Blog & News Articles

Blog & News Articles

Wild Grapes in the West-end

Grape work! The barren banks on the west-end of the Arboretum Waterway are now home to wild grape cuttings, thanks to the Waterway Stewardship team.

New Naaay-bors Moooove in!

If you haven’t visited the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden in a while you may notice that there are areas ready for new plantings. That’s because a large part of the area was fenced off for an adjacent construction project to accommodate our Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital’s large animal blood donors!

Detour Near Putah Creek Lodge

Hello visitors! There's another detour in the Arboretum, but never fear—we've got an easy-to-follow map and signage in place to get you around the construction without any issues.

Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds

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

Donor Spotlight: Don Crosby

“Striking!” That’s the word Don Crosby uses to describe the changes he’s seen in the Arboretum during his almost 60 years of involvement as a volunteer, donor, and advocate. When Don and his wife Nancy arrived in Davis in 1961 for Don’s appointment as faculty leader of a new department, they were immediately drawn to the Arboretum by their shared love of plants. Both played key roles in nurturing the growth of the gardens, programs and people of the Arboretum over decades. 

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.)