SF Garden Show: Papillon Pad

Ok, I swear this is the last post on the SF Flower and Garden Show!  I had to make sure to include this wonderful garden- a celebration of wood and stone in the most elegant of ways.  Mariposa Gardening and Design teamed up with Thomas Pedemonte Fine Woodworking to create the Papillon Pad, the perfect place to flap your wings in the sunshine and sip nectar. 

The open design of the terrace balances casual and formal; classic columns create the structure as edibles ring the perimeter to encourage spontaneous snacking.  The linear columns support a dancing line of wire mesh, with pea tendrils serving as partner.  It also shamelessly courts the wood geeks of the world with its gentle George Nakashima-inspired butterfly joint, standing in beautifully for a lucky horseshoe above the entrance.

Actually, where this garden is not wood geek paradise, it's careful to provide the stone folks with something to ogle.  Tiny details, such as this herringbone stonework at the base of the platform really excite me.  It takes a natural element and puts a human touch upon it, instead of attempting to recreate the field in which the stone was found.

But then the wood geek in me takes over and I've once again fallen for the brilliant use of reclaimed wood, like this walnut bench perfect for an impromptu rest.  I can't remember for sure, but it also looks like scraps of 2 x 4s delineate the spaces between pebbles.  

Since this is the last garden show post, (I did promise...) I'll throw in a photo of this rad sculpture, too.  Goodbye, garden show!  Can't wait to see you next year!

SF Garden Show: The Living Room aka Succulent Cube

Since the nice guys at Cactus Jungle's Cactus Blog took the time to actually link to me (thanks Peter and Hap!), I should at the very least show some photos of the incredible succulent cube that everyone's buzzing about. 

The photo above was an accident, but a happy one.  It's the light sculpture inside the cube and  I.  Want.  One.  Now! 

This "Living Room" by Organic Mechanics encapsulated what I feel really makes the show special.  Imaginative, conceptual, not at all practical, gathering a crowd of gawkers, and using luscious materials. 

The cube floated on a sea bobbing with glass orbs, ringed by glowing stone bowls.  A tapestry of Echevarias and other small succulents wended across the walls of the cube in playfully elegant patterns and punctuated by small slits of turquoise-lined windows.

The entrance required the adventurous act of crossing the moat on lilypad-like millstones and ducking into the structure under a radiant book-matched trunk of polished wood.

The reward for the dangerous crossing?  A lush little room in which to have foie gras and expensive wine, perhaps 16 courses following.  The walls inside were draped in jute, which I found a tidge off-putting after the immense attention to detail on the exterior.  I would have loved to see a handcrafted table to carry the wood theme inside or at least some Tillandsias or ferns mimicking the design of the succulents.  But the chandelier captured my heart and you could look out the little windows at the growing line of people waiting to go inside, so I did enjoy it.  I can't imagine the work involved to create this and it seems from others' responses that this will be remembered as the icon of the show.

SF Garden Show: the Victory Garden

Updated to give credit also to Garden Fare, who co-designed the Victory garden.  Thanks, Leslie!

I have to admit that the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show was pretty cool, but I think that the best part was meeting Clare and her husband of Curbstone Valley Farm fame.  It's so satisfying to meet a virtual friend in person!

We walked around the show and ended up chatting for quite some time with the nice folks at Star Apple Edible Gardens and Garden Fare about their Victory garden.  Super nice folks!

The chicken house in particular really caught my eye (shown above).  Chicken houses have historically fallen into the utilitarian column, but Star Apple decided to use it as an element of the design with exotic yet relatively easy to execute decoration.  It's almost ark-like!  Unfortunately, it's little hinged wooden roof piqued my curiosity and I just had to lift it up (you can't take me anywhere...), thereby putting me nose to beak with a little hen trying to get some rest in the hay.  Sorry!  I'm not sure who was more embarrassed- me or the chicken! 

Photo lifted from San Jose Garden Examiner and taken by S. Smith

The planted area was a real treat, reminding us that edible and beautiful are not mutually exclusive.  Ribbons of marigolds and violas danced in undulating rows while herbs, lettuces and cabbages filled in the spaces.  Fruit trees and trellises of exuberant vines observed it all from the center of the beds.  I like their concept of using edibles as landscaping instead of hiding them in that thrown together box in the corner of the yard.  It celebrates the beauty of the plant, and you can eat it! 

Little touches, like wooden spoons as plant labels really made the garden memorable.  It oozed in cuteness, but also practicality.  It's so exciting to see that growing your own food has almost become a standard in backyard gardening.

Have I mentioned their business card?  Most gorgeous card, like ever!  Overall, this garden landed in my favorites list- it didn't have to be gimmicky to get my attention and its pragmatic beauty has inspired me to get a move-on with my seed starting adventures. The heart and passion involved in creating this really showed- and its infectiousness really spread throughout the show-goers gawking their way through.

SF Garden Show: Natives 3.0

I'm the newest member of Tierra Seca Landscape's fan club!  Natives?  Check!  Contemporary and thoughtful design?  Check!  Stuff that glows?  Check! 

What I love about this design is that it doesn't advertise the fact that the plantings are native.  The natives are only a piece of the full landscape, bringing all the elements together cohesively.  It also doesn't fall into the "if it's native, it must look wild" stereotype. 

Brian Swope, the designer plays with topography in Natives 3.0, the name of this garden.  Softly angled ramps meet to a conversation area in the center of the design, adding visual interest and emphasizing the planted beds surrounding it, which rise at slightly steeper angles.  Personally, I could have done without the painted yellow, red and blue walls, but the additional color helps to bring a festive atmosphere.
The planted areas are not left entirely to the plants, but are incorporated into the design by raising the focal points, in this case some gorgeous pines, onto plain wooden boxes.  It serves as a wonderful reminder that you aren't on a hike in the woods.  This is a backyard where the human element plays harmoniously  with the natural. 

River stones ring the perimeter of the garden, grounding the landscape before it ascends up to the patio area.  Angles and topography are once again referenced in the eye-catching, glowing cones, serving as beacons of the landscape.  A shot of water bubbles energetically at the surface of this cone forest, cast in a fanciful blue light.
The plants used in this garden included lupine, blue-eyed grass, fuscia flowering gooseberry, and bay laurel, among many others.
I liked that this garden had an ambiance of playfulness without looking like a Ronald McDonald fun house.  I also appreciated that Brian used the opportunity to create something more avant garde(n), which is more than what many of the other exhibitors accomplished.  Apparently, the economy seemed more of a theme than anything else and most gardens were pretty and well executed, but not much more than that.  Pardon my cattiness, but sticking dinosaurs into a pretty landscape doesn't inspire me.  (That garden was really pretty, though!)  But what did you think?  Am I asking too much to have gardens that challenge the viewer/participant?

Rest in Peace Little Allen

How sad that we rarely get to examine hummingbirds closely unless they've passed away.  While I wish this little one was still flitting about, it's exciting to see his feathers and markings (and little hummingbird feet!).  It's an Allen's Hummingbird, by the way and my client found him on her porch.  Poor little one. 

I notice that I'm focusing on fauna more than flora lately, but then again I haven't been to the SF Garden Show yet, either!  If you haven't purchased your tickets, do so here.  I'll be at the California Native Plant Society table this Saturday from 5:30 to 8:00 spreading the native plant gospel so stop by if you happen to find yourself there!