San Francisco Flower & Garden Show – Canceled!

I hope this post finds you sheltering in place with your favorite people, and with all the basic supplies you need. The future is now, with the whole nation (and much of the world) hunkered down to defeat our common enemy – coronavirus (a.k.a., COVID-19). For some it means working at home and homeschooling, for others it means loss of income and even lives. For some the science behind shelter in place makes perfect sense, for others the global response is overblown. Whatever the opinion, it is amazing to see the creative, innovative, and compassionate responses exhibited by so many people (toilet paper hoarding aside)!

Charming chicken coop from the San Francisco Garden Show in 2017

We've seen a rash of cancellations as part of the response, including the beloved (and renamed) San Fran-Nor Cal Flower & Garden Show, which had been scheduled for April 2-5. My aunt and I have been attending the show off and on for the last 20 years. Originally it was held at the Cow Palace in Daly City, then moved to the San Mateo County Event Center in San Mateo, then back to the Cow Palace. This year it was to be held in Sacramento. For various reasons my aunt and I haven't been able to attend for the past several years (several trips and a family wedding were involved). I had hoped we could attend this year, but life took another turn. We'll just have to rely on memories and ideas from past shows!

Another chicken coop from the San Francisco Garden Show in 2015

 Luckily, next year's show is already scheduled for April 8-11, 2021, at Cal Expo in Sacramento. It looks like it will be a wonderful event, with great exhibits, speakers, and seminars. Take a look, and get it on your calendar!

San Francisco Garden Show Highlights: 2017

I attended the San Francisco Garden Show last week, and am now reviewing some of the great ideas. As much as I enjoy the garden designs, seminars, and big ideas at the garden show, I also enjoy the small interesting details. They aren’t the main event or the big idea, but they are often inspiring, fun, and thought provoking. The 2017 Show is no exception.

Weaving mimics leaf shape

Ikebana-inspired floral arrangements

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I was really inspired with the Ikebana-inspired floral arrangements by Katsuko Thielke, with their exotic weavings, interesting vases, and exotic flowers.

Raised beds with attractive seats

Hydroponic lettuce

Self-watering raised bed

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I also enjoyed seeing ideas for food production in the home garden. The waist-high raised beds would be perfect for flowers or herbs (and creaky knees), and provide extra seating or a handy shelf for tools while weeding or harvesting. The lush leaf lettuce, grown in a closed hydroponic system, looked delicious and would be the perfect salad along with beets or a few other vegetables, feta cheese, and roasted pecans. The self-watering garden bed (also waist high, and moveable on wheels) also looked intriguing. The outdoor potting bench also looked fun if you have the room for it.

Potting bench (possibly reused from kitchen remodel?)

I liked the “shock-and-awe” color combination of chartreuse chairs and blue ceanothus (in Color Theory and Designing with Color, we learned a little about the color wheel, color transmission in wavelengths, primary and secondary colors, and two optical phenomena—successive contrast and simultaneous contrast). Looking at the color wheel, these are secondary colors (I think).

Shock-and-awe color combination

I also liked the architectural elements used into the garden design – everything from a green roof shed, native plants grown in a modern design, a Western-inspired garden border, and a whimsical installation of art in the garden.

Green roof	Architectural rows of plants
Border in the garden (Western style)	Whimsical personal garden

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These ideas and many more will provide inspiration throughout the next gardening year!

San Francisco Garden Show: 2017

DISCOVER THE MAGIC was the theme of this year’s San Francisco Garden Show. The event is traditionally held over the weekend closest to the spring equinox, but this year it was moved to early April (April 5 – 9). This caused some havoc for my aunt and I when planning our spring travel schedules. She had a conflicting family event so was unable to attend the Show. I managed to squeeze in a visit, and am glad I did.

Playful woodland creature

Attractive low-water garden design

The Show was much smaller than previous years, with very few garden displays. A notice on the website explained that the difficult winter impacted many landscape and nursery professionals, preventing them from participating in the display gardens and plant market. This is the down side to our drought-busting winter, and I hope everyone recovers quickly.

