San Francisco Flower & Garden Show 2009

'American Horticultural Society Environmental Award'

'Sustainable Gardening Award by San Francisco Botanical Society'

Delightfully pretty edible garden bursting with colorful companion plantings 

kale, collards & Swiss chard

               parsley, peas & pansies               

violas and calendulas.

Sustainable Garden Design   ....recycled/reclaimed materials  ..... veggies grown in compost

www.RecycleWorks.org

Garden creators:   Common Ground and College of San Mateo 

Built by volunteers of the San Mateo County RecycleWork's Master Composter Program with support form Common Ground Garden Supply & Education Center in Palo Alto.

Sky's The Limit

Designed by Rebecca Cole Design

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show  2009

Best of Show garden

built by Mark Campbell, Garden of Eden Landscapes

Exciting news on opening day of the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. Duane Kelly of Salmon Bay Events announced.... it's looking like the show will go on in 2010!  A letter of intent has been signed.  More details, and show gardens to follow on BayAreaTendrils.

Emerging in the main hall, a hip, contemporary garden designed by Rebecca Cole of New York, Sky's The Limit, garnered my vote along with the Golden Gate Cup for Best of Show... and a bevy of accolades, including a Gold Medal; the Sunset Western Living Award; the Association of Professional Landscape Designers Award; the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Center's Award.

Conceived as a high-rise, rooftop space, succulents ruled in an indoor-outdoor layout melding eye-catching textures and patterns into a cohesive design statement.

Garden highlights: the bold forms of hard-edged, rusty, steel-rimmed planters framing Aeonium tabulaeforme and stunning echeverias; 

an inviting enclosed seating area softened by a green roof;

gorgeous living walls composed of geometric shapes where a dark-leaf ajuga plays off leptinellas, sempervivums and sedums.

Cole designed brilliant glazed tiles with plant motifs; the tiles used as elements in tabletops inset with plantings. Tiles also appear on the floor plane, though I'd guess the surface might be too slippery to be used here. 

Cole credits Mark Campbell of Garden of Eden Landscapes for the daunting task of building out the garden for the San Francisco event. 

The Sky's The Limit leaflet mentions numerous others, including sponsor Smith & Hawken, whose logo appears in the cozy enclosure,  Mountain Crest Gardens, 

and Studio Replica for the cast-stone planters and sofa.

The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show runs through Sunday, March 22 

from 10 AM to 6 PM.  Visit gardenshow.com for information.