San Francisco Garden Show Highlights – 2014

I’m pretty sure my aunt and I managed to see about everything at this year’s San Francisco Garden Show, which ended its five-day run on Sunday. We lingered over the beautiful gardens. We attended seminars on urban farming and native plants. We drooled over beautiful spring blooms in “Annie’s Fabulous Springtime Slideshow” (Annie Hayes of Annie’s Annuals and Perennials in Richmond). We were disappointed to miss the Wente Vineyards chef demonstration, but hope they will return another year.

Then we shopped! I found a low-growing—Ceanothus maritimus “Valley Violet” —in a six inch pot from Gold Rush Nursery. My aunt found a fantastic ceramic grater for ginger, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, garlic, and hot peppers from La Provençale Garlic Grater (OK, I bought one too). We managed to resist the De Brito Chocolate Factory booth, but now I’m asking myself, “why did we resist?” (luckily there is always next year).

We both marveled over the beautiful Bonsai trees. This Juniperus chinensis sargentii has been 40 years in training, and is regularly displayed at the Golden State Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt.

Beautiful bonsai juniper - 40 years in training

We saw a number of raised bed alternatives. Some of them can be implemented right on top of cement.

Raised bed planters

Ad hoc raised bed planter

We got some great ideas for what to plant in raised beds, including agave, and a mixture of ornamental and useful plants in the same planter.

Agave plants in raised garden beds

Ornamental and edible plants comingle in a raised garden bed

I got a chance to study the water catchment system up close. It is a little industrial looking, and hard to imagine where I would put something like this on the property with our tiny San Francisco Bay Area cottage. But it is definitely the direction we should be heading to save water.

Stacked water containers for managing rain water and gray water

Best of all, my aunt and I got a chance to hang out together, and get caught up on personal and family news. We also got front row seats to a new generation getting INSPIRED for the world of gardening to come.

Inspiration strikes a sustainable gardener of the future