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San Francisco Flower & Garden Show Seminar Series

Articles: San Francisco Flower & Garden Show Seminar Series

Pacific Horticulture is the proud sponsor and producer of the main Seminar Stage and the all-new Learn with the Experts stage at this year’s San Francisco Flower & Garden Show coming to the San Mateo Events Center March 19–23, 2014. Five full days of inspiring seminars and educational workshops are included with the price of admission. For show details, ticket outlet information,  a complete schedule of all seminars offered on all FIVE stages at this year’s show go here.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

PHS Seminar Stage

  • 11:00 Behind the Scenes at Garden Projects in Northern California  Ever wonder makes a beautiful garden healthy? Learn what makes them successful as Ernesto Sandoval discusses microclimates and plant selection, soil amendments, timing, and transplanting techniques in large public landscaping projects on the UC Davis campus and several home gardens of various sizes in Northern California.
  • 12:15 Color outside the Lines in Your Garden  Let your inner child out to play. It’s high time to make the garden your own: a statement of what you love about the process of gardening—a declaration of joy—and confidence. Join Maryann Newcomer for a look at some of the most intriguing garden color and plant combinations from gardeners around the country (and a few in faraway places).
  • 1:30 Behind the Curtain and a Few Smoker Plants You Can’t Live Without  Join Nicholas Staddon of Monrovia plants on a journey of discovery on a trek through the mountains of North Vietnam with Dan Hinkley in search of rare plants and gain a better understanding of what it takes to collect seed and propagate plants in the nursery. Next, Staddon will dazzle you with a group of “smoker” plants including edibles, perennials, and woody ornamentals that will enhance the value and beauty of any garden.
  • 2:45 Savvy Side Yard Solutions  Often called the “Cinderella of the landscape” side yards are some of the most challenging areas of the garden. Let landscape designer Rebecca Sweet inspire you with six stunning approaches—each with a distinctive style and purpose—using before and after photos as well as detailed information as to what makes each design a success. No matter your style, you’re sure to leave excited to transform this final frontier of your garden.
  •  4:00 Finding the Photo  A garden can be an overwhelming sensory experience full of beauty wrapped in design. Garden photographer Saxon Holt will show how to tell your own story of a garden by using the camera frame to isolate its special features.

PHS Learn with the Experts Stage

  • 11:00 Integrated Pest Management in the Garden  with Frank Niccoli of California Landscape Contractors Association
  •  12:15 Miniature Gardens, a New Way to Grow  Miniature gardening is a new way to design, plant, and grow, but where to begin? What size? Which plants? This demo with miniature gardening expert and author Janit Calvo will take you through the basics, show what plants to look for, what scale is best, and how to cinch the realism and deliver the enchantment.
  • 1:30 What’s New in Vertical Gardening  Vertical gardens are increasingly popular but many have struggled to provide a habitat that plants can thrive in. This demonstration by Sunset magazine’s Johanna Silver will show you design techniques for creating a stunning vertical garden, as well as the type of soilless planting medium used by the experts at Sunset so you can get the same results as the professionals.
  • 2:45 Handmade Garden Projects  Get creative!  Lorene Edwards Forkner demonstrates four easy DIY projects—and several inspiring variations—using basic hardware store materials to craft distinctive garden features that are stylish, thrifty, and work hard in the garden.
  • 4:00 Hypertufa How-to: A Gardener’s Guide to Making Your Own Containers  Garden designer Steve Gerischer uses simple, readily available ingredients to create containers and other projects with surface textures that resemble carved stone. Gerischer will discuss different materials, techniques for adding color and texture to finished projects, and show example of planted projects.