Innovative integration of garden and vegetable plants

Attractive chicken coop

I missed the lavish garden displays of previous years, but found many treasures to take their place. Two themes showed up over and over – converting your landscape to food production, and converting it to native habitat. Some garden displays featured how to combine native habitat with modern landscape design, others provided charming designs for chicken coops, hydroponic gardens, and outdoor kitchens. They illustrated that you can design a beautiful garden space that  does it all - is usable for out door living, sustains home grown food, and provides habitat for plants and wildlife.

Appealing outdoor buildings

Closed hydroponic system

The seminars were varied and interesting, and presented by exceptional instructors:

• Katsuko Thielke, an Ikebana instructor (Soomu grade), taught The Art of Weaving Natural Materials, She uses weaves with leaves, branches and other natural material, and incorporates the weavings into stunning floral arrangements.
• Mary Kate Mackey, a garden writer and speaker, taught Been There, Killed That (I can relate). She recommended the best plants to use in the Bay Area.
• Lara Hermanson, owner of Farmscape and designer of urban farms, lead the Plant an Edible Garden workshop. She provided guidelines for planting veggie gardens in raised beds, and walked us through how to plan the garden (turns out less is more).

  

  Hermanson evaluates our veggie garden design

• Dr. Billy Krimmel, owner of Restoration Landscaping Company, taught Native Landscaping as the Next Front in Habitat Restoration. He described California ecology, and encouraged us to embrace native elements in the landscape.

  

  Integration of native habitat and modern design by Restoration Landscape

I enjoyed the show and gathered many interesting ideas and things to try. I missed attending with my aunt, but hope we can get back on track next year!

Train and engineer in a miniature garden

San Francisco Garden Show Highlights – 2016

My aunt and I attended the San Francisco Garden Show last week, and I’m still thinking about the new ideas. I compiled a list of garden designers during the show (my husband and I want to partner with a professional on a renovation plan that retains some of the bones of our garden, but becomes more climate friendly).

Abraxas Crow garden ornaments

Now I’m thinking about some of the details we saw, like these wonderful iron birds from Abraxas Crow, out of Port Townsend, Washington. I’m especially partial to the crows and ravens, but any of these would bring artful whimsy into the garden. I also love some of the hardscaping we saw in the water gardens.

Water basin with ladle

Koi inscription

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Bonsai tree

My aunt I love to see the beautiful bonsai trees showcased by the Bonsai Society San Francisco. Many of the trees have been in training for decades. I’m always torn to see a mighty tree reduced to its miniature version, but they are so beautiful!

Bladderpod - California native	Dahlia's in every color and shape
Thin vase for dramatic appeal	Succulents in coral pink

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The Garden Show is a great place to shop. Many native and hard-to-find plants are available, and many at great prices. Gold Rush Nursery is becoming one of my favorite vendors (but Sunset, and others had wonderful displays of California natives available for sale). We also saw lots of vegetable starters, Dahlias, succulents, accessories and more.

Strike green gold at Gold Rush Nursery

This is the place to purchase Japanese maples, palms, and olive trees as well, or drool over the displays, and purchase at the nurseries.

Japanese maple from Essence of the Tree

It will probably take most of the year to research all the plants, products, and garden design ideas we saw at the show. But I think that is the point – to discover new ideas, and put them to good use!

San Francisco Garden Show 2016

DISCOVERY is the theme of this year’s garden show, which wraps up its five-day run today. What kind of discovery? Discovering how to garden in our climate; discovering new and improved plants; discovering innovative ideas; discovering creative new garden designs. My aunt and I have been attending the show for over 16 years at various locations (now at the San Mateo Convention Center). Each year we look forward to spending time together, and overloading on great ideas.

Replacing your lawn was a big theme this year. The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (Bay Area District) provided information on “Lawn Long Ago – A New Approach to the California Garden” with lots of lawn-free or lawn-improved ideas, and a selected plant list.

Lawn Long Ago (APLD, Bay Area District) - lawn replacement ideas.

Johanna Silver, Senior Garden Editor of Sunset Magazine (now located in Oakland) presented “The New Front Yard.” She advised using layers of thin cardboard, compost, and mulch to kill your lawn (don’t solarize with black visqueen, or you kill the microorganisms in the soil.) She showed slides of beautiful landscapes using lawn alternatives such as pea gravel, flagstone pavers, ornamental grasses, succulents, native plants, and bark. If you really must have some lawn, she recommended Elfin Thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’) or German Chamomile (Matricicaria chamomile); synthetic grass; or one of the drought-tolerant fescues, such as Native Bentgrass™ or Native Mow Free™ (Delta Bluegrass Company).

