SHOVELS WANTED

Wanted: your old shovels for a vine-inspired sculpture that will be part of the “urban greening” at the east end of the arboretum, where the campus and city connect.

Spades, trowels and shovels of all kinds are being collected through the end of May at this season’s arboretum plant sales and at the city of corporation yard.

Why old shovels? Because the varied shapes, sizes and rusty patterns "will give the sculpture a richness and character that would be unattainable with new materials,” said the artist, Christopher Fennell of Alabama.

And don’t worry about going without a shovel; in return for your donation, you’ll get a coupon from Davis Ace Hardware for 15 percent off a new shovel.

Read more.

The arboretum offers an activity each day this weekend:

• Ethnobotanical Plant Walk and Meditation — The Arboretum Ambassadors present this program about traditional uses of California native plants, and serve tea as an example. 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, Wyatt Deck.

• Garden Ideas Galore — For your consideration: companion plants, container gardening and more, in the Arboretum Terrace Garden. 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14. The garden is next to Whole Foods market in the Davis Commons shopping center, First Street and Richards Boulevard.

MORE AT THE ARBORETUM

• Folk Music Jam Sessions — Pull out your fiddles, guitars, mandolins, penny whistles, pipes, flutes, squeezeboxes you name it! and join your fellow musicians during the lunch hour for a little bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic, klezmer and other world music. All skill levels welcome. Listeners, too! Noon-1 p.m. Friday, April 12 and 26, Wyatt Deck.

• Ethnobotanical Plant Walk and Meditation — The Arboretum Ambassadors present this program about traditional uses of California native plants, and serve tea as an example. 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, Wyatt Deck.

• Garden Ideas Galore — For your consideration: companion plants, container gardening and more, in the Arboretum Terrace Garden. 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14. The garden is next to Whole Foods market in the Davis Commons shopping center, First Street and Richards Boulevard.

• The Foreigner — Common House Productions, in collaboration with the arboretum, presents the Larry Shue comedy play about an Englishman named Charlie Baker, who, while visiting a fishing lodge in Georgia, pretends to be from an exotic foreign country and that he speaks no English. “Join us on Wyatt Deck, our own rural Georgia retreat, for a show complete with grits, debutantes and chipmunks,” the Common House Productions website states. “This zany play is rife with deception and revelations that shine a light on what people are willing to divulge when they think no one is listening.” 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, April 18-19; 10 a.m. Saturday, April 20; and 8 p.m. Sunday, April 21, and Thursday-Sunday, April 25-28. Tickets for all performances except April 20: $10 adults, $8 students, seniors and children. Reservations can be arranged via Common House Productions’ online box office, or by email, commonhouseproductions@gmail.com. The April 20 Picnic Day performance is free.

• Poetry in the Garden: Mariam Ahmed — The featured poet grew up in Folsom and studied English literature as an undergraduate at UC Davis. She enjoys organizing poetry slams and open mic nights featuring local artists, poets and musicians. She teaches creative writing in elementary schools in Folsom and Davis, and edited and published Stories ETC. (Equality Through Creativity), a chapbook of short stories written by children. Noon-1 p.m. Thursday, April 25, Wyatt Deck.

• What's New in the Native Plant Garden? — Tour the recently renovated pathways and plantings in the Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants for examples of native plants that work well in home landscapes. 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, meet at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center.

• Plant sale — Make note of the day of the next sale: It's on a Sunday, April 28, the first and only Sunday sale of the spring season. Open to the public. Members of Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and the Davis Botanical Society receive 10 percent off their plant purchases at every sale. Join the friends organization at the gate to receive 10 percent off, plus a $10-off coupon. More information on membership and the associated benefits.

The spring sale season concludes with a clearance sale, Saturday, May 18. All sales run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

• Turtle Talk and Tour — A history of turtles in the arboretum, presented by undergraduates Jennifer McKenzie and Robyn Screen, who also will present their recent research on the effect of invasive, introduced turtles on the native turtles. Followed by a tour of turtle "hot spots" along the arboretum waterway. 1-3 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Wyatt Deck.

All programs are open to the public, and all are free except The Foreigner, April 18-19, 21 and 25-28 (the April 20 Picnic Day performance is free). More information: (530) 752-4880 or arboretum.ucdavis.edu (for directions, click on Plan Your Visit). Keep up with arboretum news by reading The Leaflet e-newsletter. To start receiving it, send an email to arboretum@ucdavis.edu, with newsletter in the subject line.

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