Filoli: Big and Bright and not Your Average Old Estate
As I write my recap of the Filoli Flower Show (which took place May 10th-13th) I must say — I never tire of Filoli. Every time I go there’s something new and fun going on.
- The Sunken Gardens at Filoli
This year’s Flower Show had the theme “The Secret Garden, Discover the Magic,” and it sure was magical because all the flowers were all in bloom — just in time for a perfect Mother’s Day Weekend!
Every year the show honors a special contributor, and the event this year honored Tom Rodgers, the Filoli Curator from 1998-2011. Tom is well respected, and his love and passion for the Filoli Estate will never die.
- Tom Rogers. Photo via The Examiner
Something funny that I realized at the show is that Tom and I have something in common! What, you make ask? Well, both of us are “Curators”!
Being a Curator is a big job. To have the responsibility of collecting and showcasing things (whether they’re flower displays or online products) people will like a huge undertaking, and I now have more respect for Tom than ever before.
Anyways, while I was at Filoli, I took a few snapshots (you may have seen them on Twitter) for those that couldn’t attend. Enjoy!
(Above) A unique floral arrangement using stacked cardboard by Sogetsu Ikebana School.
(Above) Another shot of the Sunken Garden. I was trying to make it look old fashioned!
(Above) A mini arrangement. You might not be able to tell in this photo, but this arrangement was only about 3 inches tall!
(Above) This arrangement, on the other hand, was so big that it demanded its own room!
Photo collection: Springs Preserve outside Las Vegas, NV
Back in February we took a jaunt to Las Vegas to attend the Las Vegas Home & Gift Show. While we were there, we toured the Springs Preserve, located 15 minutes from the Strip.
It was a lovely visit. Beautiful grounds, educational tips on how to conserve water and a kid-friendly atmosphere. If you’re ever in Vegas and need a little break from the casinos, we highly suggest a visit to the Springs Preserve.
Here are a few more photos we took while we were there…
- It’s a huge facility. Rooms for conferences, field trips, and even a restaurant!
- The grounds.
- Bird nest!
- Cauliflower
- Gorgeous cactus container garden.
Wordless Wednesday: San Francisco Flower & Garden Show 2012 Photos
Because we’re still too fried from five days of SF Flower & Garden goodness to write…
Photos from the Habitat booths:
- Our “Contemporary Chic” SmallSpace garden.
- Our booth, with Jessy doing some work on her computer!
Our "Cottage Cozy" SmallSpace garden display.
Photos from around the show:
Bay Area Gardens You Must Visit This Spring!
Spring is the time of the year for garden tours — and nowhere does it better than the Bay Area. With all the warm weather we’ve been having, now is the best time to get outside and head to a local public garden. Here are some of our favorites:
- Filoli Gardens. Photo via SFGate.com
First stop: Filoli
Bonnie and I went there last weekend for the Daffodil Extravaganza, and while it was still a little lacking in Daffys, the gardens were just gorgeous. There’s so much to see and do at Filoli: they have regular docent tours (which I highly recommend), a nice little cafe, the Sunken Garden (pictured above), and the historic Filoli estate house. Visit Filoli’s site >
- Photo via aluminumwings.deviantart.com
Next stop: The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park
I must admit, I’m a bit of Tea Garden junkie… I’ve been there at least a dozen times! I haven’t been there yet this year but I’ll bet their cherry trees are blossoming!
When you go to the Tea Gardens, you really feel like you’re in Japan. There’s a nice path that wraps all around the grounds, a huge Pagoda, a koi pond and traditional Japanese-style gardens in every direction. Plus, you can actually climb the bridge in this photo — my favorite part! There’s also a tea ‘hut’ where you can get a nice cup of tea with almond cookies. (You’ve probably noticed that I like gardens that offer food and drinks!) Visit the Tea Garden’s site >
Once you’ve finished up at the Tea Garden, there’s the entire Golden Gate Park left to explore — and the endless gardens that can be found there.
- Photo via muirwoodstradingcompany.com
Finally, the Muir Woods
While they’re not technically a ‘garden’ tour, the Muir Woods offer a flora world all their own to explore. Walking through the tall, ancient Redwoods is an incredible experience, and one I highly recommend. There are also all kinds of shade-loving plants to be found – and even the occasional ape! (Jk.) Overall, it’s a great place for relaxing and finding inspiration for shade gardening. Visit the Muir Woods site >
Besides my three favorites, there are a bunch of other public gardens that are worth a visit this spring:
- Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy – Formerly Bonfante Gardens
- The gardens at Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park
- Cornerstone in Sonoma
- The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek – A great example of a garden committed to drought-resistant planting, long before it was chic to be dry!
Any gardens you’d recommend? Let us know in the comments section.
Pumpkins galore in Half Moon Bay!
Over this past weekend, I went to Half Moon Bay, CA – a quaint town on the California coast known for their foggy beaches and florists. But come Autumn, they’re known for their pumpkins!
So it was no surprise that I passed a dozen or so pumpkin patches during my day-trip. So, I thought I’d share a few photos I snapped along the way…
- Quite the selection of festive squashes!
A yellow pumpkin still on the vine.
The craziest thing I saw all day were these…
We stumbled upon the venue of the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh-off a day early, and they had some of the entries already displayed. Some of the pumpkins pictured weighed up to 990 pounds! Yes, 990 pounds.
You know what’s even crazier than that? The guy who won, Leonardo Urena, had a pumpkin that came in at a whopping 1,704 pounds — which broke world records. A fantastic feat, Leonardo.
- Leonardo & pumpkin. Via San Jose Mercury News.
