Scenes from the SF Flower & Garden Show

It's time again for the yearly report from the SF Flower & Garden Show. I spent the better part of the day there on Wednesday, viewing the exhibition gardens, trolling the vendor booths, and attending a few of the seminars. I missed some seminars I would have liked to go to, but I really enjoyed the seminar with the Duchess of Northumberland talking about the Alnwick Garden (which I'll post about separately).

To be honest, I'm less and less impressed by the exhibition gardens each year, not because they're not interesting, but because they seem to be getting increasingly surreal. It seemed like the recurrent themes this year were the three S's: sustainability, salvage, and sleeping in the garden. I counted no less than three beds in the exhibition gardens (and one very cozy looking couch). Now, as mild as our climate is here, I can count on one hand the number of nights each year when it seems temperate enough to make me even consider sleeping outdoors. Perhaps all the garden-bedroom designs reflect the current housing crisis--if you're facing foreclosure, I suppose you could move out into the back yard and rent out your house instead. Washing up in the garden is also on the upswing apparently--there were a couple outdoor showers and a bathtub as well. Who knew?

Anyway, here are a few bits of eye candy from four of the gardens I liked the best. Enjoy!

From: It Doesn't Take a Hectare
Somersett Designs

A very appealing mix of flowers and edibles
overseen by a very large metal rabbit.
Small-space vegetable gardening made pretty.

From: The Jeweled Garden
DJ Curb Appeal

Great use of recycled glass as a mulch and as a filler
for wire containers. Looks great but at $1-2 per lb.
of glass (it took about 150 lbs. to fill the containers in
the second picture) and no local sources for the glass,
I won't be trying this any time soon.

From: Dreams of Peace
by Toni McErlane

Where recovering hippies go to garden,
sleep, and bathe.

From: Poly-Patio
by Floricore

Saloon doors made out of dominoes, paths made out of
pieces of PVC pipe, and a dry stream made out of bottle caps.
Oh, yeah--succulents, too.