Wednesday, April 26, 2023

A facsimilie of a garden show

One of Southern California's largest (and flashiest) malls, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, has been holding a spring garden show for thirty-three years.  I started attending somewhere around 2005, long before I began blogging.  In the early years, I enjoyed the shows, which offered small display gardens and vendors selling a wide variety of plants and garden-related materials.  I published my first posts on the show in April 2013, which you can find here and here.  By that time, I was already expressing frustration with what I perceived as a decline in the quality of the show's display gardens but the vendors remained a strong draw.  I expressed disappointment in 2014 as well but, by comparison to recent shows, plants and garden design had a much larger presence then (see post here).  In 2015, the mall's retailers took control of the show and the display gardens became more about selling their products than about gardens.  I didn't even post photos of my visit that year.  By 2016 the number of vendors had decreased dramatically but I continued to attend annually through 2019.  (You can view posts from this period here, here, here and here.)  I don't recall if the show was held during the pandemic years but in any case this year was the first time I've attended since 2019.

Even with lowered expectations, my friend and I were disappointed.  As usual, the centerpiece of the show was designed by Fiesta Parade Floats, an entity that produces floats of the Tournament of Roses Parade held annually in Pasadena, California on or about New Year's Day.

This display, called California Dreaming, was 25 feet tall.  This photo was taken from the third floor of the mall.

Closeups of the centerpiece display.  I assume that, like the Rose Parade floats, the display was covered in natural materials but I didn't confirm this.

 

As in prior years since 2015, the display "gardens" were more focused on selling furniture and decor items than garden design or plants.  The plants were peripheral at best.  I haven't bothered to show them all but I'm sharing my photos of the three award winners and a couple of others.  My apologies for the relatively poor clarity of the photos.  Taking photos inside a mall isn't easy.

The name given to this display was Traditional Flair Temptations.  It was described as a place to enjoy the low maintenance garden.  It received a 3rd place award but, in my view, it had the strongest connection to a real garden setting.

This one was called Modern Nature Escape.  It was described as an eco-friendly space to enjoy a low maintenance garden.  The structure was said to mimic a "repurposed shipping container."  It won the first place award.

This 2nd place winner was called Outside the Lines.  It was described as using "sexy, unique softscapes (to) calm the hard lines framing the gathering place."  There was fake grass, few plants and I hated it.

This one was called A Little Piece of Change.  It was described as an "upcycled garden' that provides opportunities to "lovingly tend your herb garden and then take a breather in the charming garden shed."

This one is called A Garden Foot Spaaa (their spelling).  The gardener is meant to feel the calm of the garden "at peace with low water and very little fuss."  An "old stock tank" to bathe one's feet is offered as a source of renewal, as well as a place to give dogs a bath.

 

The mall advertised fifteen displays of mannequins dressed in flowers but I only saw two in the show area.  I'm guessing the rest were placed in the fashion-focused mall area across the street, although I did run into one at a nearby botanic garden later the same day.

Mannequins dressed in greenery and flowers seems to be a "thing" at garden shows these days

3 days into the show, the flowers still looked good

 

This year, there were vendors on all three levels of the mall but there weren't as many as in prior years and most of my favorite vendors were no shows.

Orchids are always common at this show because it precedes Mother's Day.  Houseplants had a greater presence.  There were fewer outdoor garden plants for sale.

This was the only stall offering what I'd call bargains

This vendor offered monkey tail cactus (Cleistocactus colademononis) in small sizes for $15 and it's the only thing I regret not buying.  In fact, other than lunch, I didn't buy anything on this visit, which is probably a first.

 

Will I attend future shows?  Absent confirmation of some of my favorite vendors, like Mark Muradian Pottery and Geraniaceae, it's unlikely.


 

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

14 comments:

  1. I feel your pain. I notice plant decline at the NW Flower and Garden Festival, but it is lush in comparison with the mall's show. I have to admit: "low maintenance garden" is easy to achieve when there aren't any plants to speak of! Low water bill too.
    I don't mind the Mannequins so much. It can be quite a creative display, but not if that's where you find most of the show's plant matter.
    I suggest you come to Seattle for the next show. You'll have a splendid time.
    Chavli

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    1. I was actually disappointed that I only got to see 3 of the 15 mannequins last Saturday. I've long considered a trip to the NWFGF, Chavli. I'll make it up there someday. How I wish we had a bullet train!

