3rd Quarter 2024: In the Garden

Garden Mission: To promote water conservation in the California Central Valley landscape through excellent gardens, exhibits and programs that educate and inspire the public.

3rd Quarter Activities

July, August and September brought high temperatures to the valley, and our garden struggled to survive and thrive. The much-anticipated Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Visitor Center was held on July 31st to the delight of approximately 80 garden visitors, volunteers, and community leaders. It was an opportunity to celebrate a new beginning for the garden with community supporters. The brief program included comments from architect, Art Dyson and CBG’s president, Anne Clemons. Jeff Millard played the Swirl chimes to add a musical note to the festivities. Luncheon refreshments, provided by Board Members, Pat Wynne, Anne Clemons and Carole Bence, were served in the pavilion following the ceremony.

The following week, construction of the new Visitor Center began – HORRAY! It has been exciting to watch the progress as each day passes. Temporary fencing was installed around the worksite inside the garden, which will enable the garden to be open for visitors most of the time. (Please visit our Facebook page for closure notifications as needed for safety reasons.) The ground was graded and leveled. Lines were drawn and trenches dug for utilities. Rebar and wood forms were installed to lay cement footings.. Good progress has been made so far!

Upcoming Event

Attention Volunteers!

CBG’s Annual Volunteer Appreciation event will be held on Tuesday, October 29th from 5:00 to 6:30 PM at Bobby Salazar’s in Old Town Clovis. This is an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the dedication of wonderful volunteers who support the garden in so many ways
Please RSVP to 559-298-3091 or email to: [email protected]

Social Media

• Video interview with Art Dyson, architect for the Visitor Center
• Video featuring Jeff Millard playing the “Swirl” chimes in the Sensory Garden
• Architect’s visionary rendering video of the Visitor Center is now available on the CBG Facebook page.
• An article appeared in the Clovis Roundup, titled “Things to Know and Places to Go in Clovis: Discovering the Botanical Gardens” by Steven Sandage (June 25th). It highlights the wonderful features of the garden and an interview with Anne Clemons.

Welcome to our New Members!

Members of CBG receive a membership card, a quarterly newsletter, a digital subscription to Better Homes & Gardens, and free admission to many public gardens in California and around the country through the American Horticulture Association Reciprocal Admissions Program. See all gardens around the nation and abroad that provide reciprocal admission.

Opportunities to Support the Garden

The Clovis Botanical Garden has many opportunities for volunteers to work in the garden with a congenial crew you will enjoy getting to know. Colorful shade trees, bushes and plants line the pathways, as well as healthy weeds that need attention. Volunteers help the garden thrive, as they make friends and learn more about growing water conservation plants that grow beautifully in local landscapes. You are invited to join the Gardening Crews on Thursdays, Fridays and/or Saturdays in the morning from 8 to 11 AM. Work hours are early to beat the heat, as the crew weeds and trims to keep the Garden looking its absolute best.

• Thursday Crew: Ree Coy, Supervisor
• Friday Crew: (1st and 2nd Fridays of the month only): Lorie Hutzler, Supervisor
• Saturday Crew: Anne Clemons, Supervisor

You can also support the garden through membership and donations. While funding to begin the construction of the Visitor Center has been secured, additional resources are needed for interior furnishings, the north parking lot, and general garden maintenance.

Groundbreaking Ceremony And Luncheon – July 31, 2024

Construction of the New Visitor Center Begins!

Tips For The Central Valley Gardner: Fall Activities

By Elinor Teague

The next three months are the busiest of the year for Central Valley gardeners. This may seem like a long chore list but take it one day at a time this fall, and your garden will be in good shape when spring arrives in late January.

In October, we pull out summer vegetables and annuals and put in fall and spring-blooming annuals and cool-season crops. We also do a thorough fall cleanup of weeds and hiding places for pest insects, and we give a last light fertilization of this growing season to flowering perennials like roses during the first two weeks of October.

The heat spikes that our valley suffered this last summer caused a lot of damage in our gardens. This October, it would be wise to evaluate the condition of those plants that survived the brutal heat and drought-tolerant varieties. We should also begin to deep irrigate heat-stressed large landscape trees, as well as fruit and nut trees, at least bi-weekly in the fall to soak the roots as they enter dormancy.

Pruning of deciduous trees and buses begins in November, as soon as all the leaves have fallen from the plants. Different species drop their leaves at different times so that it is possible to stage successive prunings throughout the month. Peach and nectarine trees that show signs of peach leaf curl, a fungal disease, should be treated with a copper-based fungicide right after leaf fall. Trees and bushes that have had serious infestation of pest insects, including aphids, whiteflies, and red spider mites, can be sprayed after leaf fall with horticultural oils that will smother the pest insects and their overwintering eggs.

Spring-blooming bulbs should be planted before Thanksgiving in our climate zone to give them enough chill time to flower properly in spring.

We get a break from garden chores in early December, but bare root trees and buses arrive in nurseries and garden centers in late December and early January. The bare root selection is the best and prices can be one-third less. Plan on a nursery visit to celebrate the New Year.

President’s Message – October 2024

The groundbreaking ceremony for the visitor center on July 31st was well attended by members of the Clovis community. Support of the city of Clovis and community members is essential for the garden’s success and very much appreciated.

Construction began on August 5! Watch the progress on Facebook and Instagram. The words now are “remain flexible,” since occasional closures may be needed for visitor safety.

Thanks to social media students at Fresno State for revamping the CBG Facebook and Instagram pages. Their help was invaluable and ready just in time for documenting the progress on this major amenity for the garden. The garden’s success is the result of many dedicated volunteers working together to make the vision of a thriving Botanical Garden in Clovis a reality.

Anne Clemons, President

Board Members

Advisory Committee

Garden Consultant

John Pape