Urban Oasis (Treeline Designz) - fabulous use of succulents in raised beds.

Succulents were everywhere at the show. They store water in their fleshy leaves and stems, and come in an endless array of shapes, sizes, and colors. Urban Oasis showcased succulents in their garden design; and speaker Debra Lee Baldwin, garden photojournalist and author, showed slides of beautiful succulent gardens in her presentation, “Smart & Lovely Succulent Landscapes.”

Hidden Messages in Water (The Waterfall Guy) - lovely water elements.

I was glad to see water elements in several garden designs—fountains, waterfalls, and pools—all using recirculating pumps. The sound of water is very soothing, and its presence attracts birds, insects, and wildlife (important in drought).

Modern Ancient (Jake Moss Design) - Gold Medal Winner and someone to watch!

Backyard Bohemian (McKenna Landscape) - great place to relax with friends, or curl up with a book.

Most of the garden designs featured outdoor living – spending time out in the landscape and garden. The idea of outdoor rooms for dining, lounging, and playing is very appealing.

The Garden at Villa Bella Corte (Outdoor Environments) - this bocce ball court takes care of the lawn problem.

Living in Harmony with our Mother Earth (Clearwater Design) - loved the spacious Ti Pi.

My aunt and I did some DISCOVERY shopping as well. This year I found Jelly Bean white monkey flower (Mimulus 'Jelly Bean White') at Gold Rush Nursery, and purchased a scarf designed by Kavita Singh (this time in vibrant spring green, purple, and rust silk). We both purchased silicone stretch lids from S.C. Chang, Inc. to replace our petroleum-based plastic wrap, and then hunted down exquisite DeBrito chocolates, and toffees from Terri Sue’s Toffee. Fortified with our goodies, we escaped the gigantic mechanical Praying Mantis on the way out, and drove back to the East Bay!

The mechanical Praying Mantis caused a stir for kids and adults as it reared up from its garden display!

San Francisco Garden Show Highlights – 2015

It has been a couple of weeks, but I am still thinking about the great ideas my aunt and I saw at the San Francisco Garden Show in March. Some ideas I can put into action immediately – Patio Chair Care is scheduled to pick up our 32-year-old Brown Jordon patio furniture later this month. They will apply powder coating, and replace the strapping, and I expect the set will last another 32 years! Other ideas are filed away for future use and inspiration.

Synthetic grass has come a long way from AstroTurf. We’re looking for ways to replace our lawn, but not sure we’re quite ready for this. But I have to admit, after seeing the samples from SynLawn Bay Area, it is coming into its own. I could see incorporating this product into a landscape design.
 

Synthetic grass could be a great solution in the garden

The chicken coop is appealing, as is the idea of having a few layers. Imagine baking a cake, and bobbing out to the coop to gather a couple of fresh eggs. Maybe not now, with our busy, noisy street, but it is definitely an idea to file away for the future.

Chicken coop scaled model

I like the idea of signage in the garden, and am always on the lookout for fun ideas.

Wood signage with cutout letters

Slate signage with painted letters

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The Garden Show is also full of great planting ideas. I love the variety of plants, and the use of rocks or stone.

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This high fence would help keep deer out of a vegetable garden, and provide a nice open feeling for this outdoor room.

Wire and wood fence

The bonsai exhibit, sponsored by the Bonsai Society San Francisco, is full of works of art.

Wisteria floribunda "Black Dragon' has been in training for 50 years

The Hida Tools & Hardware Company was doing a brisk business at the Garden Show. They sell exceptional tools from Japan, and their brick and mortar store is conveniently located in Berkeley here in the East Bay.

Beautiful tools from Japan

The Garden Show is a great promoter of Art in the Garden, and always displays interesting and beautiful examples. Art can provide the perfect focal point in the garden.

Glass spires and blue Ceanothus

These ideas, and many others, will continue to inspire throughout the year.