Give your vegetable garden the perfect boost! The UC Master Gardeners Spring Garden Market and Educational Fair is the ideal place to select the right plants for your garden. Choose from a large variety of seedlings such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, herbs, succulents, and other plants specifically selected to thrive in the San Francisco and Peninsula microclimates. In addition, there will be free lectures, demonstrations, and educational tables as well as Master Gardeners available to answer your gardening questions. Free admission and free parking at the Jockey Club Entrance, Gate 15. Sales are cash or check only. All plants are in four-inch pots and cost $5.00 each. Come early for the best selection!

In addition to the large variety of plants, there will be live presentations, educational tables, and partner tables. Live presentations include controlling gophers, success with tomatoes, irrigation, herbs, pest control, and planting young trees. The educational tables include seed starting, IPM plant diagnostics, roses, native plants, herbs, book sales, and succulents. Partner tables include Lyngso, MG Harvest for Neighbors/Each Green Corner, Firewise Defensible Space, Master Food Preservers, and the San Mateo County Event Center. For additional information, specific presentation times and speakers, as well as a link to our plant list, visit our website.

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Choose the affected plant from photos displayed, click on the photo, remove any selections that do not apply, click on the plant names, and continue to filter selections to view the results for a possible diagnoses. Learn more.

Select links to access gardening resources, California Backyard Orchard, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), publications, and finding a local Master Gardener program. Learn more.

Do you need help picking plants for your sustainable home garden? Selecting from the “Arboretum All-Stars” list is an easy way to start making “green” choices for your great looking garden. Arboretum All-Stars are top plants recommended by the horticultural staff of the UC Davis Arboretum. They thrive in California’s Mediterranean climate and have qualities that make them great choices for sustainable home gardens. Use a searchable plant database to pick the perfect All-Star for your garden conditions. For more information, view their website.

Find helpful hints of things to do from January to December. Some examples of spring hints are: prune back herbaceous plants, transplant tomato seedlings, work your cover crops into the soil before they seed, remove aphids from plants with a strong stream of water, start planting summer annuals like lobelia, begonias, marigolds, cosmos, petunias, snapdragons and alyssum, and plant gladiolus, dahlias and lilies for summer blooms. View our monthly checklist.

Looking for plants native to California that are not only pretty but are pollinators and drought resistent? A few resources are: Xerces Society, California Native Plant Society, and Calflora, Or try a native plant database for plants within your zip code. This website will help you find the best native plants specifically for your area that attract butterflies and moths and the birds that feed on their caterpillars, based on the scientific research of Dr. Douglas Tallamy and Research Assistant Kimberley Shropshire.

Browse the website to see all plants on the California Invasive Plant Council inventory, including both invasive plants and “watch” species. Clicking on the scientific name will take you to the Plant Profile where you will find links to more information on the plant.

Until it is safe to open our Helpline Offices to the public due to Covid-19, the Master Gardeners will continue to work remotely. All questions can be directed via email.

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Many, many thanks to all of our Helpline Volunteers who are working the Helpline remotely and keeping our clients happily gardening! For more information, visit Advice to Grow By – Ask a Master Gardener!