Northwest Flower & Garden Show (2011) Part Three

We made it home despite the Arctic blast and saw lots of snow along the roadside. Immediately we ran as many outdoor plants as possible into the studio to protect them from the cold air. All my new treasures are hidden or else under lights in the basement. I cannot wait until next week when I can plant some of the new stuff that is dormant. I bought some incredibly rare plants so that I can collect their seeds. (Oh, and while we were gone, the last 100 or so packets of seeds arrived.) 

The cats are happy, the weekend foster kiddos are getting along ok, and now it is back to the garden show. (I will show you the treasures after the kiddos go home on Sunday night. I don't want them poking their eyes out with my new metal garden pieces and plants.)

Here are some more amazing pictures from the really great container garden area of the current Northwest Flower & Garden Show.

Carnivorousness at its best.

Naturalistic plantings with every nook and cranny planted.

I loved this water feature.

Potting bench.

Potting shed.

Gorgeous!

Garden bed. Flower bed.

Sweetest dreams.

Too funny!

I noticed this just before I walked off. It made me giggle.

I really want to make some cement/concrete pieces myself this year.

This was a really cozy setting.

This is a really cute idea.

Two of the container garden displays had beverages on display too for the gardener's pleasure. My husband the winemaker completely agrees. 

It's another planter gutter.

Air plants on furniture—with Puget Sound out in the distance and Pike St Market.

Air plants on plant.

I think that I only have a little bit left about the amazing seminars so more tomorrow.

Northwest Flower & Garden Show (2011) Part Two

We spent all day at the show again today and we arrived back at the hotel late. After some dinner, a bit of correspondence, and some rest, I am posting the next batch of images with some comments. I have at least two more posts to write about the show, and I am currently ruminating over some really great information we heard today during the three seminars we attended that featured some great speakers! (One of them is an avid garden blogger!!!)

NW Orchid Society display.

NW Orchid Society display.

Great way to make an instant maze or play area for kids. I had never thought of using this material in this way before but I think it might be fun to use this summer. It is basically a stuffed permeable landscape material. 

Insect art in the garden is more than fitting and it points to the ongoing ridiculousness that we even ornament our gardens at all in the first place. 

So often animal ornamentation can seem too bold, but I really loved these subtle insertions.

What struck me about this fountain was the amount of noise that it made. I want a water feature in our small garden very much and the echo of the water splashing underneath was remarkable.

This picture is only here to remind me that my green dwarf mondo grass will grow in eventually. It will be worth the wait.

Note to self: Mix up the stone a bit.

Cannot remember the name of this Narcissus, but I want to say that is is Rip van Winkle.

Note to others: Green walls are everywhere. 

Note to others: This garden decor is approved by my husband, especially if attached to our Douglas fir tree, but the cool crab made out of a flat rock and rusted metal is not.

Note to others: See above. This is husband approved for the porch.

Container Garden Exhibition

These smaller displays are always a crowd favorite. I was so excited to see them this year and I was not disappointed. I am just so sorry that I don't have the names of everyone involved.

Weathered metal and green walls are all the rage. Note that the pillow on the chair has air plants as extra fringe. There is also a mossy top on the planter on the right. Moss was seen all over the place!

This nursery really took the container theme seriously and the edge of their space was planted too. 

I am such a turtle lover I got up close to see the detail. I am not sure that my turtle would want this in her garden. Including it in the display was kind of gutsy even if it is just cast concrete. Then again, if antlers are cool, why not...

Note the blue wall pocket for your green wall. Green walls were everywhere.

Planted gutter.

The sweater wrap is a fun craft I discovered on etsy. Wrap any old vase with an old sweater and it looks kind of cute.  On a planter, it is kind of cute too.

I have a planter at home that looks just like this so of course I liked it.

Very cool nautical display with succulents. 

Again, there will be more tomorrow and posts everyday until Sunday. We return home to Portland in the morning, but I have a lot to say about those amazing seminars. 

If you can make it in for the rest of the show, I highly recommend it. If not, maybe I'll see you next month in San Francisco! Until then, happy garden planning!

Northwest Flower & Garden Show (2011) Part One

This year's theme was "Once Upon A Time..." so you can imagine the variety of display gardens created with some fairytale flair. As a child raised in a home that lacked much interest in children's stories, it was wonderful to see and it gave me so many ideas of ways I could enrich the lives of the kids we care for—even if it is only part-time. (In face, before we drove up to Seattle I had my friend A. save many of the long Douglas fir branches he cut down for us so that I can make a teepee this summer. That will become the outdoor TV room.)

Green walls are very popular so this is only one of many in the posts to come...

Repunzel-themed green wall picture by the Flower Growers of Puget Sound. 

I didn't really get the story aspect of this display, but there was a man carving and explaining the history of the business so that is also a version of storytelling and the story of the garden. Sometime this summer I hope to visit this nursery.

Elandan Gardens ltd. Display Garden 

Mossy top to a bonsai planting in the Elandan Gardens ltd. Display Garden.

I have to admit that I am not the best when it comes to orchid care, yet I am fascinated by them and I continue to buy them from time to time. This little one is one of many unusual types highlighted in the show this year. I may go back to seek on out tomorrow since it will be our last day at the show.

Dendrobium linguiforme, NW Orchid Society Display.

This is the Pacific Northwest and there is no greater local myth than that of Bigfoot so there was a garden for him too.

Bigfoot—aka Sasquatch—Kinssies Landscaping Display.

Of course Alice in Wonderland had to be included too. This garden included a live rabbit that seemed terribly sad. I felt sorry for it.

Alice in Wonderland themed garden.

There was also this garden below. The pine has the word "wolf" in it so can you guess the story?

This was a garden with a Three Little Pigs theme. Seeing a cleaver cracked up both up. 

There were a few other gardens with more adult stories focused on life and relaxation. They typically included strong design ideas with classic garden comforts. 

This design showed a way I could solve a design problem I have been having with the insertion of a gate in a way that I feel comfortable with and the husband liked it too.

This was a garden of memories past for many of us. It was a great scene to experience and my mind's eye was a bit weepy with memories wandering from my mentor Mr Palm to one of my old Sicilian cousins who liked to nap during the summer on his lath covered patio on a cot under his fuchsia baskets.

Christianson's Nursery. 

This was part of a very interesting display. It referred more to the interior of Washington State.

Suzy Dingle Landscape Creations.

It felt a lot like metro progressive greeniacs were not so in vogue as they were last year. This was a curious change of events that I didn't really mind.

Creative Gardener display gardener. It is the "new" container garden. 

I do not get out to Vashon Island as often as I would like to, but when I do, I drop by this nursery. It is an amazing place with amazing design ideas. You have probably seen them in gardening magazines.

DIG Floral and Garden booth. 

This is some great stuff. I think I know what I plan to make when I get home!!! This is an amazing Seattle area garden boutique and they always have something new and different to offer.

Ravenna Gardens Booth.

More tomorrow!!!