But me? I just left with a cart-full of normal-sized pumpkins…
Photos (and a recipe!): Tomatoes
A few years back, I got a call from my friend Denise. She and her husband had just pulled out their entire back yard and were about to put in a lawn from fence to fence. I got the SOS at 3pm. By 4pm I was there, Mango Margarita in hand, talking about what she really wanted.
- Denise in her garden.
Turns out what she really wanted was a lush, edible garden. So the next day, the gardener showed up at her house and was installing fruit trees, vegetable gardens and my own personal favorite – tomato plants.
- Mmm… heirloom tomatoes.
Denise took it from there, creating an amazing mini farm with room to play for her son, Jack. She also took a tomato class from Nancy Garrison over at Common Ground in Palo Alto to hone her tomato-growing skills.
Now, every year she goes to the Santa Clara Master Gardeners’ tomato and pepper festival in April and comes back with over 50 tomato heirloom starts. Her favorites are the Orange Russian 117, Hillbilly and Sun Sugar Cherry.
- Huge heirloom tomato.
I just love visiting Denise’s garden and this time, she gave me her amazing Fried Green Tomato recipe. They’re mouthwateringly delicious, and even more tasty with your own home-grown tomatoes.
- You guessed it – green tomatoes!
Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe with Spicy Aioli and Relish
Serves 4-6 people
Ingredients
4 medium hard, green tomatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick and lightly salted both sides
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
4 tbsp water
pinch of grey sea salt
1/4 lb applewood bacon chopped in 1/4″ slices
Olive oil to fill skillet to 1/2″ (she cooks with a 12″ cast iron skillet)
Instructions
Put into 3 bowls
- Bowl #1: Flour
- Bowl #2: Egg wash: Eggs stirred with water and sea salt
- Bowl #3: Cornmeal Mixture: Cornmeal and bread crumbs
- Lightly dust each tomato with flour on both sides
- Dip the tomato into the egg wash on both sides and let the extra egg run off
- Dip the tomato into cornmeal mixture on both sides
- Fry bacon in skillet until crispy and then remove bacon leaving the grease in the pan (don’t you dare eat the bacon yet!)
- Add olive oil to skillet and heat to make it hot but not smoking*
- Fry tomatoes on each side until tender. The tomatoes are ready when you can get a fork just in but a bit al dente
- Place in middle rack of oven preheated to 200 degrees while you make more (they’ll cook a bit more this way)
*NOTE ON FRYING
The trick to frying is that you want the oil to heat just until its about to smoke. If its smoking, its too hot. If you put a tomato in and the oil doesn’t sizzle, then its not hot enough. What Denise does is start at medium high to heat the oil and then drops it to medium to cook. If you need to add more oil to the pan, turn the heat back to medium high and then reduce the again.
Spicy aioli ingredients
1 cup Mayonnaise (she prefers olive oil mayo)
1/2 Lemon juiced (she prefers Eureka – less sweet than Meyer)
1/2 tsp Cayenne
pinch of sea salt
- Mix all ingredients together
Relish ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper chopped
corn from one ear
1/2 medium onion chopped
1 small jalapeno chopped
pinch of sea salt
- Saute relish in olive oil until wilted (some caramelization)
Serve & enjoy!
Ernie’s Japanese Tea Garden visit, San Francisco
What a photographer! I’ve been a fan of my friend Ernie’s photography work for years, especially his garden photography. He often gets really close up to flowers and makes them look like beautiful, abstract shapes. His talent lies in his ability to share the beauty he sees with all of us. Ernie is just full life and love, and it comes off in his photography.
The photos below are from a visit to the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden and I’m very excited to be sharing them with you!
- Gorgeous close-up of a blooming Iris.
- I love the reflections in this picture.
If you liked these, make sure to check out all of Ernie’s photos from around the world at flickr.com/photos/mcgrayjr.
Garden Trends at Sunset Magazine’s Celebration Weekend
- Quite a crowd at Sunset’s Weekend Celebration
A couple weeks ago I went to Sunset Magazine’s “Make It Your Own Celebration Weekend” in Menlo Park, CA. It was an absolutes blast– I highly recommend attending next year if you live in the area. There was so much to see and do: Rick Bayless cooked up a storm on the Ikea Stage, Berkeleyites shared tips for raising chickens in your backyard, HyBrid Architechture gave a tour of their shipping container home, and of course– gardeners drooled over the beautiful landscaping around every corner. It was borderline visual overload, but a couple of garden trends definitely stood out:
1. Succulents
Succulents are also known as “fat plants” and are water-retaining plants that have adapted to arid climates (like deserts). They retain water in their leaves, stems, bulbs and roots– giving them a fleshy and swollen appearance. The best known succulents are cacti, though there are many non-cacti succulents too.
- Clever use of succulents, down the center of table.
Why succulents are so great: They require very little water– making them eco-friendly, sustainable and cheap to maintain! Another plus is that they have short roots and require almost no soil, which is why people are putting succulents everywhere: on walls, on hanging orbs as decoration — even through the middle of tables. Not to mention, they come in beautiful mellow colors such a light turquoise, pinkish-burgundy and.. you get the idea. Just look at the photos:
- Chicken coup with a green roof
2. Green Roofs
Sometimes involving succulents, I also spotted tons of green roofs at the Sunset party. Green roofs are roofs with vegetation growing on top — most commonly grasses, succulents and sometimes even trees. The green roofs on display at the Sunset party were the roofs to chicken coups and outdoor dog houses– a pretty brilliant idea in my opinion.
Why live roofs are great: They keep the building watertight, and they insulate. They’re great for your home because they can save you tons on heating and air conditioning, not to mention roof leaks. And they’re good for your chicken and dogs’ dwellings because they’ll keep them warm and dry. Another plus is that they’re pretty to look at! Why look at a boring shingled or metal roof when you can look at a bed of plants?
Have you spotted any trends in gardening lately? Do share!
