Our Day at the 2010 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show

Every year, the entire Renee’s Garden office staff takes a full day off to attend the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. This annual five day garden lovers' extravaganza is a showcase for the latest ideas in garden design, along with a multitude of shopping opportunities for both plants and gardening supplies. This year I asked everyone to share their their favorite impressions from the show:

Lindsay, Trial Garden Manager: “There was so much to see and many different unique landscape displays. My favorite, from landscape designer Keeyla Meadows, was a vivid display of ornamental and edible plants that integrated a lot of art into the landscape.  I liked the custom made pots with mixed plants and stepping stones that looked like large leaves."

I also liked the garden with a sculpture of big giant blue lips with blue rocks, and of course, blue and  yellow flowering plants all around. It just made me laugh."

Mila, Trial Garden Ass't Mgr.: “ I noticed a lot of the gardens incorporated edible landscaping into their designs – so many vegetables are so beautiful and ornamental. My favorite this year was not exactly a garden in the traditional sense - it was a small building with the outside walls made of succulents. It was only big enough for a dinning room table, but I want to move in!”

Cheri, Accounting Manger: “ How they can build such elaborate gardens with waterfalls and koi ponds in just 3 days is unbelievable. The New Orleans Bayou looked as though you were walking through the bayou to a little shanty house with a fence made of rebar with plants growing out of it. Upon closer look it was actually sheet music and the plants were growing from the notes.  Another favorite garden was comprised of trees, plants and two waterfalls. A walkway of stone with moss growing between the stones separated the two waterfalls. Peeking out between the trees at the top of the larger waterfall was a huge T-Rex. My son would have loved it!  Oh, and then there was the shopping…so many booths with garden tools, decorations and plants. My favorite find was the bird feeder made of a mason jar and colored plates. I couldn't leave without it.”

Heidi, Customer Service Rep.: “I loved the display that used living walls to make an outdoor room surrounded by a moat of water which you entered by walking across huge rocks. The texture on the walls (planted with a huge variety of succulents) was as  interesting from far away as it was up close. It was a show stopping design.”

Kathy, Sales: “The landscape designers outdid themselves this year. One exhibit combined elements of whimsy from Picasso inspired ceramic art, giant Matisse style ruby red flower stepping stones, complimented by borders of rich, primary color flowers.  The inviting exhibits transported you to magical wonderlands like a New Orleans front porch, complete with alligators and jazz, a courtyard in Tuscany with  an Italian fountain and hanging flower pots, and a very fragrant, spectacular four season floral display fit for a  queen kept bringing me back to enjoy once more."

Nellie, Marketing Ass't.:  “ I bought a wonderfully scented Perlagonium plant from Geraniacea, a small nursery in Marin County, California. Their booth at the show was what first drew me in – the retro neon sign and the string lights were too cute to resist.  Then, Renee told me I had to go press the leaves of the geraniums, and smell my fingers. She pointed out that each plant’s leaves smelled different from one variety to the next– one like lime, one like potpourri, and even one that smelled like chocolate mint. “When you take one home, you can pluck some of the leaves off – I like the rose-scented ones – and put them in a container of sugar and make shortbreads and cookies out the sugar.” So I found a lemony rose variety to bring back to my sunny backyard back in Santa Cruz.”