 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

PHS Seminar Stage

  • 11:00 Gardens and Gardeners Abroad in England, Scotland, and Ireland  Virtually tour famous gardens and private landscapes with garden and travel writer Marty Wingate and learn how to use their design techniques in your own garden. Hear some cracking good stories from behind the scenes—including how to “suss out” a good garden mystery.
  • 12:15 Succulents Simplified  Emphasizing readily available and easy-care varieties, Debra Lee Baldwin demystifies the vast succulent plant palette. Find out how these “plants that drink responsibly” offer color, texture and form certain to inspire your creativity. Baldwin includes ideas for gardens large and small, container arrangements, and great-looking projects anyone can do.
  • 1:30 Very Pinteresting!  Maryann Newcomer explores one of technology’s hottest trends—Pinterest—for designing gardens, dreaming up gorgeous perennial borders, incredible container gardens, creating a garden design portfolio for clients, cataloging your plants, gathering images of gardens from around the world, and pulling together pinboards of cool garden tips and everything else under the sun.
  • 2:45 Chasing Wildflowers: A Mad Search for Wild Gardens  Author and designer Scott Calhoun considers his hiking boots his best garden tool; for Scott, a botanizing road trip is one part vacation and one part garden design instruction. He thinks, “if this is lovely in nature, how could it be lovely in a garden?” Join Scott for a talk that offers stories of wildflower hunting alongside budget-friendly design tips for including wildflowers in home gardens.
  • 4:00 Plant Hormones: Understand the Basics and Watch Your Garden Thrive  Learn from Ernesto Sandoval what happens when plants are pruned, propagated, and transplanted. Using minimal scientific terms and speaking from great experience, Sandoval will help you better understand what happens when you transplant or prune your garden plants to ensure your future success.

PHS Learn with the Experts Stage

  • 112:15 Relevance of Native Plants in a Water-Tight World  Hear how you can better prepare for drought conditions by switching to California native plants with Sherri Osaka. Learn how rare our climate is and how these plants have adapted to one of the harshest Mediterranean areas on the planet. Find out what you can do to drought-proof your garden for the future without sacrificing beauty or benefits to wildlife.
  • 1:30 Fountainscaping  Enhance the appeal of any landscape with the sight and sound of water. Are you curious about how a rock can become a bubbling fountain?  It’s easier than you think and David Perkins demonstrates each step of the process, from start to finish. Learn how to choose the right pump and basin, get installation tips, and take away some fresh design ideas for inspiration.
  • 2:45 Thrillers, Fillers, and Spillers: Container Gardening  Attend this workshop and let Shawna Anderson  cue you in on “thrillers,” “fillers,” and “spillers,” the essential techniques for creating beautiful and unique container plantings. With this foundation, Anderson will demonstrate how to add color, texture and unusual plants to create stunning compositions.
  • 4:00 Hypertufa How-to: A Gardener’s Guide to Making Your Own Containers  Garden designer Steve Gerischer uses simple, readily available ingredients to create containers and other projects with surface textures that resemble carved stone. Gerischer will discuss different materials, techniques for adding color and texture to finished projects, and show example of planted projects.

 

Friday, March 21, 2014

PHS Seminar Stage

  • 11:00 Create Beauty—Save Water, and More!  Learn the secrets of creating evergreen, low water, low maintenance landscapes that are beautiful year round with authors Lucy Warren and Greg Rubin. Find out how to succeed with native plants for a lush, colorful, and thriving landscape. Learn how smart garden design and appropriate plant combinations promote the symbiosis that naturally occurs within native plant communities; includes the latest information on the crucial role that natives play in creating fire-resistant landscapes.
  • 12:15 Ecological Design: Landscaping with Ecosystem Services in Mind  Explore the benefits derived from whole systems thinking in ecological design with David Perkins and examine the relationship between elements of a landscape and its connectedness with the wider ecosystem. Natural patterns can be applied to landscape design, with a view to conserving resources. This seminar will bring a focus to water in the landscape, especially water conservation, and storm water management—more important than ever in these years of drought.
  • 1:30 Best New Australian Plants for Northern California Gardens  Randy Baldwin presents a marvelous slide show of the best new plants from Australia as grown by San Marcos growers, located in Santa Barbara and expert in plants that thrive up and down the coastal and nearby inland areas of our state.
  • 2:45 The Gardener’s Guide to Cactus  Join author and garden designer Scott Calhoun for a full-immersion baptism into the cult of hardy garden succulents. Scott’s talk will touch on succulent gardening and highlight strategies for incorporating cacti into lawn-free garden designs.
  • 4:00 The iPhone Gardener  The cameras within iPhones, smartphones, and iPads these days are miniature wonders, nearly always within our reach, and capable of making magical photographs that can be enhanced and immediately shared. Join David E. Perry as he demonstrates the amazing potential these smart phone cameras offer and helps you master their wonders while sidestepping some of their inherent pitfalls.

