22nd Annual Southern California Spring Garden Show
The 22nd Annual Southern California Spring Garden Show was held April 28 through May 1, 2011 at South Coast Plaza’s Crate and Barrel/Macy’s Home Store Wing in Costa Mesa, California. The four-day show included:
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25 talks from professional speakers, such as “Backyard Bees and the Art of Beekeeping,” “Wild Birds and How They Relate to your Garden and its Beauty,” “Easy Recipe Vegetable Garden,” “Get Healthy by Going Green with Interior plants” and more.
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Children’s events, such as “Southern California Garden Railway Society Display,” “Explore the Wonderful World of Red Worms!” “The Rainforest Café Tropical Bird Show” and more.
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Nine Display Gardens, created by professional businesses and student clubs
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Three floors with more than 75 booths and displays
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A center display called “Island Paradise,” designed by the Fiesta Floats of Pasadena (the same creators of Rose Parade floats)
The first floor had nine display gardens that included plants from Southern California. Local businesses and horticulture clubs designed and displayed inspirational gardens for local visitors. In the center of the show stood a three-story tall display called “Island Paradise.” Like the floats at the Rose Parade, the display was created out of plant materials. It was complete with giant butterflies, rope bridges and white-topped palm trees. The second floor had booths with all types of plants and gardening accessories for sale, including succulents, ferns, bonsai trees, maple trees, terrariums, miniature gardens, vertical gardens and more. The third floor had many different types of flowers, backyard bird food and feeders, as well as the orchids that make the Southern California Spring Garden Show famous.
For more information about this free show, visit SpringGardenShow.com.
Winning Garden Display Entries
This year’s theme was "Foreign Intrigue – Gardens of the World." The display gardens had global inspiration, and display creators used designs and plants that are right at home in Southern California. The 1st place professional winner was AngEffects Inc.’s "Persian Paradise."
The 1st place student winner was the Orange Coast College Horticulture Club. The design was called "Moorish Flourishes in a Contemporary Garden." A docent from the OCC Horticulture Club explained that there are about 20 club members, but about 10 worked every weekend for several months to plan and build the display. The display had to be brought to the South Coast Plaza mall in pieces (the whole display weighed more than 10,000 pounds), and was planted and hooked up to water (to run its fountain) before the show began. By the second day of the show, the display had already inspired many visitors to replicate the Moorish theme in their own backyards. Some show visitors had asked for an estimate on how much it would cost to create an exact replica in their yard.
The symmetry of the Moorish garden, its reflecting pools, seating area and mosaic floor are accentuated by an amazing pergola (which had been designed in 3D with pipe cleaners instead of with a drawn sketch) was built by only one man. A Moorish garden is planned to be aesthetically pleasing when viewed from above, as this is God’s view of the garden. It was possible to view the garden from the third floor, where one can appreciate its symmetry. Next to the proudly displayed 1st-place ribbon, the OCC Horticulture Club displayed the garden’s design, plant legend and a write-up about Moorish gardens.
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