It’s peony season! Peonies are starting to crop up in the public gardens on Pioneer Avenue and other locations in Homer, and peony bouquet sales start this week. If you’re looking to tour one of Homer’s many peony farms, check out the weekly report by the Homer Chamber of Commerce! For details on other events and activities, such as kittiwake and sandhill crane colt monitoring, check out these Best Bets!

BEST GET YOUR PEONY BOUQUETS BET: The Homer-Kachemak Bay Rotary Club will be selling peony bouquets on Thursdays and Fridays, July 17 through Aug. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the Homer Chamber of Commerce building. Sales are dependent on weather and availability of flowers. Proceeds will be split between the Alaska Beauty Peony Co-op and the Rotary; funds allocated to the Rotary will be used for their many community causes including supporting parks, scholarships and the work of many of Homer’s nonprofit organizations. For more information, contact Lori Evans, the Rotary’s Community Service Committee co-chair, at 907-399-7767. 201 Sterling Highway.

BEST GARDEN WORKSHOP BET: Kachemak Bay Campus is hosting free gardening workshops in July, in partnership with the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District. On Thursday, July 17 at 5:30 p.m., Casey Matney of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service will talk about some of the most common pests in Alaska gardens including slugs, root maggots and other insect pests. He’ll go over their life cycles, how to spot their signs in the garden and methods to control them. See signs in person and learn how to set yourself up for success this season or in the future through effective, organic methods. Class begins in Bayview Hall, room 102, then moves to the KBC high tunnel across the parking lot. For more information, call 907-235-1674. 533 E. Pioneer Ave.

BEST CITIZEN SCIENCE MONITORING BET: Help researchers at the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve monitor disturbances at kittiwake colonies on the Homer Spit and Gull Island! Kittiwakes are important near-surface fish feeders, so their reproductive success can serve as an indicator of marine ecosystem health as a whole and provide valuable insight on the health of these economically valuable fish populations. Researchers are studying how disturbance from bald eagles, other aerial predators, and human usage are affecting kittiwake reproductive success. If you visit one of the colonies and observe a disturbance event, researchers would love you to add your observation to their dataset, as they can only go out to monitor disturbance once a week. Learn more about this citizen science opportunity and submit an observation by visiting kachemakbayreserve.org/kittiwake-disturbance-monitoring/ or emailing claire.labuda@noaa.gov.

BEST SANDHILL CRANE MONITORING BET: Soon colts will be fledging, flying with their parents as the end of the 60-70 days of growing and learning to fly approaches. Colts hatched earliest in the nesting season will be the first to fledge in July, with more fledging through the month until mid-August. Let Kachemak Crane Watch know when and where you see your colts fledging. Fledged colts should be able to fly off with the adults. Please include the specific location and other helpful information, as well as your contact information. Kachemak Crane Watch also keeps track of colts that disappeared or died. Successful fledging and mortality reports help Kachemak Crane Watch calculate nesting success for the year and compare it to previous years. Send your reports to reports@cranewatch.org or call 907-235-6262.