**d seedlings right before planting.

• Solarize the soil using a clear plastic tarp during the warmest, sunniest months.

• Check your soil for compaction and amend if needed. Make sure new soil comes from a reputable source and doesn’t contain w**d seeds.

Establish new plantings as quickly as possible to cover bare areas and shade out w**ds.

Consider drip irrigation in permanent plantings.

Apply an adequate amount of mulch to suppress w**ds.

Mulching is the key to controlling w**ds.

Mulches prevent w**d seed germination by blocking sunlight. Use enough mulch, and replenish it so it continues to suppress w**ds.

Organic mulches (e.g., wood chips, bark chips, compost) are attractive but must be replenished once they break down. Choose a medium-sized mulch (3/4 inch) and keep at a depth of 3 to 4 inches.

Natural inorganic mulches (e.g., sand, gravel, pebbles) are more stable than organic mulches but difficult to keep w**d-free.

Landscape fabrics are porous and long lasting and vary in how long they remain effective. Cover with mulch.

Black plastic is not preferred since it can restrict air and water movement and promote root rots.

When w**ds invade your landscape:

Remove young w**ds by hand before they flower and set seed.

Use a dandelion knife or similar tool to dig up all roots and underground parts of perennial w**ds without overly disturbing the soil.

Use shallow cultivation or hoeing to remove annual w**ds from ornamental plantings.

Use string and blade trimmers for large areas.

Apply mulch to w**d-free areas to prevent further invasions, and regularly remove new w**ds as soon as they appear.

What about pesticides?

When other methods, such as hand-w**ding and mulching, are used, home gardeners should not need to use herbicides.

Use herbicides for special w**d problems or for difficult-to-control perennial w**ds.

Herbicides can injure desirable plants in the landscape, so use these products with great care.

Photo credit:
Joseph M. DiTomaso

Source:
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/w**d-management-in-landscapes/ .tab=0

06/15/2026

Summer Fruit Tree Pruning:

For more information:
https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-sacramento-county/summer-pruning

Tune up your fruit trees with some summer pruning! The photo on the left shows rampant spring growth and some suckers at the base of a plum tree. The photo on the right shows that removal of vigorous upright shoots brought the tree height back down to the desired height, and the base is cleared of sucker growth.

After harvest, some additional summer pruning will help open up the center of the tree to more sunlight to encourage fruit bud development for next year’s fruit.

Caution: hold off pruning apricots and cherries until August to avoid disease problems.

For more information on fruit tree pruning and training see ANR publication 8057 (PDF) on our website.

Photo and information source:
https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-sacramento-county/summer-pruning

06/14/2026

Gardenism

06/13/2026

Every third Thursday, UC IPM (Integrated Pest Management) hosts free webinars, "to learn about pest identification, prevention, and management around the home, garden, and landscape." Register now for these informative webinars!

Join us at noon on the third Thursday of every month to learn about pest identification, prevention, and management around the home, garden, and landscape. This series is free and open to the public but advance registration is required. Please share with others who may be interested.

06/11/2026

Native Plant of the Month: Bush Monkey Flower, Diplacus aurantiacus

Will you add this showstopper to your garden this fall?

While there are over 80 species and subspecies of the monkey flower through the state, the Bush Monkey Flower is native to the Sacramento Valley area. Their profuse apricot orange flowers can been seen spring through summer. One of the best places to see them is along the American River Parkway in the oak woodlands. Their two-lipped flowers are thought to resemble the face of a smiling monkey.

Habitat: Locally this plant prefers the partial shade of our oak woodlands and the upper banks of riparian areas.

Wildlife: The 2" tubular flowers are a food source for a variety of hummingbirds, bats, bees, caterpillars, butterflies and other birds.

In The Garden: requires partial sun, minimal to no summer water, and excellent winter drainage. Mounding, evergreen, woody shrub with moderate growth (2-4' tall, 2-5' wide). Deer resistant.

Monkey Flower species grow throughout California and can be found in a variety of habitats from riparian areas to oak woodlands. Some are tender annuals while others are woody evergreen perennials. The flowers are equally diverse and include shades of orange, red, yellow, pink and white.

Close up of bush monkey flower showing apricot tubular flowers and dark green, narrow leaves.

06/10/2026

What looks like a mess can also be the signs of a happy gardener hard at work!

-Meme by Michelle Leone

06/10/2026

Stories from the Garden: The Longhorn Bee!

Ella hugged the center of the poppy, trying to cover herself in pollen as quickly as possible. She really wanted to get this pollen load back to her eggs before another hopeful admirer interrupted her.

There had been so many suitors today—which was flattering, but also exhausting. Sometimes she wished these guys would spend less time chasing her and more time helping her gather pollen!

-the reflections of Ella, a longhorn bee (Melissodes species)
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Photo and story by Kimberly Steinmann, Master Gardener

Note: The longhorn bee is a native pollinator found throughout much of North America. Females dig nests in the ground, creating tunnels with small chambers where they store pollen and nectar for their developing young. They are frequent visitors to many different garden flowers.

Male longhorn bees do not help build nests or gather food. Instead, they spend much of their time searching for mates and can often be found sleeping or gathering on sunflowers and other composite flowers. Their exceptionally long antennae—longer than those of the females—give this group of bees its common name.

For information about longhorn bees and how to provide habitat, see https://www.xerces.org/blog/clear-space-for-bees-why-pollinators-in-your-yard-need-access-to-bare-ground