"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Monday, February 8, 2010

3 girls and a garden show.

Yesterday was our turn to visit the Northwest Flower and Garden show. My Mom, Sweet Pea and I attended the garden show together. I thought it was fun that three generations of gardeners got to enjoy the day together. Our first bit of luck came when two women handed us a ticket, and told us "it's an extra". Whoever they were it was such a generous gift and we were very appreciative.
Last year I did my post on the garden show on all of the water features, since that is one of my favorite parts of a garden. This year I noticed far fewer, there were more small bubbling type fountains and one that I think was supposed to be a natural looking swimming pool.
This year there was no real theme to the display gardens. There seemed to be a lot of natural looking displays with large boulders and evergreen trees. I noticed a few had recycled different things and used them from everything from cold frames to chicken coops.

The Northwest Bloom and Seattle Tilth display garden was one of my favorites. It was designed to look like a little farm in the city.
Here was one of the few water features I saw in the gardens. The little stream running from under the rain barrel. To the right you can see a little fenced area which held a few small goats. I noticed the use of lots of Carex and different grasses throughout this display.

One of my favorite ideas was the cold frame made with a recycled window frame painted a bright green.

Around the other side from the vegetable garden area was a chicken coop that looked like it was made from possibly and old tractor. This was one of at least three displays that had chickens in them. One used an old pickup as a chicken coop.

Hellebores were everywhere! I don't think there was one display without them. Many of the visitors were carrying Hellebores they had purchased in the plant market.

I liked the use of one mosaic tile in with the more plain aggregate pavers. This was from the Wizard of Oz themed garden.

Green roofs were also fairly popular.

I loved the window curtain of falling water. What I wasn't so sure about was the movie screen they had inside the outdoor room. It kind of takes away the feeling of being outside with a big screen movie playing in my opinion.

Garden art that would add year round interest here.

My Mom, Sweet Pea and I all decided this display by Fancy Fronds was our favorite. We talked for quite awhile to one of the creators. They had lots of color in this garden and much of it was garden art, painted pavers and glass art. Her explanation of the added color is to show inexpensive ways that we Pacific Northwesteners can have year round color. I know this garden is not for everyone, but to me it was a lot of fun. Perhaps being the mom of two young kids I could see how much fun a garden like this could be for a child to play in. There's always time to have a more grown up garden once they are older.

Some of the glass art amongst many of the ferns Fancy Fronds is known for. One of my few purchases was a pond float made by the same artist that made this glass art.

Another corner of the display. I love the Birds Nest Spruce by the metal Quail.

I always enjoy going through all of the retail displays and the plant market. We were mostly just looking, but did see a lot interesting things. There were quite a few glass artists there. I mentioned above that I bought a blown glass pond float. My other small purchase was a Columbia Lily which is a native lily here. I'm trying to add more native plants into my garden, especially the backyard. Sweet Pea used her own money to buy a Fritallaria that is a native here as well. I don't know too many 11 year old girls that spend their hard earned money on plants!
We three gardening girls had a great day together at the garden show starting with a free ticket and ending with sharing a piece of double chocolate cake; and of course lots of gardens and plants in between.
We've heard that unlike this year which had no overall theme, next years theme will be Fairy Tales.
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44 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good time was had by all three generations Catherine. It must make you so pleased to see Sweet Pea spending on a plant:) Enjoyed peeking at the show. Next years theme sound fun.

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  2. Some very neat stuff! That waterfall window looks very cool - started some ideas in my head - very dangerous! The mosaic tile is a neat idea. That would be a great home project for gardeners.

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  3. Hi Sweety,
    What a coincidence. The first time I went to the Seattle show it was with my parents and my 11 year old daughter, Bryn. We weren't planning on taking her - school and all - but she looked so forlorn looking out the window as we were leaving that we turned around and threw some clothes into a backpack for her and took her too. It was a great memory for her. She had never been out of Oregon before then. She loved the show and we also did the touristy things (Space Needle, monorail,etc) that we wouldn't have done if she hadn't come along. Now she's 26 and has her own home and garden.
    I always look for Fancy Fronds' gardens. They have so much creativity. One year they did an undersea garden which was unbeleivable!
    I wasn't able to go to the Seattle show this year so THANK YOU for bringing it to me.
    Cindee

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  4. Dear Catherine, What fun it has been thousands of miles away to tour this show with you. I do so agree that these occasions are very good for picking up new ideas and also seeing the latest trends.

    I am particularly pleased, as you must be, that your daughter really enjoyed the outing. It is so refreshing to hear of young people content with relatively simple pleasures.

