Wednesday, was opening day at the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. It was also the first day of spring and a day out with good friends, the perfect, mid-week trifecta.
So…two out of three ain’t bad.
The mere mention of the word ‘spring’ puts a bounce in my step. Seeing two girlfriends for a day of hang time was awesome as well. It was the much-anticipated show that left me feeling a bit deflated.
The show changed venues over the years and seems to have decreased in size and spectacle, perhaps a sign of the times.
At the heart of the show are display gardens. This year’s theme, Gardens Make the World Go Round, featured the ‘World’s Largest Rotating Succulent Globe.’ That was pretty cool, though not something the average gardener could reproduce out back. It’s been entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
Beyond that, only two gardens caught my eye. The first was ‘Thailand,’ a silver-medal winner designed by Bay Maples, featured below. The second, ‘Mexico: Inside Out’ swept the awards. More on that later in the week.
I spoke with designer Alan Hackler who, coincidentally, also lives in San Jose. He’s passionate about re-purposing resources, and is known to stop at construction sites, to reclaim materials for use in client projects. Hackler’s show entry featured planter boxes made from old garage doors, reclaimed lumbar, a used pond liner and other reclaimed materials. The ‘temple’ also features the window panels from former garage door. Fun! I loved the aesthetic and his enthusiasm for his art and craft. The design was restful and inviting.
From the program:
Inspired by the Buddhist temples of Thailand, our garden is intended to evoke the tranquility and simplicity of an ancient meditation space. Ecological gardening techniques featured are salvaged and re-purposed materials, locally sourced materials, and water efficient plantings.
The garden features only California native plants to demonstrate that water conscious, climate appropriate plants can be used to achieve nearly any garden theme or motif. All Redwood logs were sourced from two downed trees salvaged from the Santa Cruz hills. Another water-smart feature about our garden is the recirculating aquaponic vegetable beds. This is inspired by the flooded rice fields of Thailand.
Bay Maples: Wild California Landscapes
The San Francisco Flower and Garden Show runs through Sunday, march 24th, 2013
Isn’t it surprising how much construction waste there is? I asked a builder about it once, he basically told me ‘time is money’. No time to carefully sort thru or pile stuff to recycle….a shame. I love that Alan has taken that initiative, Bravo. Who wouldn’t want that Temple in they’re garden? I wonder where it’s going after the show? The succulent globe is quite fantastic, my gosh that would have been a project and a half. WOW it really looks giant. BTW, I love Alans hair…..oh I wish HA. Thanks for the tour, looking forward to Mexico ‘inside-out’ that sounds interesting too. xK
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I’m visiting vicariously. Thank you for giving us a glimps into your experience.
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🙂
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Oh I love shows, there is always such a diverse & surprising array of things to see!
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You mentioned two of my loves San Fran and the gardens…thanks for sharing! Girlfriend time is always precious no matter what you are doing.
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So true, so true!
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