Floral Fandango, A Global Celebration! Visit the Hall of Flowers at the Sonoma County Fair, and take a whirlwind trip to visit celebrations around the world. The Floral Fandango Flower Show is included with Fair admission and opens daily at Fair opening: August 7-8-9 and 15-16 at 10 a.m.; August 10-14 at noon: sonomacountyfair.com/pages/tickets The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership is partnering with the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County for the fourth year to create a water smart educational demonstration garden in the Garden Courtyard outside the Hall of Flowers. Find the Garden Courtyard between Linwood Avenue (Mexican Village)…

Join Santa Rosa Water every third Saturday of the month for their joint creek cleanup on the Greenway. Meet at Olive Park Footbridge (near 1698 Hazel St.) at 10 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate in the cleanup of this restored section of creek in downtown Santa Rosa. It’s home to a variety of aquatic and terrestrial species, including heron, steelhead trout, and river otters!

Do you have a lamp, small appliance, textile, or bike in need of repair? Bring it to the Repair Fair! Volunteers and specialized repair professionals will be on-hand to repair* your items. Please stay with your item while it’s being fixed, so you can learn tips for future maintenance, how to shop for repairable goods, and even how to repair things yourself! If you’d like to bring an item to repair, please register the item here. (Pre-registering allows them to prepare for your item!) This is a free public event. *There is no guarantee your item(s) will be repaired, depending on the existing…

Our aquatic environments need your help! Program Location: Riverfront Regional Park Meeting Place: Redwood Grove Group Picnic Area Whether lake or ocean, aquatic environments teem with life. They can also become repositories for trash and be overrun by invasive species that threaten that life. Remove trash, and possibly invasive species, to keep our shoreline and aquatic ecosystem healthy for native species. Snacks, refreshments and additional support of Regional Parks’ volunteer programs generously provided by Sonoma County Parks Foundation: https://www.sonomacountyparksfoundation.org/. Registration required. Recommended that participants dress in layers, wear comfortable, closed toe hiking shoes and bring a hat and sunscreen. Parking…

Program: Discover the world of perennial vegetables—long-lived plants that return year after year, providing nutritious food with minimal effort! This presentation profiles a number of delicious vegetables you can grow here in Marin and explores a “plant-it-once” system that builds soil health and biodiversity. Learn about these hardy, sometimes drought-resistant plants to potentially include into your garden. They are productive, beautiful, and can keep you in food all year long. Speakers: Keri Pon has been a UC Marin Master Gardener since 2011. She has been involved with the Edibles Guild since 2013 and has also worked with the Indian Valley Organic Farm and…

Learn how to create and maintain a firewise, sustainable garden that supports biodiversity while meeting County code requirements. This workshop covers plant selection, placement, and maintenance practices that preserve and even enhance wildlife habitat — while keeping your property and neighborhood fire-safe. Topics include: Firewise landscaping recommendations for the 0–5′ (including new State Zone Zero regulations), 5–30′, and 30–100′ defensible space zones, with specific plant recommendations for each. Practical strategies for reconciling sometimes-conflicting guidelines, so you can achieve a landscape that’s beautiful, biodiverse, water-wise, energy-saving, and fire-safe all at once. A grounded understanding of what sustainability really means for a…

Join Daily Acts in learning about summer pruning at one of their most mature demonstration gardens, The Cavanagh Center Food Forest, home to a diversity of fruit trees of varying species and ages. You’ll leave this program with a better understanding of : Pruning best-practices Winter pruning vs summer pruning (with an emphasis on summer cuts) How seasonal pruning benefits tree health and production They’re pleased to be collaborating with Clare Riesman, local arborist and farm & garden educator to learn how to make summer pruning cuts on stone fruit (plums, apricots), pome fruits (apples, pears), figs, and pomegranates. *Note* This program will include an outdoor…

Registration recommended | This Event is FREE!  |  Food & drink will be provided! Join SSU’s Center for Environmental Inquiry, SSU’s Kinesiology Department, and community members to celebrate the unveiling of the new and improved SSU Native Plant & Butterfly Garden and Copeland Creek Trail. Come celebrate major milestones in this interdisciplinary project, involving more than a dozen departments and groups on and off campus. Meet the students, faculty, partners, and others who made this collaborative endeavor a reality. Also, check out the new QR code educational activities along the trail, and enjoy a revamped garden, new seating, and interactive…

Program: Composting, the mystery of gardening! Join us and learn how to compost using kitchen and table scraps, dry and moist plant material to create nutrient-rich organic matter. Compost will improve your soil and plants, while at the same time reducing the waste in our landfills. Speakers: Joan Irwin has been a UC Master Gardener since 2003. She presents frequently on composting, organic gardening and community gardens. She learned to love gardening from her grandmother in Michigan and has gardened in the Bay Area for 40 years. Joan has degrees from the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley. Cost: FREE Sponsors: Marin Master Gardeners…

Join the City of Santa Rosa and other Creek Protectors every first and third Saturday of the month for their creek cleanup on the Greenway. Meet at Olive Park Footbridge, near 1698 Hazel St at 10am. All ages are welcome to participate in the cleanup of this restored section of creek in downtown Santa Rosa. It’s home to a variety of aquatic and terrestrial species, including heron, steelhead trout, and river otters! SIGN UP HERE Event registration will be used to inform participants in the case of cancellation.

Program: Ground covers serve many functions in the landscape, including suppressing weeds, reducing erosion, replacing lawns, softening hardscapes, and filling in large expanses. Native groundcovers have the benefits of being adapted to our environment and supporting native biodiversity. In addition, they often require little maintenance or water. In this presentation, we will discuss seventeen of our favorite native groundcovers. Speakers: Kathy Hunting, a Master Gardener since 2014, is an environmental health scientist by training. She lives on a sunny acre in Point Reyes Station where her garden is full of tasty vegetables and fruits. She also attempts to grow ornamentals that the…

Get your hands dirty for a good cause—volunteer in the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation native plant garden and help pollinators thrive. Snacks provided! Share Your Passion for Pollinators! Help the native plant garden flourish while connecting with community and nature. Volunteers play a vital role in keeping the Laguna Environmental Center beautiful and thriving. Typical tasks include planting, pruning, weeding, and spreading wood chips—there’s always something rewarding to do! The diverse landscape features native wildflowers, grasses, sedges, forbs, and trees, along with special highlights like a living willow tunnel in the Children’s Playscape, a scenic bridge over a swale,…