dirt / By Amy Stewart

Grass au Naturel

This year, Fickle Hill Old Rose Nursery in Arcata will open its gardens on Sunday, May 20, and again on Father’s Day, Sunday June 17, and for a third time on Sunday, July 7. On all three days, the gardens will be open from 1-4 p.m.

Cindy Graebner started this garden 20 years ago, and it is now filled with mature old-fashioned roses, arbors covered with climbing roses, and her trademark mix of perennials, which includes salvia, columbine and other rose-friendly plants. She’s also got shade-loving plants like species fuchsias and unusual shrubs.

Stop by the garden this Sunday afternoon and check it out. She’ll have many fabulous plants for sale, and she always dispenses lots of useful advice for getting things to grow around here. Most of all, her garden demonstrates the roses don’t have to be segregated from the rest of the garden. Check it out.

Fickle Hill Old Rose Nursery is located at 282 Fickle Hill Rd. Parking on site is reserved for disabled and older people, so the rest of you need to follow the signs for street parking on Bayview and Hill streets. For more information, call 826-0708.

Californians for Alternatives to Toxics , the organizers of the annual Organic Planet Festival every August in Eureka, are going to kick off the festivities this year with an organic garden tour. The tour will be held on Sunday, Aug. 19, with the Organic Planet Festival to follow on the next Sunday, Aug. 26.

Right now the organizers are looking for gardens to feature on the tour. They love to get applications from anybody who gardens in an organic or non-toxic way. In addition to flower and vegetable gardens, they would love to include ponds, orchards, greenhouses, wild or wetland gardens — you name it. To apply, visit www.organicplanetfestival.org and fill out an application, or call 445-5100. You can also get more information by e-mailing gardentour@organicplanetfestival.org. Applications are due May 25.

And finally, on Friday, May 18 from 6-8 p.m., Blake’s Books in McKinleyville will host four local authors. Barbara Kerley will sign two new children’s books, the historical fiction novel Greetings from Planet Earth and the photographic picture book A Little Peace . Fantasy author Pamela F. Service will be there with Tomorrow’s Magic , a two-volume reissue of her popular books starring the wizard Merlin. Natasha Wing will have her new book The Night Before Summer Camp , and I’ll be there too, signing copies of my new book Flower Confidential . Please do drop in and say hello.

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