Saturday, March 17, 2012

On the road again... San Francisco Flower & Garden Show - in San Mateo

We are on the road early (3:45AM) and wearing green for St. Patrick's Day!

"Muffie", Mom's deep blue F-350 Powerstroke (wearing a green bow of course) is heading south over the Siskiyou Mountains to bring sweetly scented lilies to the Bay area March 21-25.  Weather was mixed snow and rain near home but the further south we traveled today, the nicer the weather became.

Known for our spectacular array of lilies, this year we'll also have a small educational display in one corner of the 20'x20' space, targeting "budding gardeners" age 12 and under with their parents.  What better way to inspire youngsters with the fun of gardening (and not just weeding) than by an adventure at one of the flower and garden shows. If you are attending the show with children, be sure to receive a "Discovery Pass" at the door for the kids to collect all the stickers/stamps from the six participating vendors at the show and turn it the booklet for a free gift at the Children's exhibit.

In addition to our wonderfully scented lilies, we have several varieties of rain lilies (Zephranthes) on the truck, nice LARGE bulbs of Eucrosia bicolor, plus freshly packaged bulbs of the new 8" tall 'Tiny Piny' Series of Eucomis from breeder Eddie Walsh of New Zealand. 

California garden designs differ somewhat from landscapes familiar to those of us gardening in the Northern regions, but design elements remain the same, a pleasing combination of "hard-scape" and plants used with creativity.  A few years back, a retaining wall was composed of brightly painted old steam radiators, another had an adobe house with dry-gardening plants and geckos, but our hand's down favorite resembled the movie jungle of "Jurassic Park" - complete with lush foliage, the front end of a crunched Jeep and the occasional burst of thunder, lighting, plus a cloud of mist billowing into the path.  Some designs are not do-able in our rainy, snowy climate - but we do have fun looking.

If in the Bay area, we hope to meet you at the show. 

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