YOUR BACK YARD

UC Davis’ California Center for Urban Horticulture announced two programs in the Your Sustainable Back Yard series:

• Pollinator Gardening — The program includes entomologists, horticulturists and design experts “to inspire gardeners and equip them with all the necessary tools to provision pollinating insects in their own landscape.” 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 28. The program starts with formal presentations until 1:15 p.m. in 1001 Giedt Hall. Then, from 1:30 to 4 p.m., workshop participants are welcome to an open house at the Honey Bee Haven and a pollinator plant sale at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

Registration and more information.

• Rose Day — A combination workshop and two-day plant sale, open to the public both days. Each person attending the workshop will receive a free 4-inch Cinco de Mayo rose, recognizing the fact that this year’s Rose Day, the fifth annual, falls on Saturday, May 5.

The workshop opens at 8 a.m. with the Romance and Legend rose tour (in English and Spanish) in the arboretum’s Storer Garden. (This tour is also open to nonworkshop participants, free of charge; see more information in the arboretum event listings.)

The workshop continues at Foundation Plant Services for breakout sessions with rose breeding experts Jacques Ferare and James Sproul, followed by lunch. The program concludes with two tours: the All-American Rose Selection Testing Garden and the Foundation Plant Services Rose Collection.

The plant sale runs from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 6. Roses will sell for $25 per plant, $22 each for five or more, $18 each for 10 or more — with proceeds benefiting horticulture education at UC Davis.

Tours of the eight-acre rose collection will be available from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, via shuttle bus from the plant sale.

Registration and more information.

A Hawk Walk is only the beginning of a great day at the California Raptor Center when it presents its annual spring open house Saturday, May 5.

Meet at the gate at 8 a.m. for the Hawk Walk (and bring binoculars). Otherwise, drop by from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the open house; the museum will be open, and special presentations on raptor biology and ecology are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The Hawk Walk and the open house are free, but, according to a news release, donations will be gratefully accepted during this time of budget cuts.

The center, a program of the School of Veterinary Medicine, provides care for injured raptors (eagles, hawks, vultures and owls), rehabilitating them and, whenever possible, releasing them back to the wild. Birds that cannot be released are trained to take part in the center’s education program.

During the open house, organizers said, visitors will have the opportunity to see many nonreleasable raptors that are housed in display cages. Some birds—including Mikey, a red-shouldered hawk, and Spar, an American kestrel—will be “on the glove” (perched on trainers’ hands) for everyone to see. Mikey and Spar have both been featured on Huell Howser’s Road Trip program on public television

Directions: Take the UC Davis exit from Interstate 80 and turn south on Old Davis Road. Cross the railroad tracks and continue until just before the Putah Creek bridge. Turn left onto the paved levee road. Follow it for two-tenths of a mile and keep on the pavement as the road veers left, taking you down off the levee. Then make a quick right turn into the free parking area.

More information is available online.

AT THE ARBORETUM

Folk Music Jam Session — 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 27, and May 11 and 25, Wyatt Deck.

Romance and Legend: Roses of the Storer Garden — Topics on this tour include the history and geography of wild roses, leading up to today’s cultivated varieties — and why the rose is considered “the Queen of Flowers.” By the way, the arboretum's selected the Storer Garden roses for their suitability for Central Valley conditions. Also, the roses do not require chemical pesticides or fertilizers. 8 a.m. Saturday, May 5, gazebo.

In Search of Native Ants — Entomology professor Phil Ward, who has studied ants for three decades, leads this tour of ant refuges. He will highlight interesting features of the natural history of ants, and talk about the interactions between native ants and the invasive Argentine ant. First hour: walking tour in the west end of the arboretum. Second hour (optional): Bring a bicycle for a visit to remote sites. All ages welcome. 1-3 p.m. Sunday, May 6, gazebo.

Walk With Warren — Warren Roberts, arboretum superintendent emeritus, guides this tour of the native plant garden. Noon Wednesday, May 9, gazebo.

Poetry in the Garden: Justin Desmangles, with musical accompaniment by Harley White Jr. — Desmangles is the host of KDVS Radio’s weekly New Day Jazz, featuring jazz, poetry, political commentary and interviews. Desmangles’ poetry and journalism have appeared in Amerarcana, Shuffle Boil, Konch, Drumvoices and Black Renaissance Noire. White, from Sacramnento, is a pop recording artist, a member of two Latin jazz ensembles and an award-winning bassist with the Harley White Jr. Jazz Orchestra. Noon-1 p.m. Thursday, May 17, Wyatt Deck.

Some Like it Hot: Summer Bloomers and Sizzling Deals — This plant sale (a clearance event at the end of the season) will focus on the stars of the summer garden. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 19, Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

Ethnobotanical Plant Walk and Meditation — The Arboretum Ambassadors present this program on traditional uses of California native plants for food, medicine and ritual. Tea and meditation will follow. 2 p.m. Saturday, May 19, Wyatt Deck.

Wild Family Day — The student group Wild Campus, in partnership with the arboretrum, presents this afternoon of games and activities — all aimed at raising awareness of native wildlife and what the community can do to help preserve these critters. Wild Campus will provide supplies to build pinecone bird feeders, to take home. 1-4 p.m. Sunday, May 20, gazebo. More information is available by e-mail: WildCampus411@gmail.com.

Movie Night in the Arboretum — The Academy Award-winning Avatar, presented by the Arboretum Ambassadors and the ASUCD Entertainment Council. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, on the lawn above Lake Spafford, east of Mrak Hall (bring a blanket).

Davis Shakespeare Ensemble: Henry V — A thorough portrait of heroism as King Henry rallies his outnumbered army to defeat France on its home turf. The ensemble looks at this classic in a whole new way, presenting the war epic with a small cast in an intimate setting. June 14-July 1, gazebo.

All programs are open to the public, and all are free except Henry V. More information on arboretum events: (530) 752-4880 or arboretum.ucdavis.edu (for directions, click on “Plan Your Visit”). More information on Henry V is available from the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble.

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