Even though it’s felt like spring for months, the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show is my indicator that it’s time for some serious garden activity.
New owners Sherry Larsen and Maryanne Lucas redesigned the popular show in 2014, and this year’s theme, “Going Wild,” will be even bigger and better as they celebrate 30 years of garden inspiration.
Fifteen designer gardens will offer inspiration and an opportunity to engage with the design teams. More than 100 seminars and hands-on workshops, including backyard bee keeping, growing — and preserving — your own food, planting for pollinators and ways to lose your lawn, will be covered during the five-day exhibition. This year there are also premium talks and workshops offering in-depth instruction with garden professionals.
I admire the herculean effort it must take for designers to create welcoming gardens filled with artistic hardscaping and bountiful blooms inside a bare-bone convention center. Thanks to their creativity, I always come away with some ideas to incorporate in my outdoor living space.
The Western Horticultural Society’s “Hot Plant Picks” with samples of what’s new and exciting in the plant world is fun and informative. There are generally handouts with detailed information about the plants on display, but it’s a good idea to bring your camera and a note pad to record your favorites.
California Garden Clubs, Inc., with more than 350 member clubs and societies throughout the state, displays floral designs created by its talented members.
What I really look forward to is the seminars. Planning is key as seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The seminars are generally 45 minutes with an optional 15 minute Q&A. This year the five stages and Expo Hall are divided by theme: garden tribe, kitchen tribe, flower pavilion, garden wild, event pavilion and urban homestead. I highly recommend you download the seminar schedule in advance: http://sfgardenshow.com/seminars and plan your perfect day.
GardenTribe.com is an online video garden education program created by Marinites and recent Marin Master Gardener graduates, Jen Long and Beth LaDave. They are also the coordinators of this year’s speaker program, and many of the professionals included in their online program will be presenting live and in person at the show.
Two Marin residents will be seminar presenters. Self-described fruit-freak John Valenzuela, gardener, consultant, permaculture educator and owner of Cornucopia Food Gardens in Novato, will speak on “Discovering Rare Fruit to Grow in Your Garden” at 12:30 p.m. March 21. Valenzuela is growing more than 150 varieties of fruit on multigrafted trees and is widely acknowledged as an engaging speaker with vast plant knowledge.
Local professional garden photographer and official photographer of the SFF&GS, Saxon Holt, will present on two subjects. One timely topic relates to our ongoing drought. Saxon rethinks the term Mediterranean garden and redefines it as “Summer Dry” gardening. Holt, photographer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District publication “Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates,” will discuss climate-tolerant gardening at 11 a.m. March 19.
At 4 p.m. he will present “Think Like a Camera” followed by a premium seminar at 5 p.m., which is limted to 20 participants, on the “techniques of lines, shape and focal points found in all good gardens to fill the frame with strong compositions.”
Wear comfortable walking shoes, pack your camera and prepare to be inspired at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo from March 18 to 22. For detailed information, go to the sfgardenshow.com.
The University of California Marin Master Gardeners are sponsored by UC Cooperative Extension. For questions about gardening, plant pests or diseases, call 473-4204 from 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays, or bring in samples or pictures to 1682 Novato Blvd., Suite 150B, Novato.
