What is Bob Tanem in the Garden (bobtanem.com)?

Updated

Bob Tanem in the Garden is the official website for the long-running San Francisco Bay Area gardening radio show of the same name. It serves listeners, friends, and fans of the program, offering gardening tips, family history, book information, and a way to contact the current host. The site is useful if you want to follow the show, reach the host with questions, or find Bob Tanem's gardening books.

Who runs the show and the site

Bob Tanem, called "America's Happy Gardener," hosted a Sunday morning gardening show on KGO/KSFO radio in the San Francisco Bay Area for 42 years. His last show aired on Father's Day 2022, and he passed away on July 10, 2022.

The show is now hosted by his youngest daughter, Edie Tanem, who took his place. The website is maintained for the friends, fans, and listeners of the radio program.

How to listen

  • Live: Sundays, 9–10 a.m. Pacific time on KSFO 810 AM
  • Online: Listen live via ksfo.com
  • On demand: The show is available "whenever/wherever you get your podcasts"
  • During the show: Call-in number is 415-808-5600 (during the show only). The show runs one hour, so the site advises getting your calls in early.

What you can find on the site

  • Gardening tips — a large collection of tips is available across the site.
  • History — background about Bob Tanem, the family, and the show.
  • Books — Bob wrote several gardening books available through Amazon and some local nurseries:
    • Annuals for Northern California
    • Perennials for Northern California
    • Trees and Shrubs for Northern California
    • Gardening Month by Month in Northern California
    • A booklet on deer-resistant planting
  • Deer Resistant Planting Guide — a guide list for choosing plants that are deer "resistant." To order, mail a check for $5.45 to Edie Tanem, 130 N. San Pedro Rd, San Rafael, CA 94903. For wholesale pricing, email [email protected].
  • Upcoming guests — for example, the site lists garden writer, photographer, and landscape master Saxon Holt as a guest on Oct 18th.
  • Product note — VF-11 Plant Food is back in production, with a link to its Shopify store.

Contacting the show

You can email questions and comments during the week to [email protected]. The site asks that you put "Garden" in the subject line.