First Quater Newsletter – 2025

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

It’s the end of the first quarter of 2025 already! Construction on the new Visitor Center is really taking shape as each day seems to bring new surprises. In spite of rain, puddles, and muddy pathways construction continues. The Visitor Center has sturdy walls, massive glass windows, a metal roof, wooden planks under the eaves, walkways, a patio, and a planter seating bench. It’s really coming to life, and we’re excited about each new development.

Upcoming Spring Garden Community Events

• “Wine Walk” in the Garden – April 29 @ 5:30 PM This is a fundraising event planned to raise additional money to complete construction of the Visitor Center, including inside furnishings, outdoor plants, pathways, and a north parking lot. Join us to invest in this amazing project for the benefit of all community members. (See invitation pg. 4.)
• 9th Annual Clovis Trail Fest – Saturday, May 3 from 8:00 AM to noon. This free community event takes place along the Olde Town and Dry Creek Trails from Third Street to Alluvial Avenue. The Dry Creek Trail travels along the eastern fence of Clovis Botanical Garaden, and we encourage participants to end their journey enjoying the garden.
• National Public Gardens Week: May 9 to 18 .

Membership

Members of the Clovis Botanical Garden receive a membership card, a monthly 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 (ahsgardening.org).

Membership starts at $20 per year.

Become a Garden Member.

Volunteers

Garden Maintenance Volunteers Needed!
Spring is a wonderful time to work in the garden, and CBG has many volunteer gardening opportunities! Many trees, bushes and plants are blooming, along with ongoing, determined weeds.

Want to learn more about which plants do the best, thrive locally, and use less water? Learn on the job! You are invited to join the gardening crews on Thursdays, Fridays and/or Saturdays in the morning from 9 AM to noon. We weed and trim in the morning to keep the garden looking its absolute best. Interested?

Volunteer at the Garden. You will be contacted to schedule your participation.

First Quarter Garden & Board Activities

Garden Maintenance:

The garden crew has been busy, even though the weather has varied from beautiful sunny days to those that are wet, damp, and chilly. The Ornamental Grasses area was thoroughly weeded, then landscaping cloth and mulch was applied to minimize weed propagation. Repair of the irrigation system is ongoing, as well as pruning and weeding throughout the garden. The volunteer work of all garden maintenance volunteers is invaluable and essential for the garden to thrive. With their hard work and Mother Nature’s Spring blossoms, the garden looks beautiful!

New Sheds:

Two additional sheds have been added to the garden, thanks to the donations of Anne Clemons and Pat Wynne. One will be used primarily for volunteers to sign-in and the other for additional storage. The new sheds are greatly appreciated!

Community Presentations:

Board Members Pat Wynne, Rodger Pachelbel and Carole Bence have attended several meetings of leadership groups within our community. Presenters discussed the mission of the garden, the various areas within, the many changes over the past 20 years, and additional support needed to complete the Visitor Center project.

Collaboration with Fresno State:

Students of professor, Cheryl Gardner, (Department of Media, Communications and Journalism) will collaborate with the CBG Board on various projects to the benefit of all involved. The project this year will focus on developing social media content for CBG and promotional content for the fundraiser. Students are Tabitha Holt, Justiss Sidhu, Yareli Mundo and Taylor Souse. Board Member, Rodger Pachelbel will serve as liaison between the two groups. We are excited and looking forward to collaboration with the students who will keep us current regarding social media trends and public relations.

Fresno Home and Garden Show:

Volunteers manned a CBG booth at this annual event to promote awareness of the garden – the “hidden gem” in our community.

Attention Artists!

Although the ribbon-cutting and opening of the new Visitor Center is months away, we have already started planning. Inside the Visitor Center, space is designated for a gift shop with beautiful custom display cases and shelves. We hope to showcase and feature multi-media items created by talented, local artisans.

Ideally, we will have a wide variety of “one-of-a-kind,” garden-related artworks to sell to those who visit the garden and are looking for something special to enhance their home interiors and landscapes.

Those interested in selling their artistic creations in the gift shop of the Clovis Botanical Garden are encouraged to contact the following for details: [email protected].

15 Fun Facts About Bees: Did You Know?

1. Only female bees can sting.
2. Pollinators are responsible for 1 in every 3 bites of food we eat.
3. Like humans, bees sleep when they need rest.
4. Despite popular belief, bees tend to be gentle natured.
5. Most bees do not die after stinging.
6. Unlike wasps, bees do not eat meat.
7. Bees hibernate or go dormant during the winter.
8. Bees aren’t the only insect that produces honey.
9. Female bees make up the majority of the beehive.
10. Carpenter bees are the largest native bees in the US.
11. Honeybees can have over 50,000 bees in a single hive.
12. A queen honeybee can lay over 2,000 eggs per day.
13. There are more than 20,000 bee species.
14. Bees have five eyes.
15. Ancient Egyptians used honey as food and medicine.

Referenced from learnbee.com

Spring in the Garden!

January

February

March

Tips For The Central Valley Gardener

by Elinor Teaque
Drought-tolerant and water-wise gardens tend to feature perennial Mediterranean herbs in their landscapes. Mediterranean herbs are ideally suited to dry or xeriscape gardens and to the arid, hot climate here in the Central Valley. In fact, they are so well-suited to our weather conditions that some species often grow extremely vigorously here and become huge and unruly. The roots of some species in the origanum family (oregano, marjoram) as well as fern tansy, lemon balm and artemisias are highly invasive in our climate and can rapidly take over an entire garden. Some species of sages or salvias (which do require deep watering in our summers) can grow 10 feet high and 5 feet wide in the Central Valley without selective pruning.
Although Mediterranean herbs may be ‘easy care’ plants in other climates, Central Valley gardeners should plan to maintain a regular routine of pruning back, reshaping, replacing, and harvesting the herbs in their gardens. Gardeners should also measure the available space and choose varieties of Mediterranean herbs that will fit that space at maturity.

Members of the origanum family should be contained in pots to minimize their roots’ access to the garden soil. They are all escape artists though. Plan to repot them yearly making sure to cover the drain hole with fine-meshed window screen material.

The growth habits of members of the salvia family can be controlled by removing spent flower stalks at the base during the growing season and by cutting back the entire plant to about 6 or 8 inches high in winter.

Culinary herbs are best harvested in April when the volatile oils that make them so flavorful are at their highest level. Harvest lavenders, thyme, and rosemary for drying just as the bud flowers begin to open in April. The flowers of culinary herbs are edible and tasty. Most herbs do not require fertilization; however, any plant that produces a crop does need fertilizing to replace lost nitrogen. Culinary herbs should be fed once a year after the spring harvest with an organic low-nitrogen fertilizer at half the recommended rate.

A Message from President, Anne Clemons

Wow! The newsletter sums up all the projects in the garden complete with pictures. I’m tired just looking at them!!

The Iris has started blooming in the new Iris Garden planted and maintained by the Fresno Iris Society. The ornamental grass area is getting a lift with landscape cloth and wood chips between the plants to discourage weeds and give a more finished look. Thanks to Perry Coy and the Thursday Volunteer crew for continuing their work.

We’re excited about hosting the first event in the garden since construction of the visitor center started. The “Wine Walk in the Garden” is an opportunity for small groups to stroll and view the changes up close with a knowledgeable tour guide…and of course, participate in furnishing the brand-new visitor center. Join us for an evening of fun.

Enjoy Spring, Everyone!

Board Members

Advisory Committee

Garden Consultant

• John Pape