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  5. Great pictures Catherine. Looks like you had a wonderful time. It seems to be very whimsicle this year. That sure was a pretty Hellebores you showed (my favorite flower LOL).
    I decided to just stay home and have my own garden show doing seeds.

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  6. That first garden is enviable! Love all those pics. Thanks for sharing. I am glad you got to have fun. THe chicken run was my favorite. Very cute.

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  7. what a wonderful day! I wish we had things like that to tour here!

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  8. Gosh, that makes me wonder how far I'd have to travel to find a garden show! I believe Charlotte may have them. So nice to see green and flowering things this time of year. I can't wait to see pics of your new pond float!

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  9. Hi Catherine,
    I'm glad you 3 gardeners got to have such fun together. Thanks for taking us along,too. I'm excited to see your pond float.

    I am so ready for spring to get here! I hope my hellebores are as pretty as the ones at the show, and those in your sidebar. This will be their first spring, so hopefully I will get blooms.

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  10. I love the idea of having a small farm in the middle of the city. It is certainly possible, isn't it? I love the pictures from the show. Thank you for sharing them - I like the garden art :-)

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  11. How fun and what a great garden show. The only show we attended was the boat show last year...:/ Not much fun for me. I like the cold frame, as well!

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  12. Thanks for taking us with you on your tour. I love garden shows. You can always learn something at them. Glad ya'll had a great day!

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  13. Oh I do miss that show. We used to charter a bus down every year. All the local customers from our garden center would be on it, we had such fun.

    Definitely full of color this year, and I love the addition of live animals.

    Sounds like you had a great time.

    Jen

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  14. You have shown parts that the other blogs have not!! I love the 'not so grown up' area...think I might paint some pavers myself!! Sounds as if you three ladies had a nice time together!

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  15. G'day Catherine ~ Lovely presentation & ideas.

    Happy Valentine's
    Have a beautiful week.
    Hugs, Marydon

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  16. I love the childrens garden area. What fun to create a colorful garden such as that. It is funny that Sweet Pea is so interested in gardening. You are right - you won't find many that age that would spend their money on plants.

    I love the fern in the last photo. Looks so soft and willowy.

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  17. Catherine, it seems that you had a wonderful time and how delightful that the three of you enjoyed the family affair. Great color and photos!

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  18. It looks like great fun for your mother, Sweet Pea and you. What fun! The small farm theme is cool and cozy too. Hope you came home with lots of goodies.

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  19. Hi Catherine, I actually like the Fancy Fronds garden and would love to have that big fake flower in the center of one of my areas! (Would it be a good bird feeder?) The glass looked like a Chihuly creation.

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  20. I liked all of the photos and garden ideas. Most appealing to me is the window painted green and used as a cold frame. The hellabore closeup was surprising, I hadn't seen one with that color before.

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  21. I noticed all the Carex featured in the display gardens, too. I am experimenting with them up here but they seem to be (most of them) borderline hardy. Too bad, they sure were gorgeous! I loved that kid themed garden, too with all the metal fern fronds and glass "fronds". I even thought I spied a gnome or two in that display? I did indeed stop by that glass artist's booth and spent some money on glass fronds for my garden. I guess I will assign the hubby to make the metal, painted frond silhouettes that were used in pots to such good effect. Looking forward to seeing your glass float in the pond.

    Christine in Alaska

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  22. What a cool show! I felt some Groundhog Day-esque deja-vu for a second there...another gardener I follow went to this, and I was confused because I thought I already commented :D I'm so jealous of you guys! :)

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  23. What fun! I sit with my laptop looking at your blog, then glancing out the window at all the snow! We have such anticipation for spring! I can hardly wait until I can put a shovel to the soil. Thanks for the lovely pics.

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  24. That was just a perfect day, Catherine, and you described the day and the show so well. I really liked the little farm too, but those blue glass fern fronds took my breath away! I am glad you bought from the artist, and that glass was well represented, for I love that look. And chocolate cake too, what a day! :-)
    Frances

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  25. Hi Catherine, What fun for the 3 of you to attend the show together. I love seeing all the pictures and the creative ideas.

    I hate people that say "come see my post" BUT after much soul searching, I decided to post about John's illness a few days ago. If you have the time, I'd like for you to see it since you have always been so supportive of him. I probably will remove the post after a few days. Thanks.
    http://mildredsmenagerie.blogspot.com/2010/02/compassion.html

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  26. That was fun! I love that giant metal tree! I have the perfect spot for it. I do like the garden that you and sweetpea admired~~the color is sensational. Thank you for the tour...I just realized that I forgot about our Lawn and Garden Show! Drat!
    gail

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  27. Thanks Catherine. I appreciate you reading the post and I do remember you telling me about your nephew. I hate to hear that he and your sister endure heartache and insensitivity also. I just thought I would ask you to read that before I delete it. Thanks for understanding.

