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!

Patio Furniture Facelift

My husband and I bought a Brown Jordon patio furniture set for our first condo in Anaheim 32 years ago. The table, four chairs, and umbrella filled the entire patio, and provided a cozy circle for Sunday brunch, and meeting the neighbors. Later we moved the set to our rambling ranch style house in Garden Grove, and enjoyed the shade of the umbrella by day, and barbeques and long discussions under the stars by night. When we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, we moved the table and chairs with us.

Original Brown Jordon after 32 years of service in three locations.

The set is indestructible, but had started to show some wear. The cushions were faded, the paint was oxidized, and some of the straps were disintegrating. Understandable after 32 years. We shopped around for something new, and then came upon the Patio Chair Care booth at the San Francisco Garden Show.

Lots of choices for powder coating and strapping.

Patio Chair Care came to our home, showed us samples, and carried off the set to their factory in Concord. They applied fresh powder coating in their massive ovens, and replaced the strapping.

Before

After

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A couple of months later, they delivered our refurbished patio set. We added some snazzy new cushions, and the patio set is like new. We’re back in business, eating Sunday brunch, working and researching, and enjoying friends and family around the table. I expect the set will last another 32 years!

Like brand new.

Kaiser Pocket Garden in Oakland

Anything that is a distraction while visiting the doctor can be a good thing (don’t get me wrong – I have wonderful doctors)! This small pocket garden in the Oakland medical complex is a great example. It is really just an alleyway that cuts between several building between Howe Street and Piedmont Avenue.

Alleyway transformed into a pocket garden

This alley is different – boasting redwood trees, plants that do well in shade, and a small picnic area. The effect is a cool and calming walkway between two busy streets in a bustling medical center. This may not be the ideal environment for the redwoods, but they seemed to be thriving and growing well.

Clivia miniata (Natal lily, bush lily) - a shade loving native of damp woodlands in South Africa

 

I’ve reported on Kaiser landscaping projects before (see Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland, and Kaiser Meditation Garden in Pleasanton). I like their innovative approach to making something beautiful out of what would otherwise be utilitarian. Good inspiration for all of us.

Young redwoods growing between buildings

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.
 

San Francisco Garden Show 2015

GOING WILD! That was the theme of this year’s San Francisco Garden Show – going wild to use environmentally friendly and sustainable gardening, with creative freedom. The show is held annually at the San Mateo Convention Center, and runs from Wednesday through Sunday over the weekend closest to the vernal equinox. My aunt and I have been coming to the show for over 15 years, and have a pretty good system of seeing the gardens, exhibits, and market place before we collapse with overstimulation. Delicious caramels or chocolates usually revive our stamina!

I was drawn to the Mountain Feed and Farm Homestead booth, with its books on organic farming, canning, pickling, and cheese making. The old truck, bee keeping supplies, canning jars (Ball makes jars in green, blue, and purple, as well as classic clear), and starter mixes is so appealing. Could it be a backlash to all the digital gadgets in our lives; a yearning for do-it-yourself, physical labor, and the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 70s?

Bee keeping, herbs, preserving food

We were both drawn to the Living Light garden, which featured a cabin, mushroom house, and raised beds, with edibles mixed in with the ornamental plants. No straight rows of vegetables with proper spacing for this garden. What a pleasure it would be to harvest salad greens from those beautiful beds.

Living Light - raised bed kitchen garden

We attended lectures hosted by GardenTribe. Together, a cooking show on Asian greens, given by Sharon Wang, M. Ed., who hosts the blog Nut Free Wok. We sampled homemade daikon cakes flavored with lap cheong sausage, and learned about 10 important Asian greens, including pea shoots, bok choi, Napa cabbage, Chinese broccoli, and snow peas. Apart, my aunt attended a lecture on making rose petal jam, and I attended the Photo Botanic session on botanical photography, given by Saxon Holt (whose photographs are featured in EBMUD’s Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates of the San Francisco Bay Region).

Saxon Holt of Photo Botanic shared tips on photocomposition

I loved the garden Sublimation, with its gabions (gabbione is Italian for “big cage”) filled with round rocks, and its water-wise plantings of fescue grasses and agave. It was designed by Eric Arneson (BFA Landscape Architecture), and Nahal Sohrati (MFA Landscape Architecture) from Academy of Art University. Next door, Room is a Garden – Garden is a Room also used gabions, mixing stones, colored glass, and plants (designed by Iftikhar Ahmed of Treeline Designz).

