Arboretum Links

Off to a Great Start  

Behind-the-scenes recordkeeping helps plant sales run smoothly 

Under the leadership of Nursery Assistant Francesca Claverie, Volunteers Christina Craig-Veit, Kristi Davis, and Jennifer Robinson constitute the Nursery Records Team, responsible for maintaining nursery plant inventories, entering propagation results, and updating the plant database and label information. Volunteer Roberta Burke provided essential help to the effort leading up to the formation of this new team.

The UC Davis Arboretum uses a computer database (BG-Base) to keep track of data on all its plant collections. The Nursery Records Team specializes in recording data just on the Arboretum's nursery plant collections. Using data sheets generated by the Nursery Propagation Teams, the Nursery Records Team enters data into BG-Base every Wednesday morning in the Arboretum library. Plant data includes an accession number, which identifies the genetic source of the plant specimen. Plants that are propagated at the Arboretum are also assigned a specific propagation number (P#) so that the nursery can track propagation methods and success rates.

Remember those white plant labels in every plant sold at the Teaching Nursery? Those labels display more than the plant name, price, and a barcode! On the front of the label, the plant's accession number appears underneath its botanical name. On the back of the label, an assigned propagation number, if any, will follow "P#." While these tracking numbers are used internally by Arboretum staff to ensure correct labeling and monitoring of plants, they can also help plant buyers locate plants with the same (or different) genetic origins or from the same (or different) propagation batches! This information (and more!) would not be available without the careful work of the Nursery Records Team. 

Fall Plants Sales Surpass Records  

The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum's bountiful fall plant sales offered a record number of customers a choice of more than 17,000 different plants representing more than 500 plant varieties! Appreciative customers, many lured by enticing coverage in October's Sunset Magazine as well as features in local and regional media, filled the Teaching Nursery at both public sale events. Our second sale, an experiment in holding a plant sale on a Sunday for the first time ever, drew in the most customers of any second fall plant sale we've put on! In addition, the Teaching Nursery squeezed in a fall Tour & Shop event, hosting two regional gardening groups and two high school horticulture classes for a private sale. Volunteers working at plant sale events included more than the Arboretum's regular volunteers. Friends Board members, Cal-Aggie Student Alumni, UC Davis Rotoract members, Alpha Phi Omega students, ROTC cadets, and many others pitched in to make these sales extra special for the Arboretum's 75th Anniversary. In the year leading up to the 2011 fall sales season, efforts by curatorial, plant records, nursery, and propagation volunteers prepared the plants and inventory records that made this such an unforgettable fall plant sales season. Super job, everyone!

View a 2011 Fall Plant Sale mini-slideshow by clicking here.

Let It "Bee" Known: Volunteer Favorite Plants a Hit!

The Sacramento Bee has begun a new Home & Garden weekly series of plant articles entitled

"Community Favorites," based on the Arboretum's 75 Plants for 75 Years program, designed to commemorate the Arboretum's 75th Anniversary. Debbie Arrington, a garden writer for The Sacramento Bee, was so enchanted by our 75 favorite plants selected by Arboretum volunteers, staff, and supporters that she is featuring each of them in this series of articles.  Check out the Home & Garden section of The Sacramento Bee each Saturday to read about these favorite plants, including quotes from many of our Arboretum volunteers! 

Keep these emergency phone numbers with you at UC Davis!  Emergencies strike at unexpected moments.  If you spot an emergency while on volunteer duty, please report it immediately to your staff leader.  So that you are prepared to respond to any emergency that might arise while you are on campus, we recommend you add these emergency phone numbers to your cell phone or to your wallet.

Emergencies on Campus

          From campus phone     9-1-1

          From cell phones           530-752-1230 (Police)

                                                530-752-1234 (Fire)

Non-Life Threatening Medical Incident on Campus

          Occupational Health    530-757-3200

          Sutter Davis Hospital     530-756-6440 (after hrs)

Speaking of emergencies, check out October's UC Safety Spotlight to learn tips for keeping you and your possessions safe while you are on campus!