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  28. Thanks for sharing such beautiful photos of the displays. Ours in Des Moines will not touch this show, but we are going anyway, if the roads are cleared from snow by then. I liked that top photo of the farm theme. It was done very well.

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  29. Nice, Catherine. What a fun day it must have been. I was commenting to Karen [Greenwalks] that it doesn't look like it was too crowded.

    The farm yard is cool. I like the stream and log edging, very rustic.

    I've always admired the vintage window cold frames but the mother in me worries about a child falling on them. If they're really vintage, there won't be safety glass for them to land on. Makes me shudder.

    The hellebore is delicious!

    I love the Fancy Fronds display. It looks like the quintessence of whimsy. Love the huge flower and the smaller ones to the left.

    Thank you so much for taking us along.

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  30. Nice, Catherine. What a fun day it must have been. I was commenting to Karen [Greenwalks] that it doesn't look like it was too crowded.

    The farm yard is cool. I like the stream and log edging, very rustic.

    I've always admired the vintage window cold frames but the mother in me worries about a child falling on them. If they're really vintage, there won't be safety glass for them to land on. Makes me shudder.

    The hellebore is delicious!

    I love the Fancy Fronds display. It looks like the quintessence of whimsy. Love the huge flower and the smaller ones to the left.

    Thank you so much for taking us along.

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  31. I love seeing Flower and Garden Show pictures. That freckle=face Hellebore is really pretty. I agree that Bird's Nest Spruce is pretty nice.
    How sweet that Sweet Pea bought something (a Fritallaria at that!) at the show. Good for her (and you for raising a budding young gardener!)

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  32. Hi there- haven't been here in a while, but saw all your great pictures of the show and HAD to comment! I really loved the Seattle Tilth exhibit as well as the Seattle Urban Farm Co. one. The dripping walls were big there as well! It was a really fun show and felt like there was a great array of different stuff- some trendy, some random, some traditional...a little for everyone. Thanks for the photos!!

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  33. How wonderful that all three of you enjoyed the day together! I went a few times with my mom and daughter, but they were quicker visits than I got to do this year with just the two older generations represented. Maybe when she's 11 like your daughter! Love that she spent her $ on a fritillaria, she has good taste just like her mom. :) Did you talk to Judith, the Fancy Fronds owner? She is such a character! Really fun, that garden, and I loved the Tilth one too. Nice post as always, Catherine.

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  34. Nice to have a mom and daughter with green thumbs. Extra fun! I love that stream running from barrel. That shot looks awesome and so is the curtain of falling water. Thank you for the tour, Catherine! I'll be looking forward to your post on your water garden.

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  35. ooh, love that big pink flower Catherine. I think it's fun too. I don't think anyone is ever too grown up to have fun, right?!!
    Great arm chair tour you gave us. Our garden show is scheduled to start this weekend ~ maybe I'll get to go. I doubt there will be as much cool stuff tho ~ they combine it with a home show here.
    I hope I can find a glass pond float too tho!
    Thanks for sharing your fabulous day. We're all so proud of Sweet Pea for her interest in gardening.

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  36. First off, your spring count down is very interesting and cute as well. I liked this garden show you shared. the flowers, pathways, presentation, water falling, all were looking great. I also liked hellebores, hyacinths and grape hyacinths.

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  37. I liked the idea of the green roof. It is an ancient idea in India- you can see them in villages. They keep the house cool during our blistering summers.

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  38. It's interesting to see this show from the perspective of 2 different bloggers. I love the flower tile in the sidewalk. So many beautiful flowers there too.

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  39. What fun. Three generations of garden girls.
    I like the first garden. It's my kind of place.
    Thanks for sharing your day.

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  40. Catherine, che giornata piacevole avete trascorso voi tre ragazze! Visitare le mostre è sempre stimolante, soprattutto perchè è possibile vedere molte novità.
    Mi hanno colpito molto sia la struttura in ferro intagliata come i rami di un albero, sia le opere in vetro, danno veramente un senso di leggerezza ed allegria!

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  42. Great pics. My favorites were the glass pieces and the metal tree art; lovely!
    I agree, I don't want to go into my garden, or my porch, and watch TV.

    Thanks for sharing your garden show visit!

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  43. Hi Catherine! It was fun to see the show through your eyes.Thanks! I love that big colorful flower too!

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  44. That looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing it with us!

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