The showstoppers at this year's San Francisco Flower and Garden Show weren't the plants, but the hardscapes. Held in March at the San Mateo County Event Center in San Mateo, the garden show is an annual exposition of creative talent and craftsmanship.
Even more impressive is that, although garden creators have several months to plan, and they can build the exhibits in part offsite, they have only a few days to recreate them at the event center. And then, at the end of the five-day event, the exhibits are disassembled. So in a sense they are stage sets, but because many of the exhibits have water features or allow visitors to walk through them, the exhibits showcase their creators construction skills to a far greater extent than their horticultural skills.
This year, the single most stunning creation was the dry-laid stone wall and arch in the garden by Mariposa Gardening and Design of Berkeley. A dry-laid wall is especially appropriate for this part of the country because, with no mortar between them, the stones get tighter in an earthquake, according to Andrea Hurd. The little spaces between the stones can provide habitat for small creatures such as lizards, she said.
In the garden created by Studio Replica, what looked like large weathered redwood rounds on the patio floor were made from cast stone, including 60 percent recycled and reclaimed material. They're an inch and a half thick and run $8 to $11 per square foot, which is about $25 to $35 each. The products are manufactured in Sebastopol and available at a San Francisco showroom.
The large bowls and sculptural planters made by John Lamos of Studio Replica looked like something an elegant version of Fred and Wilma Flintstone might use. I kept coming back to the exhibit to look at the shapes and textures, all derived from or inspired by nature.
Covering some of the columns at the exhibit were woodlike panels from Studio Replica. This material can be used as a fireproof and critterproof sheathing in place of wood for a house in a fire-prone area. It's textured and stained to look just like wood, with enough irregularities to make it interesting. The company also makes wood-textured decking.
Color is the keynote of Keeyla Meadows' gardens. From the containers to the stepping stones to the garden art, every aspect of the garden explodes with joyous color. How could anyone help but smile when they walk into one of her gardens? But these are gardens you have to see in person. What might appear garish or overwhelming in a photo feels just right in person, because you're focusing on only one or two elements at a time. Don't miss visiting her garden in Albany, open a couple Sunday afternoons a month through July.
The water feature that caught my eye sent a stream of water from arching copper pipes into huge abalone forms, where it was divided into multiple streams that cascaded into a steel tank. The juxtaposition of organic forms with utilitarian metal by Quite Contrary Garden Design of San Rafael carried into the rest of the tableau. Coiled rebar was softened with climbing vines, and a meadow with native plants off to one side harmonized it all.
© 2009 Tanya Kucak