San Francisco Flower & Garden Show teaser

Back from the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. Almost 4 hours in the car, but it was worth it. There’s so much to see. A wide variety of plants and garden designs, some right up my alley, others just weird. Quirky seems to be in, teetering right on the edge of tacky.

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Some trends I spotted:

Vertical gardening. Everything is going up, up, up. Succulents, herbs, ferns. This seems to be a logical consequence of homeowners having ever smaller yard.

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Water. Almost every garden design I saw had a water feature in it.

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Crushed glass. A few years ago crushed glass mulch was cutting-edge (no pun intended), now it is everywhere.

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Succulents. While there were no straight succulent gardens, virtually every show garden incorporated succulents somehow. Sometimes it made sense, sometimes it didn’t. Why stick a lonely dudleya (not a common succulent by any stretch of the imagination) into a show garden that features rusty wheelbarrows and car doors?

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A much more detailed post will be up by the end up the week. I have to go through my 200+ photos first.

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The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show runs through Sunday, March 25th at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, CA. All the info you need is on their web site: http://sfgardenshow.com.

P.S. Went to Debra Lee Baldwin’s presentation on Fresh Ideas with Succulents. That alone was worth the trip. She truly is the queen of succulents, and I got a hug from her. Yeah!

P.P.S. Met Laura and Noreen from the Succulent Fanatics group on Facebook. It was wonderful meeting you. Sorry we didn’t get to hang out longer.

P.P.P.S. Had a great time car-pooling with Candy of Sweetstuff’s Sassy Succulents. She’s a riot.

Other 2012 SF Flower & Garden show posts:

Comments

  1. Can't wait for the details, but... please limit the shots of crushed glass mulch. It just seems wrong to me, and will be the garden equivalent of shag carpet soon I think. I'd welcome photos that change my mind.

    But benches, tables, and chairs: post as many photos as you have! :-)

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    1. Alan, I think glass mulch is fine for some potted plants when applied with a light hand. But I agree, to fill in spaces between pavers is out there. In fact, that entire display was wacko in my opinion.

      Not too much furniture in the display gardens. There were lots of vendor s selling outdoor furniture but we only made a quick pass through that section. There simply wasn't enough time. And after 5 or 6 hours of looking at things, my brain began to get tired...

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  2. Ideas and inspirations to take home, makes it all worth it with the four hour drive!

    Vertical gardening, it was the trend here last year and I suspect it hasn't peaked yet and will continue heavily on most garden shows. Interesting to observe what the trend pattern will be like in the US.

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  3. It was such a great time Gerhard! And I am still exhausted. I just put a pot on my fb page a little while ago. Your photos look great. It was difficult with that lighting. I am so happy that we got to do this together! Now we have to plant our next trip! LOL

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