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  2. Wow. How disappointing. Your listing of dates you started attending/blog coverage had me thinking back to the golden days of garden shows here in the PNW. We used to have a great show locally here in Portland (Yard, Garden & Patio Show) and the NWFG Show was once spectacular. With the news that Janet Endsley (the long standing seminar organizer, show judge, and thread that ran thru all the years I attended) is retiring from the NWFG I expect that show to deteriorate even more. It's sad, but as Andrew likes to remind me, nothing lasts forever.

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    1. What bothers me most is that there aren't any garden shows to take the place of those that die out, Loree. For a very short time in the early 90s, there was a garden show on the site of the former Marineland here on our peninsula. It lasted only 2 years. I attended just once before, poof!, the area became a luxury resort.

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  3. That centerpiece display is impressive. Sorry to hear that the quality of the show, overall, is declining. The ebb and flow of quality garden programs and sources can be frustrating. Hopefully, another show will fill the niche for you...if not right away, soon.

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    1. Despite SoCal's year-round gardening opportunities, the area isn't known for its support for those activities, Beth :(

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  4. To be honest, I think I'd get more creative inspiration from my local box store displays :/ and I would undoubtedly spend more. I wonder how it affects sales for the mall's regular vendors?

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    1. I think the retailers contentions that the garden show kept their regular customers away was how they ended up taking control of the show; however, I'd be surprised if they get a lot of buyers for the goods (mostly furniture) they feature in the displays. Frankly, when the shows were more appealing I spent the good part of a day there, including in the mall stores. Now, I snap photos and I'm out - and I never go to that mall just to shop those stores. Given that the trajectory of the garden show is steadily downhill, I don't envision shopping there again at all.

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  5. I went. It was as you say. Have not been since about '18 I think.

    One of the show gardens down by Macy's used mostly artificial plants, and not good ones. The "California centerpiece" had some real and some plastic plants--the plastic Opuntia's flowers appeared to be plastic Protea flowers, which I thought was funny. Seemed like the stores would "partner" with a garden designer for the show gardens.

    There was a PNW seller--Alpine Gardens--they had some good Hellebores for 20$ I asked them if they did the big NW show in Seattle (they did) and Hortlandia (ditto). They were sweet, very PNW.

    I got two Dudleyas from the California Native Plant Society and chatted with the fellow--he was very nice. The So Cal Iris Club--talked to the guy there for quite a while comparing notes on various cultivars. Got another Dudleya at a succulent seller. I skipped Andy's Orchids but they are always worth looking over. The bonsai club had some beautiful specimens and we talked to a couple of those nice people for a while.

    Managed to have some fun doing that, but as you say, a dramatic decline from the increasingly distant past.

    Mostly the vendors were selling mass-produced Phalaenopsis Orchids-- the potential for sales of those at garden shows is surely in decline--people just pick them up at Trader Joe's for half the price.

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    1. I knew the show was a crap shot but I'd missed it and I thought it might be redeemed by the vendors. I was surprised that, not only was Muradian Pottery not there, but there was little pottery of any kind. My friend spent a lot of time at the CNPS booth, although she didn't end up buying anything. I missed the hellebores but, as most of those plants seem to be on strike here, that's probably a good thing. I noticed the plastic plants down by Macy's and took some photos but I was too sad to add that to my rant.

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  6. I think the real issue is that most people aren’t gardeners. They want these outdoor entertainment spaces with fancy kitchens etc. Plantings are just decorating to them. If they know the difference they may hire a landscaper etc. We all hang with other hard core gardeners and are always going to be disappointed.

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    1. True, but this show started out better many years ago, and after an absence of 3 years, I deluded myself into thinking maybe the retailers now controlling the show would have seen the light and put together something that would draw people in larger numbers as the show once did.

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  7. This is definitely a wider trend. I've stopped going because plants are just an afterthought. So sad.

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    1. I can't imagine going again unless they really beefed up the range of vendors. The display gardens aren't worth the trip that's for sure.

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