Water features in the garden.

Yesterday was my turn at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  I hadn't been in several years and bought our tickets several weeks ago.  Since buying the tickets I was disappointed to learn that this would probably be its last year.  Knowing this I tried to make the most of it, I didn't want to miss anything.  My husband, both of our girls and my Mom had a great time viewing the display gardens and shopping in the market place.  Several times my  2 year old daughter asked if we were at Molbak's.  Molbak's is a nursery that isn't far from here, I guess we've been spending too much time there.   Anyway, on to what we saw.

I'm always attracted to water features in the gardens, so I thought that would be what I would try to pay close attention to.  I enjoy the more natural looking ones and like to see how they have planted around the edges.  Making something look natural inside a convention center isn't easy, but still I was able to gather some new ideas.  It seemed there was a water feature of some sort in almost every display.  From a simple stone with a basin shape to collect water to much more architectural looking ones.  There seemed to be a style to attract almost anyone.

I liked the large boulder here, a great place to sit and enjoy the water and plants.  Azaleas and rhododendrons bloom in the background.

My dream, a beautiful little potting shed with a stream running past it.  Lots of heucheras and ferns.  In the foreground were 3 metal lily pads.

Maybe an urn isn't something you'd really see in nature, but overall this had a more natural look with the larger stones near the edges and trees and azaleas nearby.
I really liked how the hammock almost hung right over the stream.  How relaxing would that be to rest while listening to the water flowing by? 

This was probably my least favorite.  It's difficult to see in this picture, but the pyramid shape is actually all mirrors with water drizzling down.  The plantings around it were very pretty though, mostly these burgundy tulips. 

 I liked the polished stone used in this very relaxing fountain.  The water fell silently over the edges.  

This had a very unnatural, natural look.  I overheard people discussing how unnatural it looked.  I think it's the very straight lines and uniform stone stacking that made it seem that way.

The pool of water around this patio had a small pump running to give the water a slight rippling effect.  I think this would even look nice with some marginals planted along the edges, and possibly even a few fish.  I like how it has the potential to be very clean and simple or softened up with some plants.