Mark your calendar for new year's first gardening events

Want to watch a master rose pruner at work? The Historic City Cemetery's rose garden will be the site of two Jan. 12 workshops by Stephen Scanniello, known as the "rock star of roses." He's also very entertaining. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Pruning workshops coming soon

Have you started filling in your 2019 calendar yet? (If you don't have one yet, the master gardeners of Sacramento and Placer counties have excellent gardening calendars, which Debbie wrote about here.)

Today's a busy day for so many of us, but the new year will be here quickly. Some excellent pruning events, for example, are scheduled in January, including:

Saturday, Jan. 5
Annual McKinley Park Prune-athon: 9 a.m. to noon. Volunteers prune the dozens of roses in McKinley Park. Open to all. Bring gloves and bypass pruners. Information email: friendsofeastsac@aol.com

Saturday, Jan. 12
Rose Pruning at the Cemetery: 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Rose expert Stephen Scanniello returns to Sacramento's Historic Rose Garden to present two workshops. His running narration as he works on roses in the Historic City Cemetery just may be the best (and most entertaining) one-day education on pruning you can find. $10 donation. He also will speak at the Mount Diablo Rose Society on Jan. 9 and the Sacramento Rose Society on Jan. 10. 1000 Broadway, Sacramento.  www.cemeteryrose.org

Saturday, Jan. 12
Sierra Foothills Rose Society Winter Rose Care Workshop:  8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (rain or shine). This comprehensive (mostly indoor) free workshop covers the basics of rose care and much more. Watch master rosarian Baldo Villegas prune a rose bush in under three minutes!  Learns the secrets to more rose blooms with less work. The workshop wraps up with a chili cookoff. Public is welcome. Questions? Call Kay Jelten, 916-799- 6005. Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive, Roseville.

Saturday, Jan. 19
Open Garden, Featuring Winter Pruning: 9 a.m. to noon.  Free. Sacramento County master gardeners will demonstrate winter pruning of deciduous fruit trees, blueberries, cane berries, grape vines and landscape trees.  Visitors also can learn how herbs enhance landscapes and how to garden in a small yard. Bring gardening questions to the Ask the Master Gardener table. Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks. Information: sacmg.ucanr.edu

For other events during the first months of 2019, see our Garden Calendar here.  Check back soon; we'll update it as more events are scheduled.

Happy holidays!

 -- Kathy Morrison