Many people making their first visit to world-class flower & garden shows, such as the annual events in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and London, are surprised at their scale, production values and overall quality. And even people who have visited often continue to be amazed and wonder how it all comes together. As the photos on this page illustrate, a world-class garden show is a huge and complex production. Just as an example, the San Francisco show uses 1,200 cubic yards of sawdust and mulch for the gardens (that's about 150 dump truck-loads) and 280,000 pounds of rock. The trucks bringing in the plants for the gardens come from all up and down the West Coast. More than 300 theatrical lighting instruments are hung from the ceiling above the gardens. Creating the gardens is the most complex part of the show. Planning for them begins nine months before the show. The gardens are like the actors, scenery and music in an opera, ballet or play. Just as those elements are the most expensive part of those artistic productions, the gardens are the most expensive part of a garden show. Many people are surprised to learn that the companies and organizations creating gardens do not pay the show to exhibit, rather the show pays them a substantial cash subsidy plus provides other support including the lighting, electricity, water, heavy equipment, rocks and mulch. The total direct cost to create the gardens is well over one million dollars. Another fascinating way to glimpse the gardens' complexity is to take a look at the time-lapse of move-in created by last year's web cam. By giving you a better understanding of what it takes to produce a world-class garden show, we hope that your next visit to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show will be even richer and more enjoyable. We'll see you March 21-25, 2001!

Trucks arrive on day one One of many loads of sawdust A giant tree in the 2000 Show Construction in progress