If you missed last month’s 21st annual San Francisco Flower and
Garden Show, you missed a lot. There were a record 27 show gardens,
a huge plant sale, orchid show, bonsai exhibit, free garden
seminars and 360 exhibit booths.
If you missed last month’s 21st annual San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, you missed a lot. There were a record 27 show gardens, a huge plant sale, orchid show, bonsai exhibit, free garden seminars and 360 exhibit booths.
Nearly 50,000 garden enthusiasts attended the five-day event. The San Francisco show at the Cow Palace is the West Coast’s second-largest garden event, second only to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle.
I always come away not only with garden ideas that I can bring home to my own garden, but also plants and products. There are always smorgasbords of available shopping for gardeners. Would you believe you can have your own tropical island hut, which is actually a bamboo gazebo, for your spa? Check out www.islandhuts.com for details.
Or how about practical-yet-luxurious glass doorknobs? Check out www.doorjewels.com. If deer eating your garden is a problem, there’s deer fencing that’s practically invisible from www.BennersGardens.com.
But the landscaped gardens were the show’s big draw. There was wonderful use of flowering annuals, perennials and spring bulbs. There were terraced gardens, water gardens and huge trees. To see the gardens at their best, you had to arrive early or late (during the dinner hour is my favorite viewing time). At peak times, the crowds were huge.
The Golden Gate Cup aware, or best of show, went to “Livin’ Cheap in Baja.” Golden Gate Palms and Exotics of Lafayette and Richmond came up with this oceanside garden, complete with palms, cacti, agaves, manazanita, ceanothus and yucca – all the exotic semi-tropical flora common to the Baja California Peninsula.
A personal favorite was “Rainforest Adventure” by Brookside Gardens of Mountain View and ClearWater Designs of Auburn. It was like stepping back to Jurassic Park. There was smoke, lightening and thunder, a waterfall, two koi ponds, and even the front end of a wrecked Jeep. There was also giant bird of paradise, South African proteas and other exotic flora.
Garden railroads are also hot, and the Bay Area Garden Railway Society had a model American Railroad running through replica mountains, forests and waterfalls, and into a small town. It was inspired by the 200 or so garden railroads found throughout the Bay Area.
Duane Kelly, the producer of the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, told me he is always delighted with the local show. He attributed the popularity to not only the show gardens, but the enthusiasm of Bay Area gardeners, who have the benefit of being able to “get their hands dirty” year-round. According to Kelly, the Delaware Valley and New England are the two top hot spots for gardening enthusiasm. The Bay Area and the Northwest are tied for third.
