Which plants are perfect for attracting hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to your home’s habitat? Find out Sunday, September 24 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. from a team of UC-Davis-Arboretum-trained volunteers excited to share their knowledge with the public.
Avid birders Randy Beaton and Sid England required a low-maintenance garden that takes care of itself much of the time. They also wanted to create a front yard that would support native creatures and what better way than by using native California plants.
Years of soil compaction, a turf-covered slope, and a complicated web of tree roots near the surface made Director of Public Horticulture Ellen Zagory’s central Davis yard difficult to irrigate.
Dr. Rachel Vannette and lab members are studying microscopic organisms in the nectar of California fuchsia (Epilobium canum). They want to know if the microscopic composition of the nectar varies throughout the flowers’ age and whether it changes as a result of being exposed to pollinators.
Now, as landscapes are being revamped due to the drought, and lawns are removed or let go, the UC Davis campus, the city and its residents are in a position to serve as an example of how urban areas — particularly urban areas in the heart of agricultural country — can support global crop production through small changes in landscape choices.
On May 11, 2015, Ellen Zagory, director of public horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, was featured along with Dr. Eric Mussen, internationally known bee expert and Extension apiculturist at UC Davis, in a radio interview on KALW in San Francisco.
