"Our plants are coming home!"

The "home" that Carmia Feldman is talking about is the new UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery, which celebrates its grand opening Oct. 4 during the Friends of the Arboretum's 34th annual Plant Faire.

The nursery replaces one that the university cleared out to make way for the new Health and Wellness Center, to replace the Cowell Student Health Center.

Feldman, the arboretum's assistant director, said signs will be posted at the site of the old nursery and off Highway 113 and Interstate 80 to help people find the new nursery.

The new nursery actually is more visible. The old one was tucked behind the basketball courts along La Rue Road south of Hutchison Drive. (The basketball courts are gone, too; replacements are planned at the Dairy Road Intramural Field.)

The new nursery is on Garrod Drive just south of La Rue Road. Turn south off La Rue, and the nursery is just south of the Unitrans bus yard. Plenty of free parking is available in Lot 55 at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital across the street from the nursery.

The new nursery, unlike the old one, is adjacent to the arboretum -- which means that, some time in the future, if nursery staffing is available, arboretum visitors could stop in to buy what they have just seen in the nearby gardens.

Feldman said "teaching" is part of the nursery's name because "our mission is to make UC Davis expertise available to the public." She said the nursery will host workshops and student internships, and the arboretum will partner with UC Davis' California Center for Urban Horticulture and other groups to put on programs at the nursery.

While the arboretum staff and volunteers waited for the new nursery to be built, they kept growing and tending plants in various locations all over campus. Recently, all those plants -- some 9,000 in all -- came "home."

"We'll have a fantastic selection for the sale," Feldman said. "We have a great inventory," including Arboretum All-Stars, California natives, and plants that do well in shade. (You can check plant availability at arboretum.ucdavis.edu.)

The Plant Faire, the arboretum's biggest sale of the year, includes music and children's activities. The first two hours, 8 to 10 a.m., are reserved for members of Friends of the Arboretum and the Davis Botanical Society. The sale is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Members receive a 10 percent discount. Not a member? You can join or renew at the gate (to get early admission and $5 off your membership fee). Every new member receives a free plant.

More arboretum events.