PHS Learn with the Experts Stage

  • 11:00 Rainwater Harvesting for Bay Area Gardens  How can a water wise garden change the world? What can you do to make your yard a role model of sustainability? Explore these questions with Apryl Ucapher in a workshop setting as you learn rainwater harvesting solutions designed specifically for the Bay Area, including those who garden in limited spaces or may not own their gardening space.
  • 12:15 How to Buy the Right Plants, Tools, and Garden Supplies  Let Jim Fox, a nurseryman with more than 20 years of experience, show you some of the tricks of the trade to becoming a savvy garden consumer. During this demonstration he’ll show you how to determine if a plant is healthy, how to read plant tags, how to choose the best tools and supplies for your needs, and more. This is truly an opportunity to “learn from an expert.”
  • 1:30 Planting a Container Tree the Right (and Messy!) Way  Do you garden on a deck or a patio? Or maybe you just want a tree in a container for its sheer beauty but are intimidated to take on a 5- to 6-foot tree in a 15-gallon pot. Follow Ellen Zachos’ step-by-step demonstration and learn her tips for successfully growing trees in containers, no matter what their size.
  • 2:45 Under the Glass: Terrariums  Join Anne Schellman—aka Anne of Green Gardens—as she “talks terrariums.” Learn the differences between open and closed terrariums, methods and materials involved, and watch as Anne demonstrates how to make a terrarium step by step.
  • 4:00 Create Beauty—Save Water, and More!  Learn the secrets of creating evergreen, low water, low maintenance landscapes that are beautiful year round with authors Lucy Warren and Greg Rubin. Find out how to succeed with native plants for a lush, colorful, and thriving landscape. Learn how smart garden design and appropriate plant combinations promote the symbiosis that naturally occurs within native plant communities; includes the latest information on the crucial role that natives play in creating fire-resistant landscapes.

 

Saturday, March 22, 2014

 PHS Seminar Stage

  • 11:00 Foraging in the Ornamental Garden  When you think about hostas and day lilies, you probably focus on their appealing foliage and vibrant blooms—but these perennials are delicious as well as lovely. In fact, a surprising number of your favorite garden plants can feed both body and soul. Follow along as Ellen Zachos helps you identify those already in your garden and ideas for others you might want to include.
  • 12:15 Robin Stockwell’s Succulent Maintenance Calendar  Maintaining a beautiful succulent garden is a matter of knowing specific needs of your succulent plants through the year and providing needed maintenance in a timely manner.  Robin Stockwell will share his expertise (secrets) using 75 different succulents and demonstrating the seasonal maintenance required to keep each plant looking beautiful through the year.
  • 1:30 Annie’s Fabulous Springtime Slideshow!  Get inspired! Annie Hayes presents luscious springtime images from Annie’s Annuals’ demonstration garden in Richmond, California. It’s the real thing—California wildflowers combined with Mediterranean climate annuals and perennials bursting into bloom all at the same time! With her well-known enthusiasm and quirky sense of humor, this is one seminar you won’t want to miss!
  • 2:45 Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife Join David Mizejewski and learn about creating a beautiful, natural space in your garden that can be enjoyed by you, your family, and the local birds and other backyard wildlife.  You’ll learn more about the four components of habitat—food, water, shelter, and places to raise young—as Mizejewski shares tips, ideas, and projects that can be implemented in your own garden. Plus, you’ll find out to have your garden recognized as an official “Certified Wildlife Habitat” and help the National Wildlife Federation reach others in Northern California and teach them about wildlife-friendly gardening.
  • 4:00 History of Ornamental and Native Grasses in the American Garden  From ornament to ecology, grasses have come a long way in their journey from pampas grass to Carex pansa. Join John Greenlee and learn the amazing history of ornamental and native grasses in American gardens and how grasses have affected the American landscape from sea to shining sea.

