Friday, April 2, 2010

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.”

LandBeforeTime Alligator
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."


Light

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.”

Ger Perlagonium

8 comments:

MrBrownThumb said...

Nice photos and recap. I love the pictures of the structure made out of succulents.

Laura Livengood said...

It's interesting how many people love Keeyla's garden and don't realize that it was a reclining woman; the 'blue lips' garden was her head, two lovely fountain breasts...there was a small picture on her handout (and we posted it on our FB page) but few realized what they were looking at (go back and look at your pics now!) So glad you all enjoyed the Show, it was special this year (and extra thanks to Renee for being a speaker!)

Manny Amadi said...

Great post.....great photos
You don,t need a degree in landscape architecture to give shape to your garden - just a bit of inspiration and a rudimntary knowledge of elbow grease

Renee said...

Thanks Laura, now that you pointed out the lady in the design, we can all see it. Keeyla's garden was a delight on every level.
Renee

MB said...

Wish I was there, really looked like a great show. Hoping to be there next year. Love the living wall.

FranE said...

Looks those of us down south missed a great flower and garden show. My seeds are doing well. Just planted my strawberries, hoping they will do well down here.

NEGardener said...

Very inspiring! We had light snow showers and sleet this morning in central NY state, so any sunny gardening inspires me to the brim.
The garden walls with succulents is really amazing and probably labor intensive. Loved the scented geranium story too.
Any chance someone could get the directions for the mason jar birdfeeder?
thanks for making the trip for those of us who could not get there.

Paul Jay said...

Hi Renee -- Paul Jay, Lynn Woodbury, and Thomas Bass have been reminiscing about you and have gone online to catch up with you. It looks like you're really thriving. We're living in Chicago and Thomas in upstate New York. If we hadn't just sold our house and bought a condo I'd order some seeds.

Best, Paul

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