Are you inspired when you visit spectacular gardens? Do you enjoy examining the latest tools and materials to use in the garden and the “hottest” new plants from which to choose? Do you happily listen to experts talk about various aspects of garden-related topics? If all of this applies to you, check out the upcoming San Francisco Flower and Garden Show at the Cow Palace March 21-25.

The San Francisco show is by far the largest and most extravagant annual garden show in California, according to organizers. If you have never been to a world-class flower and garden show, such as the ones in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia and London, you may be surprised at the sheer size, variety and abundance presented here. And even repeat attendees continue to marvel at what they experience.

The theme this year is “Living and Loving the Garden Life” At the show, you can wander at your leisure through the main hall, where 21 spectacular gardens have been created, complete with enormous trees, waterfalls, streams, buildings, columns, masonry walls and wonderful plantings.

In many of them, you can even stroll through the exhibit itself. You can attend more than 60 free-with-admission seminars and workshops, addressing almost any garden-related topic you can imagine, sponsored by Sunset and featuring the nation’s top horticultural experts.

You can poke around in rooms where smaller displays, created by such groups as college teams, individual designer firms and garden clubs, vie for your attention. And you can shop to your heart’s content, with major and minor suppliers of plants and garden products, from all over the world. This show brings together in one place enough good “stuff” to make even the hardiest gardener swoon with delight.

The San Francisco Show is a huge production. Their excellent Web site, www.gardenshow.com, says that the show “uses 1,200 cubic yards of sawdust and mulch for the gardens — that’s about 150 dump-truck loads — and 280,000 pounds of rock. The trucks bringing in the plants for the gardens come from all up and down the West Coast. More than 300 theatrical lighting instruments are hung from the ceiling above the gardens”

Most memorable and complex, as well as most expensive, are the 21 main display gardens. Planning for them begins months ahead. Surprisingly, the companies and organizations creating gardens are not charged to exhibit. Instead, the show pays them a significant amount and provides, according to the Web site, “support including lighting, electricity, water, heavy equipment, labor rocks and mulch. The total direct cost to create the gardens is well over $1 million” And the quality of the displays reflects these costs.

Several Santa Cruz designers and landscapers will have displays this year in the main hall. Michele Swanson, working with Garden Design Magazine, has created a romantic hideaway in the woods called “Martini Modern” Set among dogwoods in a private glen is a little jewel of a room with space for an intimate gathering of friends. It contains a martini bar and an outdoor kitchen, a spa, built-in furniture and a cozy fireplace, all in the architecture of the 1950s but using state-of-the-art materials. Semi-transparent walls provide a sense of enclosure without excluding the views of the surrounding woodland.

In “Kathy and Laura’s Garden,” local firms Kathleen Shaeffer Design and L.Livingston Landscaping have created a modern interpretation of ancient and abandoned sites from around the world. The garden was inspired by archaeological sites such as the Mayan cities of Mexico, and the ruins in Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, and influenced by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi as well as the art of Karl Blossfeldt and Ernst Haeckel. It features a flowery path winding through a meadow that contains tall purple columns and a glowing wall, giving the viewer the sense of the timelessness and changing nature of gardens everywhere.

Look also for the exhibit by Ecological Landscaping Association, California chapter, which is headquartered in Santa Cruz in partnership with the Live Oak Grange. This display will highlight sound ecological landscaping principles. Visit the group’s in-progress demonstration garden at the Live Oak Grange in Santa Cruz, where the group hosts open-to-the-public classes taught by landscape professionals.

Besides the display gardens, what will you find at the show?

Seminars and workshops are held throughout each day. Choose from topics like sustainable gardening, small gardens, rose-growing tips, container gardening, perennials and other plants, internationally famous gardens, irrigation techniques, creating outdoor living spaces, easy-care gardens, composting, patio building, floral arranging, solving landscape problems and many others — in all, more than 60 seminars are available, some of them followed by a book signing.

If you are in the mood to shop, visit the Marketplace, where more than 250 exhibitors offer the latest in garden items. Garden art, tools and specialty items, and of course plants that are difficult to find elsewhere will be a major attraction.

If your family includes children, visit “Sproutopia — A Place for Kids” where hands-on activities will be available. The Sprouts Stage will feature storytelling and demonstrations designed to interest even the smallest budding gardener. And new this year, KinderCare will provide daycare for the youngest visitors.

If you need nourishment, visit one of the several food sites, or to save your time for more exploring, bring a bag lunch. Be sure to take your camera, so you can record details that you want to remember. Most important: Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to stay awhile. You will have a rousing good time, and come away with new ideas and a sense of excitement to take home with you to apply to your own gardening spaces.

Horticulturist Sharon Hull works at the Lumbermens Garden Center. Contact her at 423-0223.

If You Go

WHAT: San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.

WHEN: Wednesday-Sunday, March 21-25; Wednesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

WHERE: Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City.

COST: Five-day pass, $65; one-day premium ticket, $48; two-day pass, $28; regular admission, purchased at the door, $20; regular admission, purchased in advance at www.gardenshow.com, 800-569-2832, or at local nurseries by Tuesday, $17; group sales of 20 or more tickets, advance sales only [call 800-569-2832], $16; half-day, purchased at the door after 3 p.m., or after 2 p.m. on Sunday, $13; student, 25 years old and younger with valid student ID, $9; children 6 to 17, $4; children 5 and younger, free.

DETAILS: 800-569-2832 or www.gardenshow.com.

Locals at the show

While there is plenty of representation from Santa Cruz, here are the main exhibitors:

* Michele Swanson, working with Garden Design Magazine, can be reached locally at her company Cltv8ART Design at 426-5605.
* Contact Kathleen Shaeffer Design and Laura L.Livingston Landscaping at 423-7849.
* Find Roxanne Evans and Ecological Landscaping Association at 469-7699 or visit www.yahoogroups.com, type ecogardensc in the search engine.

source : www.santacruzsentinel.com

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