Blue Planet Garden Blog

Bay Area Garden Events – March 2014

As winter winds down and spring begins to tease us with a few early blooms, what better month than March to take in a gardening presentation or workshop? Here are a couple of events happening in the Bay Area this month.

Filoli

The Clocktower at Filoli, taken at last year's Garden Bloggers Fling

Billy Goodnick, landscape architect and author of Yards: Turn Any Outdoor Space into the Garden of Your Dreams is leading an all day design workshop at beautiful Filoli on March 15. Billy's promise: "Spend your Saturday with me and you'll come away enlightened, inspired and entertained." Details on Design Like a Pro: Demystifying the Art of Garden Design are on the Filoli website.

 

San Francisco Flower and Garden Show

In addition to the usual impressive list of speakers (including Rebecca Sweet on Wednesday, March 19 giving a terrific talk on making over your side yard), the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show has a few new things on tap this year.

 

For an additional fee, several of the speakers will be holding hands on workshops, including noted photographers Saxon Holt on Finding the Photo and David Perry on using your iPhone to photograph your garden.

 

Edible gardeners, the show has you covered as well: Nan Sterman will help you create a vegetable and herb garden you can take home with you. Space is limited, so don't delay. Details on all workshops are here--or heck, just go straight to the purchase tickets page.

 

The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) is also offering something new at the show. Sign up in advance, and for a nominal fee, receive 30 minutes of design consultation from a professional designer. Although I won’t be one of the designers on tap, I can vouch for the high caliber of advice that will be given. Details here. Even better, 50% of the proceeds will be donated to Kids Growing Strong, an organization that empowers familes and caregivers to inspire children to adopt healthy lifestyles via nutrition and exercise.

I'll be at the opening gala Tuesday night and wandering the floor on Thursday so keep an eye out for me (I'll be the one lugging a camera and looking for a spot to stash my flat of plants).

 

Contra Costa Master Gardeners Great Tomato Sale

All that was left of some varieites on offer at the Master Gardener Great Tomato Sale in 2012. Get there early for the best selection.

I know the title says March events, but if you're like me and dreaming of your first bite of a juicy, homegrown tomato, then mark your calendars NOW for the Contra Costa County Master Gardeners tomato sale. April 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Our Garden in Walnut Creek, the sale offers the best selection of locally propogated tomatoes in Contra Costa. Other veggies and (hopefully) worm compost will also be on sale - come early for the best selection as we do sell out.

Hope to see you at least some of you while I'm out and about this spring!

Design Inspiration: The Vibrant Colors of Quintana Roo

Last week I enjoyed a welcome break in spectacular, tropical Cancun, a resort destination located in Quintana Roo, Mexico. While I was (mostly) diligent about avoiding emails, like many people in a creative field, my design brain never quite turns off.

 If you are a regular reader, then you know that color has been a reoccurring theme of late, whether via the symbolism of Feng Shui, or in more tangible ways, such as exploring unusual combinations on the color wheel. Although I gravitate towards subtle shades in most garden designs, while in Mexico I found myself continually captivated by the explosion of color that greeted me almost everywhere I went.

 A few things that inspired me:

 

From Casa de los Suenos website

Brilliant color is everywhere, most notably on Isla Mujeres, a tropical gem just a short ferry ride from the mainland. While touring the island on golf carts, we were drawn to the small but stunning restaurant and resort of Casa de los Suenos. It was not just the views of the ocean visible through the lobby, or the cool and inviting infinity pool, but the artfully painted stucco walls that made us choose this as our lunch destination.

 

This photo is also from their website – I couldn’t get enough of the narrow pink staircase and was disappointed the shadows meant my own pictures didn’t capture its charm.

 

 

Usually I find electric pink bouganvilleas to be a bit garish, but the juxtaposition between the cool stone and brightly colored bracts creates an interesting contrast.

 

 

A burst of color can make even the most mundane features exotic – in this case, a bright blue wall turns a sign pointing the way to the bathrooms and the beach a work of art.

 

 

Elsewhere on Isla Mujeres, we explored an odd little property that contained a restaurant, museum, private club and gift shop specializing in custom jewelry. While I’d seen plenty of jewelry by this time, the colorful parrots halfway up the walk lured me in. The proprietor told me she had opened up the jewelry store because everyone walked up to see the parrots anyway so she might as well make some money—a good reminder that a punch of color in the right place makes a bold statement. (And a good marketing strategy; I’m wearing my new earrings even as I type this.)

