The arboretum begins its 75th anniversary celebration in earnest this weekend with the Plant Faire, the first sale of the season, Saturday (Sept. 24).

To help get the near-yearlong party started, arboretum staff, volunteers and other friends have picked 75 favorite plants — and you can learn more about them and buy them at the Plant Faire, at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

Read more about the 75 favorite plants for 75 years.

The Plant Faire, with music and children's activities, will start with a members-only sale from 9 to 11 a.m. (for members of Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and the Davis Botanical Society); the gates will be open to everyone from 11 a.m. until closing time, 1 p.m. Admission is free.

The sale will feature hundreds of varieties of plants for Central Valley gardens, including Arboretum All-Stars, and house plants and exotics from the university's Botanical Conservatory. If you need help making your choices, staff and volunteers will be available to provide expert advice based on the conditions in your garden.

Nonmembers can get in early, if they like, by purchasing memberships (or by renewing) at the gate.

Members, including those who join at the gate, receive a 10 percent discount; and every new member will receive a free plant.

The arboretum teaching Nursery is on Garrod Drive south of La Rue Road (the nursery is just beyond the Unitrans bus yard and across from the School of Veterinary Medicine). Free parking in Lot 55 across from the nursery.

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 Friday, Sept. 30, and Oct. 14 and 28. Wyatt Deck.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Presented by the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble in partnership with the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum. 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Sept. 23-25, and Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 2, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, gazebo. See separate story.

It's Oaktober! — A tour of the oak collection, one of the largest in the nation, at the time of year when the trees are preparing to drop their seeds and hunker down for the winter. Learn more about the stages in the life of an oak and check out the great diversity of oak tree shapes, sizes, leaves and acorns. 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, gazebo.

Turtle Talk and Tour — A program for the entire family, Brad Shaffer, professor, Department of Evolution and Ecology, and director, center for Population Biology, discusses research on the interactions between the arboretum waterway's native western pond turtle (a declining species) and non-native, exotic turtles (many of them former pets, released into the waterway). The program also includes a tour of favorite turtle basking spots. 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, Wyatt Deck.

All programs are open to the public, and all are free except A Midsummer's Night Dream. More information: (530) 752-4880 or arboretum.ucdavis.edu (for directions, click on “Plan Your Visit”). 

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