Orchids from the Show

I wasn't going to buy any orchids!

But feeling a bit cocky with three cymbidiums blooming this year, I got a deep red miniature and couldn't resist a beautiful epidendrum. I never really got the epidenrums to thrive for me in SoCal and they didn't last long up here but they look so great, I talked myself into another try. The cymbidium is small and I may winter it inside. I will definitely winter the epidendrum inside.

The orchid plants at the show were incredible and the prices were fantastic. I just wish I had better accommodations. I would have bought more.

Plumeria from the Show

I knew I shouldn't but I can't resist plumeria. Ever since my two year Army tour included Ft . Shafter Hawaii, I have longed to grow them along with other Hawaiian garden plants. I had two plants which I brought from LA when we moved. One was about four feet tall (not including pot) and the other about two. They were too big (and too ugly) to bring in the house so by the second year they died.
In LA it never got warm enough near the coast for the buds to open so when they first arrived in July I enjoyed seeing them flower but it was their swan song.
I was irresistably drawn to the hawaiian booth selling plumeria plants and cuttings. After several passes and hearing that the cuttings were only $10, I had to do it. The saleslady was encouraging about growing them in Sacramento but she told me something I never knew which sealed the deal. She said they need to be in a small pot to bloom. In a large pot, they would just grow. I always assumed that growing them big would encourage blooming and wondered how the nurseries managed to get flowers on the small ones they sell. If I bought two, she would even throw in the fertilizer (she insisted that they need to be well fertilized to match the volcanic soil in Hawaii).
So here are my cuttings ready to put out roots and start growing. If I keep them small, I can find someplace in the house for them in the winter. Really.

Succulents From the Show

I usually cannot resist succulents and the plants for sale were choice. I kept eying the displays as I prowled the vendor floors, finally deciding that I had to take some home. After waiting in line to purchase, I was told that my plants totaled $25 and the minimum credit card purchase was $40. They would take checks but, of course, my checkbook was in the car. I asked the lady if she could put them aside while I got it but I knew that if I lugged all my purchases back to the car, I would never return. Then I saw the atm. Normally I will never use a private atm but otherwise these cuties would never be mine. So, risking identity theft, I replenished my cash and bought. Actually, now that I have all the plants home, I think these were my best purchase. But then, that's what I think today. Tomorrow will be a different story.

My new plants are from bottom left, Echeveria afterglow, top Euphoribia sticks on fire and finally on the right Kalanchoe thyrsiflora. I don't yet know what I will do with them. The little guy needs repotting but beyond that I need to put them someplace where I can admire them.
And if I need more, I know where to get them.

Gardens in the Dark

I guess that the central area full of display gardens was supposed to be the high point of the show. They are impressive... and clearly the result of a lot of work but they are like model homes - flamboyant, eyecatching and empty. They aren't your backyard, or even your rich neighbor's. They don;t offer much to the down and dirty gardener. I guess they showcase designers and landscaping firms but I don't know that they provide much help if I were seeking a landscaper.

I circled the arena trying to get into the spirit of the displays but it just wouldn't come. First of all, what's with the darkness? I suppose it helps cover up the fabrication of these displays and maybe its all for the good. It made me feel like a con job, however.

I took a few pictures. These were the best of the lot and they don;t reveal much.

Still the gardens were merely an interlude at the show for me, a break in the intensity of the reall excitement - the shopping.

Show Stopper

They had more than plants at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. There was this show-stopping garden umbrella. Two sizes, several colors. It folds up...........and it has solar lights. I wanted it real bad but the county, state and feds have claimed all my assets and more so it is not to be.

They have a show special price but even that won't make it work this year. Maybe next year.

San Franciso Flower and Garden Show

First impressions

Walking from the non-preferred parking area toward the show you cross over the traffic entering the complex. Then you are there, the famous Cow Palace.



Inside is an incredible sight wonderland of vendors, exhibsition gardens and food. (I noticed one attendee complained about the limited fare but there seemed to me to be a wide range of food offerings). For me, a nondescript polish sausage was all I needed to keep me going for 5 hours of gawking and buying.


We drove down from Sacramento leaving at about 9:00 AM. I dropped my wife off at Union Square f or a day of browsing San Francisco art galleries and got to the Cow Palace at about 11:00 AM. Inside, I first passed quickly though the vendors to see what was available and plan later purchases. Then I looked at the display gardens and returned to the vendors for actual purchases. I quickly became very grateful for the check stands because some of my purchases were heavy and all were awkward to carry. By the time I was finished, my wife had left two messages on my cellphone wondering where I was (cellphone coverage in the Palace seems to be spotty). I left about 3:30 PM but with the very heavy traffic and my unfamiliarity with driving in San Francisco, it was 4:30 before I spotted her on the steps of Union Square opposite Macy's. Then to a nice restaurant on the Embarcadero and back to Sacramento.

More reactions and comments later.

If you're going to San Francisco

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Oh, wait! That's not what I meant to say.

The only possible reason to go to San Francisco this week is to attend the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. OK it's really in Daley City, but back to the point.

If you are new to the show here are your assignments.