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Environmental Education

A bough of mistletoe hangs by a ribbon over a doorway.

Why we kiss under a parasitic plant, mistletoe!

In ancient cultures throughout the northern hemisphere, the time around the winter solstice has long been a season of celebration, feasting, and thanksgiving. On the far northern reaches of the Roman Empire, people like the Teutons and Celts had their own winter rituals centering wheat, oak trees and mistletoe.
A potted winter daphne

The Central Valley garden in winter

In California’s Central Valley, the onset of winter’s cool, wet weather marks the beginning of the growing season for California native and Mediterranean climate plants. Comparable to early spring in colder, continental climates, this is the season when root growth begins and summer drought-adapted plants emerge from dormancy, leafing out and, in some cases, bursting into bloom.
A picture of one of the picks.

Taylor’s Pollinator-Friendly Picks

  • by Taylor Lewis
The Arboretum Teaching Nursery is here for you at the turn of the year to bring you another edition of “Tried and True and something New.” Find some perennial favorites that are sure to brighten up your garden as the weather warms.
Image of a hummingbird drinking nectar from California fuchsia in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.

Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds

  • by Sydney Odman

Did you know hummingbirds move much faster and over considerably larger areas than insect pollinators do? With their fast wings, compact size and slender bills, it's no wonder that these tiny birds play such an important role in our environment. Unfortunately, due to climate change, habitat loss and a variety of other human-caused influences, researchers consider nearly 15% of hummingbird species vulnerable to extinction. 

Pollinator-Friendly Container Plantings

Don’t have the space to create a pollinator-friendly garden? Or maybe you’d just like to add some container plantings to your patio or landscape.

We've assembled four “recipes” for making this DIY project a breeze. All of the plants you find here are currently in our fall plant sale inventory. If one has sold out, we can help you find an appropriate replacement. Just ask one of our experts in the orange aprons.

Download as printer-friendly PDF

Image of Caryopteris × clandonensis 'Blauer Splatz' PPAF Sapphire Surf™

Taylor's Top 5 "New to Us" Pollinator Plants

By Taylor Lewis, Nursery Manager 

With the Arboretum Teaching Nursery nearly at plant capacity, we finally have a moment to appreciate many of the new pollinator plants we have been growing for you this fall. It was way too easy to come up with a list full of fabulous plants that will look great in your garden, attract one or another pollinator, be drought tolerant, and handle our Sacramento Valley conditions. (Download the complete inventory on our plant sale information page.)

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