InterLeafer

My silver sage is famous! Those big flower clusters don't last very long, either...less than a week after that picture was taken they were done. They are also quite heavy, and appreciate some staking to keep them from keeling over...

Hi Mindy, thanks!

The light green tree is a Fuyu persimmon (I like mixing edibles in the garden; there's also a Dancy Tangerine and a Meyer Lemon that you can't see.

The orange fls are California Poppy (Escholtzia californica, our state flower) which reseed throughout my garden. The dark purple is Limonium perezii, a tender perennial. The lighter purple is Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas). Thanks again!

Thanks! Kari, you should see the artichoke fields near the coast, stunning!

Oksana, you might be pleased to hear that this garden is only a year old, good luck with yours!

Wonderful, Billy! Sproutopia was one of the most happening places at the Show; thanks for giving such a great shout-out to our future!

Billy, I'll never forget that at last year's Show you were one of the first people to report (via Twitter) that new buyers had been found, and the SF Flower & Garden Show would go on. That was a Social Media 'Aha' moment for me, one that quite possibly put me on the path to my new role as publicist for the 2010 Show.

Fantastic that you're coming for the whole Show, and I hope that gardening hobbyists and professionals alike will take advantage of this inspirational, educational and extremely fun networking opportunity and do the same!

Come to see the gardens, attend the seminars, shop until you drop, meet your favorite authors, and get to know the garden creators. But also come to meet up with friends, colleagues and fellow garden geeks, the ones who REALLY understand when you gasp, OH MY GOSH is that a (fill in current object of plant lust here).

Thank you, Billy, for sharing all the reasons why the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show inspires and excites you and makes you want to come and play. We can't wait to see you!

I agree with John; most of the landscape designers I know (including myself!) are on a second career. With the market waaay down for the high-end projects I'm accustomed to doing, I'm noticing how very busy my more hands-on fine gardening counterparts are, all over the country: helping their clients beautify their homes, teaching them about gardening, reworking small areas and offering advice. They are swamped. I'm a little jealous! My advice to anyone wanting to get into the green industry right now? Fine gardening, especially as a follow-up to professional design/installation. An infant landscape needs care and training to develop properly and protect the investment, way beyond what can be mown and blown. Caveat? You better know your stuff! Otherwise? Best of luck! To spend most of your days mentally or physically in a garden is a blessing.

Bra-VO Billy, thank you for simultaneously addressing the issues of poor design, unfortunate plant choices and decidedly un-sustainable maintenance practices. I agree that a beautifully shaped hedge in the right place is just fine...but I'd rather see a soft hedgerow of compatible shrubs gently growing into maturity together than anything so tightly clipped that I can't identify its genus OR species...rock on.

Could it be a mayapple? http://www.flickr.com/photos/keylimepie/2476645222/

Terrific, Billy! It's amazing how a adding a little structure can help everything fall into place. Thanks for sharing your wisdom & experience; maybe I'll make a little Rx pad with your blog address to hand out at local nurseries...cheaper than a Chill Pill!

Great article, Ryan! Glad to be a follower/followed. Really enjoyed your blog as well.

I credit much of my deep appreciation of plants and landscape gardening to the year I lived in England while attending the University of Sussex. The glory of that British spring (after the darkness of a British winter...tough for a California girl!) will forever be a part of me...even as my style has evolved from cottage gardens to eclectic, water-wise heavy-on-the mediterraneans creations.

My appreciation for the row-house garden alone informs the way I approach small spaces, and visiting grand estate gardens reminds me about sweep and scale and lines of sight, and to always have a bench in just the right spot.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is the influence goes both ways, and that we are formed by everything we've ever seen or done. Thanks for being a part of what will form me going forward.

And if you have a good resource for Corylus maxima 'Purpurea' I would love to know it...I've not seen it in cultivation in this country, and have lusted after it ever since Dan Pearson wrote about Home Farm...cheers!

Wise words for all of us who design in fire-prone areas...as a former resident of Santa Barbara I was horrified to see the fire map (oh no! not the Botanical Gardens!) and these conflagrations seem to be happening more and more...we had weeks of ash-enhanced sunsets here in Northern California last summer. Thank you!