 

 

Back at our hotel in Cancun, I spent several early mornings on the beach before most of the guests were down yet. My favorite view? This lone, red lifeguard tower—a spot of vibrant color highlighting and grounding the azure water and white sandy beach that stretches towards the horizon. This is probably my favorite image from the whole trip.

 

What will I do with all this inspiration? I’m not sure. Perhaps I should have taken a tip from my sister, who instead of wandering around Casa de Los Suenos snapping pictures, opted to hop in the infinity pool after lunch and simply enjoy the day. Yet even now I can’t help noticing, doesn’t her orange bathing suit look terrific against the smokey blue water and bright green palm frondse?

 

 

Grab Bag - Vertical Gardening, Blogging...and Spa Products?

 It’s been a year since Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces came out, but instead of slowing down, vertical gardening keeps gaining momentum. In the past year I’ve spoken to garden clubs and symposiums across the country on the topic, with an emphasis on how home gardeners can easily and affordably add vertical elements to their own gardens. Most of the talks are closed to the general public, but the following Northern California venues are open to all:

 

Playful Digs' sister-store, Playful Gardens

Playful Digs in Napa, Saturday, March 31 from 10:30 to 12:00. How lucky am I? Not only do I get to speak on my favorite topic, but I get to do it in the beautiful Napa Valley, one of my favorite places to visit. I’ll be at Playful Digs, the newly opened companion to the popular Playful Gardens. The store features creative approaches to both indoor and outdoor gardening, with an emphasis on unique and repurposed items. Why do I get the feeling I’m going to end up spending my entire speaking fee on a shopping trip there? The article about the store and the talk is on pages 20-21 of the current issue of Napa Valley Marketplace – just click on the image of the magazine to the right of the page. Note: the correct address is 1201 First Street in Napa.

 

The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, Tuesday, May 22 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. I’ll actually begin with a powerpoint presentation and book signing across the street at the always lovely Gardens at Heather Farms then we’ll all head over to the Ruth Bancroft Garden for a hands-on demonstration on making succulent bundles for living art projects - and everyone will make one to take home with them, using cuttings from the garden.

If you’d prefer to learn about vertical gardening from the comfort of your own couch, link up with me this Wednesday, March 7 from 11:00 to 12:00 as I cohost the popular Landscape Chat on Twitter. To participate, simply search for the hashtag #landscapechat, and join the party!

 

Jessy - Habitat Design, Ayla - Berkeley Gardens , Michelle - From Seed to Table, Claire - An Alameda Garden

Of course, I’ve got plenty of interests besides vertical gardening – including in no particular order, garden design, blogging and spa products. Last month I was lucky enough to have all three come together for me, when I attended a garden bloggers happy hour hosted by Jessy Berg and the rest of the gang at Habitat Design blog. Jessy is new to blogging, but has jumped in with both feet. To connect with other Bay Area garden bloggers, she put together this little shindig for all of us to get acquainted and share ideas. Not only did I get the chance to meet fun new bloggers, but I also met Michelle from Seed to Table in person! I’ve been a fan of her blog for years, and if you’re interested in growing your own food and enjoy the occasional mouth-watering recipe made with garden-fresh produce, get over to her blog NOW!

 

Cabbage Braised with Italian Sausage. Yum!

I’ve known Jessy since my design school days at UC Berkeley, and was intrigued to learn she’s taken her design business in a new direction, and is offering landscape plans online. If you’d like to learn more, you can check her out here.

My haul from the Dirty Girl Garden Apothecary store

Also at the event was Jenn from the very popular Dirty Girl Gardening blog. Jenn recently published her first ebook, Botanically Belize, (download it for free from Lulu) and was kind enough to offer us all a sampling from her line of natural botanicals, Garden Apothecary. When my sample arrived, it turned out to be much more than I expected!

So if I'm a bit slow getting my next blog post up, you'll know it's because I'm busy practicing for my upcoming presentations.

Unless I'm busy soaking away my stress...

Susan

 

Say No to SOPA

I'm not going black today, mostly because I haven't got a clue how to do that on a Typepad blog. But in solidarity and support, I'm encouraing everyone to let congress know you disagree with the Stop Online Piracy Act. This site by google sums it up nicely AND makes it easy for you to add your name to the online petition. The latest information is also available in a Huffington Post article.

 

From Google:

"Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA."

The vote is January 24. Sign the petition or write your congressmen before then.

Photo courtesy off techi.com.

Add a shot of vodka - your paperwhites will thank you

When I was a little girl, my granddad told me that coffee and cigarettes would stunt my growth, but for flowers, it's all about the booze.