Sublimation - using gabions in the landscape

Room is a Garden - another take on gabions in the landscape

Meadow Mindcraft, inspired by the video game Mine Craft, provided an appealing combination of beautiful meadow plantings, and bold colored shapes, reminiscent of a game. It was designed by John Greenlee and Chuck Stophard of Greenlee & Associates.

Meadow Mindcraft - video game inspired garden

The Bring Nature Home garden (designed by April Owens, Nancy Bauer, and Charlotte Togovitsky) emphasized creating a garden for wildlife, which includes food, water, cover, and a place for wildlife to raise their young. Learn more about creating a certified wildlife habitat from the National Wildlife Federation web site, and take advantage of their resources.

Bring Nature Home - provide natural habitat in the garden

Finally, we love to shop! I found a vendor that can restore our patio furniture set – Patio Chair Care. I also found beautiful silk and rayon scarves designed by Kavita Singh. My aunt found wonderful salty caramels, which simply melt in your mouth. It was enough to revive us for the drive back to the East Bay!

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 

San Francisco Garden Show 2014

INSPIRED is the theme of this year’s San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, which wraps up its five-day run at the San Mateo Convention Center today. My aunt and I made our annual trip to the show on Saturday (we have been coming to the show, on and off, over the last 15 years). And inspired we were—by the seminars, the gardens, the beauty, the great ideas, and the enthusiasm of gardeners both young and old. This year, with the burden of severe drought on everyone’s mind, the threads of using native plants and conserving water ran through the fiber of the show.

The Grand Allee - raised beds with Mediterranean trees and plants

No City Water for this Garden, created by New Leaf Landscaping and Clearwater Design, showed an interesting idea for integrating water catchment and reuse right into the garden design. Using caught rainwater and recycled gray water, a native garden can be kept beautiful with no city water. This is the kind of thinking we need.

Water storage - large tanks store rain water and gray water

I was immediately drawn to the Roof Top Garden, created by the Foothill College Environmental Horticultural Design program, with its cozy and inviting garden up on the roof; and to the Agave garden, created by the Arizona State University Landscape Architecture program, with its emphasis on hardscaping from repurposed material, and on plantings that mix beautiful native plants and food production.

Roof top garden - planter with colorful plants

Repurposed hardscaping and agave plants

For pure fun and fantasy, I spent some time in Vulcania: An Oasis for the Soul by Clearwater Design. It is hard to ignore the whimsical mini-Nautalis (of Captain Nemo fame) set in a tropical garden with exotic plants, a lagoon, and a glowing red volcano.

The Nautalis - from Burning Man to the San Francisco Garden Show

I was also charmed by the “vine orb” featured in Old Vine by Terra Forma Landscape. Using a metal structure for the foundation, pruned grape vines were woven to create a unique gazebo. This is a great idea for using the materials around us to create something beautiful and functional.

Repurposed grape vines provide a unique shelter

These are some of my favorites, but we were inspired by so much more!

San Francisco Garden Show 2013

Gardens Make the World Go Round is the theme of this year’s San Francisco Garden Show, held in the San Mateo Convention Center. Today ends its five-day run, traditionally held over the spring weekend. My aunt and I always try to attend (sometimes with other family members in tow, if they are lucky enough to be in town)! Over the past couple of years, the show has integrated local food and chefs, green gardening concepts, and sustainable themes, which is perfect for the Bay Area.


Gardens Make the World Go Round - world's largest succulent globe

The Garden Displays are always interesting. The Assyrian Hanging Garden was fun, and took me back to the gardening history post on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It might be difficult to build a ziggurat in your backyard, but terraced gardens are plentiful with the steep hills in the Bay Area. The Seville style garden would also work well in our dry Mediterranean climate. I loved watching people approach the garden, as though they felt invited into its relaxed atmosphere.



Assyrian Hanging Garden - harkens back to the Hanging Garden of Babylon

Inviting outdoor room of this Seville Landscape

The Academy of Art garden was fun – futuristic and upside down. The world is changing quickly, so this type of unconventional thinking will be important for keeping things fresh, and solving problems on a global scale.

Another style of hanging gardens - suspended rocks on the left, inverted trees on the right

I still like a conventional approach as well. This thick garden hedge evokes childhood memories of looking for the perfect “fort” or “hideout” with my childhood friend, Theresa, and our siblings. But this boarder garden is appealing too – with its bright blue wall and dramatic plants.

Inviting tangle of flowers and vegetation - appeals to my inner kid

Intense blue wall, and an interesting palette of plants

These are some of my favorites, but there were many more beautiful gardens and garden ideas at the show. As you can tell, I look forward to this show all year.