PHS Learn with the Experts Stage

  • 11:00 The Art of Aesthetic Pruning  Aesthetic Pruning is the creative interpretation of small trees and shrubs. Attend this demonstration and learn how to bring out the beauty and essence of each plant while maintaining its health. You’ll learn how to make the right cuts for the right reasons.
  • 12:15 Create Your Own Plant Dyes from Bay Area Plants  Sasha Duerr demonstrates how to make five contrasting dyes based on area plants readily available at show time. Learn about San Francisco’s seasonal color wheel and cycle of plant colors—including “weeds” and edible by-products.
  • 1:30 Smart and Effective Irrigation: Waterwise Strategies for Thriving Gardens  Lori Palmquist introduces the latest and greatest irrigation parts that are taking the landscape water-efficiency world by storm. Learn about strategies and solutions for irrigation that will not only ensure your garden will thrive, but save water as well.
  • 2:45 Planting a Container Tree the Right (and Messy!) Way  Do you garden on a deck or a patio? Or maybe you just want a tree in a container for its sheer beauty but are intimidated to take on a 5- to 6-foot tree in a 15-gallon pot. Follow Ellen Zachos’ step-by-step demonstration and learn her tips for successfully growing trees in containers, no matter what their size.
  • 4:00 Orchid Care with Adam Anderson

Sunday, March 23, 2014

PHS Seminar Stage

  • 11:00 Trash to Treasure  Organic Mechanics Sean Stout and James Pettigrew will explore the use of unusual and recycled materials to create garden elements including paths, patios, fountains, arbors, fencing, edging and art. Their illustrated talk will provide you with step-by-step examples of how they used these materials in their creations as well as the work of other imaginative designers. Prepare to be inspired by new ideas to take home and incorporate into your own gardens or those of your clients.
  • 12:45 Designing with Nature, Planting for Pollinators  Pacific Horticulture editor, Lorene Edwards Forkner illustrates examples of design-driven, nature-friendly landscapes where humans, plants, insects, birds, and animals amicably co-exist. Tame the maintenance beast while producing a bountiful harvest and creating a stage for observing the natural world around you.
  • 1:30 Best of the Best for 2014: New Plant Introductions Bring Dazzle to Your Garden  Every year, growers send out their newest offerings to be trialed by professional garden writers in home gardens. Mary-Kate Mackey highlights the best she has grown that will thrive in Bay Area gardens—the kind that makes visitors ask, “What’s that?” You’ll come away with some new choices on your own must-have list.
  • 2:45 From California to London and Saudi Arabia with Ecological/Sustainable Gardens  What are ecological gardens?  How do they express themselves in a variety of climates and situations? How do they communicate with people?  Join Kate Frey for an inspirational overview of ecological garden projects she has worked on here and around the world. Examine their common principles and put apply them to any farm or garden. Frey’s talk, illustrated with awe-inspiring slides, examines universal principals and ecological concepts that can be applied to any farm or garden.

PHS Learn with the Experts Stage

  • 11:00 Thrillers, Fillers, and Spillers: Container Gardening  Attend this workshop and let Shawna Anderson  cue you in on “thrillers,” “fillers,” and “spillers,” the essential techniques for creating beautiful and unique container plantings.With this foundation, Anderson will demonstrate how to add color, texture and unusual plants to create stunning compositions.
  • 12:15 Fountainscaping  Enhance the appeal of any landscape with the sight and sound of water. Are you curious about how a rock can become a bubbling fountain?  It’s easier than you may think. David Perkins will demonstrate each step of the process, from start to finish. Learn how to choose the right pump and basin, get installation tips, and take away some fresh design ideas for inspiration.
  • 1:30 Basic Beekeeping  Learn about basic beekeeping equipment and what you need to get started with Allan and Nell Henniger. Additionally, get the latest information on problems honeybees are facing and what you can do and plant to support all pollinators and beneficial insects.
  • 2:45 Under the Glass: Terrariums  Join Anne Schellman—aka Anne of Green Gardens—as she “talks terrariums.” Learn the differences between open and closed terrariums, methods and materials involved, and watch as Anne demonstrates how to make a terrarium step by step.

For more information about the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show and a complete schedule of all seminars offered at this year’s show go here.

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