Planting season

With temperatures cooling down, fall is prime planting season for home gardeners.

Clovis Botanical Garden and the California Native Plant Society are teaming up for a Fall Plant Sale & Fair from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. Entrance is free.

The nonprofits will host tours of Clovis Botanical Garden, 945 N. Clovis Ave., just north of Alluvial Avenue, and attendees will have the opportunity to shop from a wide variety of water-wise, drought-tolerant and native plants.

“Fall has officially arrived,” said Ree Coy, Clovis Botanical Garden volunteer and event chair. “We’re seeing a little bit of a resurgence of plant growth, and it’s the perfect time to put things in the ground. If we get some fall rains it will help the plants establish themselves prior to the winter months.”

Attendees can look out for “Ask Me” volunteers, who will offer advice on choosing plants and caring for them, Coy said.

“It’s not just a plant sale, it’s also a sharing of information of what grows well here in our climate. With our help you’ll be on your way to being a successful gardener,” she said.

City of Clovis and Fresno water departments will be present to answer questions about water conservation. Master Gardeners will also be on hand to speak with guests about growing healthy plants.

Children can visit the “make it” table to create a birdfeeder during the fair, Coy said. “It’s a simple gizmo where you take a pinecone and slather it with peanut butter and roll it in seeds. Then you can hang it up at home for the birds.”

Reptile Ron will be at the event from 8 to 10 a.m. to educate the public about reptiles and introduce them to a few of his favorites.

Garden tours will begin at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and the gift shop will be open throughout the day for attendees to purchase garden-related items from books to decor to tools, Coy said.

Casa de Tamales will serve unique gourmet tamales from its food truck.

Clovis Botanical Garden members and California Native Plant Society members can get 10 percent off of their purchases; attendees can sign up to be members during the sale, Coy said.

A plant holding area will be available for convenience, and volunteers will help buyers load plants into their cars, Coy said.

About 500 people have attended past events, so Coy recommends showing up early to get first pick on in-demand varieties.

All proceeds support the two nonprofit organizations. Clovis Botanical Garden continually adds new features, such as its home demonstration garden that shows homeowners possibilities of landscaping their front and back yards.

A sensory garden, the brainchild of CBG board member Elsabe Kruger, is being built especially for children on the autism spectrum and people sensitive to environmental input, Coy said.

“We now have benches in place and a fountain is in there,” she said. “It’s a place where they can go and experience the outdoors.”

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Planting season."