More Garden Show Gardens!


Yes, friends, there were more gardens at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show -- you can see a list here. Unfortunately, I'm no longer quite sure which picture goes with which garden on the list. You'll just have to enjoy the photos and dream of visiting next year. Above a whimsical fountain with a beautiful stacked wall and basin, which either belongs to the Metamorphosis garden I wrote about in my last post or to the garden that included more whimsy such as this compost bin.


Maybe it's not so practical -- a bit top heavy and prone to tipping when you go in with your pitchfork -- but who can resist the face?


We also enjoyed this garden by Ah Sam Florist, which included clever edging made from terracotta pots, a hanging pot sculpture with bromeliads, and a great hydrophonics setup with large pots of lettuce in a pond-like setting.


I was less impressed with the Lettuce Tube garden, ranted about just today by Amy Stewart here.


Amy actually found this "garden" interesting. I responded on her blog as follows:

Well, I thought the hanging lettuce would have been great for an art show. A great way to add something alive to the domain where concrete, metal, and plastic reign. For a garden show? Not so much.
I thought the "garden" was truly boring. I've seen front gardens like that, 6x8 bunch grasses, arranged in straight lines. Please...


But others clearly were enchanted by it all, and I must admit I did enjoy the other-worldly quality of the display. The lighting for this garden was actually perfect.


Let's leave the show with two photos from the Filoli display garden. This garden was ablaze with daffodils (Filoli is famous for its football-field size daffodil meadow with a million bulbs), and also included a Dovecote, which was housed in a garden house at Filoli. The garden house was closed for restoration last time I looked, not sure whether it's back. And the dovecote was cleverly dressed up with green walls made from succulents, and with a green roof consisting of bunch grasses. Enjoyable and cleverly done, and quite adventurous considering this comes from Filoli, which deeply cares about tradition.


After we'd enjoyed the display gardens we visited the vendors in that hall. Country Mouse, being a generous soul, bought a sweater for Mr. W. Rat, a shirt for Mr. C. Mouse Sr., and some lovely hand cream for me! I, meanwhile, was lusting for a few more plants, so headed over to Annie's Annuals while Country Mouse was returning to the booth where we had left our jackets. I picked up 6 pots and the cashier said "That will be 13.71." To which I replied "You've got to be kidding!" Turns out they had a SALE! It was close to closing time and most vendors offered bargains so they had less to take back home. So I rose to the challenge and added a few more plants, mostly Nemophila menziesii (Baby Blue Eyes) and  Nemophila maculata (Baby Five Spot), but also a few other trinkets. Laden with goods, we walked toward the door, only to have me be stopped in our tracks by a 50% OFF sign at Native Revival Nursery (I picked up a beautiful native red yarrow as well).

Walking back to the car was challenging, that 1 gallon pot especially hung heavily from my fragile little mouse wrist. But together we made it, very glad indeed about such a wonderful outing and looking forward to seeing the beauty we had enjoyed in our own gardens soon.

Comments

J said…
I actually like the lettuces as a showpiece--are garden shows ever about reality? The sculpting into waves of lettuces is a cool idea and would look amazing swaying in a gentle breeze. But in the winds California gets so often? Probably not so lovely. And practically speaking it's an awful lot of lettuce at the same stage of maturity. But we're in fantasyland...
James said…
There I go again, mis-identifying myself...that last comment was from me...
Country Mouse said…
Thanks for your trip reports! It was great to revisit the show with you. I've been working long hours as you know - I've just gotten some photos sorted out - I think you covered it all so well I'll probably move on. But mostly I'm dealing with a plague of mice - yes mice - and aphids - of which more anon....
Anonymous said…
Thanks for the photos, TMouse. I've attended the show vicariously through the photos I've seen,...these are great!

I especially like the idea of making a spot for yourself in the garden, like the yoga or meditation area you show. I could totally make an edging like the terracotta pots, but mine would be made of gallon sized black plastic containers. To spiff it up, I'd turn all the labels toward the ground. :-D
It's been such a spazzy week here, I never did get around to posting my SF Garden Show photos. Congrats on the impromptu plant sale finds! It was such a zoo when I was there Saturday, it was genuinely challenging to even see what was for sale. I finally gave up at Annie's, and couldn't see much at Native Revival either. Fortunately NR nursery is pretty close to us, so I can easily stop by. I'm with you on the lettuce. It was interesting, but I'd have been more impressed if for all that effort the lettuce actually looked any good. All looked a bit pale and leggy to me. The Filoli display was lovely though, loved the succulent encrusted dovecote, and the garden with all the grizzled faces was fun too!
Dear TMouse, What a treat for my tired eyes to see some green. I am so sick of WHITE. Yes, the garden is still snow covered. P x