An arboretum plant sale this weekend, roses next weekend. Turtles this weekend, raptors next weekend. Four good reasons to get outdoors at UC Davis.

Plant sale — The arboretum’s first and only Sunday sale of the spring season: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. April 28, Arboretum Teaching Nursery. Open to the public, free admission. More about the plant sale and other arboretum activities.

Roses: An “Eyeconic” Weekend — Sale, free tours and free educational presentations. Saturday-Sunday, May 4-5, Foundation Plant Services, 455 Hopkins Road (directions). Free mini floribunda roses for the first 250 people. Free admission. No registration.

The sale schedule is the same both days, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. See the catalog here. Cash or check only; proceeds benefit horticulture education through UC Davis’ California Center for Urban Horticulture.

Tours of the university's "incredible," eight-acre rose field will run from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. both days.

Hourlong presentations are scheduled both days from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the topics will vary:

• Saturday — New Rose Varieties, 11 a.m.; Roses 101 (placement, planting and feeding), noon; Pruncing, 2 p.m.; and Pest Management, 3 p.m.
• Sunday — Training Roses, 11 a.m.; Roses 101, noon; Pruning, 2 p.m; and Disease Identification (bring speciments in sealed plastic bags), 3 p.m.

Turtle Talk and Tour — 1-3 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Wyatt Deck. Undergraduates Jennifer McKenzie and Robyn Screen will present their recent research on the effect of invasive, introduced turtles on the arboretum's native turtles. Followed by a tour of turtle "hot spots" along the arboretum waterway. Free.

California Raptor Center Spring Open House — Saturday, May 4, starting, as always, with the Hawk Walk (meet at the center's gate at 8 a.m., and bring binoculars). The open house runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with presentations on raptor biology and ecology at 10 a.m. and noon. Free, but donations are especially welcome because of recent 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 people to see.

The center’s museum will be open, and T-shirts and other souvenirs will be for sale.

Map and 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. Do not use GPS; it directs visitors to the wrong place.

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