San Francisco Garden Show Highlights – 2013

My aunt and I are always on the lookout for interesting ideas, cool gadgets, and beautiful gardens at the San Francisco Garden Show. This year was no exception. With our creaky knees, we love finding raised bed options. Best of Show for us was the new GreenBed™ durable bed kit. You can purchase 4’x8’ feet of planting space, with either 1’ or 2’ high walls. The side slabs are made of wood chips and cement, and the kit provides all the hardware you need to assemble the beds. The 2’ high kit on display was engineered so the plantings were in easy reach, with no need for bending. This is ideal for seniors, or anyone with mobility problems.

GreenBed raised beds - ready to assemble

Other interesting hardscaping ideas include these stone and wire walls. I’ve seen them before in various sizes and shapes, but I’m always pleased to see variations. This seems like a very practical solution for a stone wall, when a stone mason is difficult to find or afford. The fence, consisting of small walls on the diagonal, was also interesting. It provides a hint of privacy, but is still open and inviting.

Stone and wire walls

Fence of diagonal walls

The Show is a great place to pick up plants, gadgets, and gardening supplies at great prices. I was taken with this Lee Valley tool display. My aunt bought a beautiful canvas shopping bag decorated with California poppies. We found chocolate, too - the salty kind from De Brito Chocolate Factory in Hollister, California. Yum.

Tool Appeal - beautiful tools ready for the garden

The Wanted Weeds display, by Urban Hedgerow, drew us both in. Their premise is that we should rethink weeds – they can “be virtuous host plants, nectar sources, and medicinal”. We loved seeing the messages posted on the walls of this interactive display – “Weeds are weeds too” read one sign, “Weeds give you something to do” read another, and “Death to Oxalis” read a third.

Wanted Weeds - extolling the benefits of weeds.

Another successful San Francisco Garden Show! We enjoyed a seminar on green roofs, a cooking demonstration, the Marketplace, and lots of beautiful gardens. I was pleased to see technology moving in – smart phone users could access sfgardenshow.com, and Sunset Magazine was advertising their new Western Gardening Book for the iPhone, iPad, and web (www.sunset.com/wgb). Very cool.