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

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Northwest Flower and Garden Show - Part 1

After a full day of enjoying the Northwest Flower and Garden Show all I know is that I'm inspired!  The theme this year was "Once Upon a Time..."  We spent about 6 hours there, and definitely could have spent another full day to enjoy more of the gardens and hear some speakers.  Our whole family went and even the Littlest Gardener who is only 4 found something fun to look at in every garden.  In each display garden there is a pig hidden, some were quite difficult to find, but having something to keep the kids actively interested was a brilliant idea by whoever came up with it.
I thought I would split this into a couple of posts since there is no way I could narrow it down to just a few pictures.  There were so many great ideas, even my husband had his phone out to take pictures of things he thought he might want to try.

"Paradise (to be) Regained ...borrowing from Thoreau" was designed by a high school senior for her senior project.  It was just amazing and she had all sorts of things that were "re-characterized" used materials for the garden.  There were street names of well known Seattle streets on and in the house. 

All drought tolerant plants in the garden with crushed gravel paths.  In the background you can see two old radiators used as the entry.   This garden got one of our votes for people's choice award.

Another favorite was "A Day Well Spent" by Christianson's Nursery & Greenhouse.  It was meant to represent the charm of old small family nurseries.

Inside the cute potting shed.

A small greenhouse on wheels full of seedlings.

We spent a lot of time at this one, it was just full of inspiration.

"Wind in the Willows:  A River Odyssey" was done by a favorite from previous garden shows; Fancy Fronds.

Love the daisies in the grass!

Blown glass Cat tails in front of the river.

"Life's Journey in a Garden" by Plantswoman Design had a lot of dark/black plants and golden foliage.  The colors were very striking together.

I love the rusty grid that was turned into a raised planter.

"Wish Shoe Were Here"  by APLD, Washington Chapter.  Can you see the shoe?

I'll share another post with a few more of the display gardens.  Of course it's hard to walk through a garden show without buying anything and there were so many vendors there I could've spent 2 days just looking at what was for sale.  There was also a really nice kids play area with the theme of Charlotte's Web.
By the time we arrived home the snow started and now the streets are white.
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23 comments:

  1. OHOHOH! FABULOUS. I love it that a senior project was so great and incredibly creative. Radiators look wonderful.

    Love the small nursery one, well, heck, I love them all. I'm going out to the garden tomorrow morning with a new spirit. YIPPEE!!

    Thanks. Glad even the LG loved it. How about Sweet Pea? Pigs a good idea.

    Love,

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

    P.S. I guess I need to submit a topic for the NWFGS next year.

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  2. Everything looks so creative, love it! What a great idea, to repurpose those radiators. You see a lot of daisies in lawns in England, but they are considered weeds, like dandelions. Is the shoe a gigantic stiletto? It looks like there is a staircase in the arch.

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  3. What a fun show! I wish I could have been there. Can't wait to hear what you buy there.

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  4. Wonderful ideas here, Catherine. I'm so glad to hear you all had such a great day exploring and enjoying it all, even the Littlest Gardener (so sweet!) - you're imparting such solid values in your daughters!

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  5. I'm so glad you got there ahead of the snow. My daughter is in Seattle for a Reading Week break and she says that you're to get the snow we got today. Thanks for showing the photos - next year!

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  6. They all look so cute, and so full of ideas.

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  7. I love the simplicity of what gardening used to be. Everything is so much more formal and over the top now.

    Eileen

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  8. It just amazes me how they create the gardens, the life and the art..what a fab show!!

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  9. I was just commenting to someone about how the garden shows tend to lean towards new "designer" type garden art. From looking at your post I see that many designers opted for the rusty stuff that I love. Very cool!

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  10. I wish we had such garden shows in our area! We went to the Atlanta Home and Garden show over Valentines weekend and it was a total waste of our time! We have a show locally this weekend that we may attend but not holding our breath for a lot of ideas....

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  11. We are still hoping to make it tomorrow and your pictures make me want to get there even more. Hopefully the streets will get somewhat thawed so we can go. Have a great weekend!

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  12. Oooh! I am going tomorrow for my first time! I couldn't resist reading your spoilers though. Not sure 6 hours will be enough but I bet my feet will think so!

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  13. Thank you so much for posting this. I somehow managed to not know about this. I just rescheduled my calender so we can make it this weekend. Your pictures are so tantalizing! I can not wait to go!

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  14. Sharon - Sweet Pea really enjoyed it too. She had fun helping her sister find the pigs and plant shopping.
    I hope you'll be involved in the show next year! How fun!

    Alison - Yes it is a stilleto. It took me awhile to figure it out, I saw the stairs but wasn't sure what they were there for.

    April - My pictures don't even begin to do justice to the gardens. You'll love it.

    Jennifer - I'm glad you can go. Can't wait to see what other locals think about it and their pictures. I've already seen other posts that captured things I missed.

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  15. Looks like the show was great! I saw it advertised but it was too late to make plans - and now all of this snow would have made it impossible. Luckily you went on the first day huh? You got some great pictures - can't wait to see part 2.

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  16. That must have been a welcome trip at this time of year. I bet you got lots of ideas for your front garden projects though I'm not sure about the radiators as an entance

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  17. OH, it looks like so much fun. The old buildings and potting sheds are just wonderful. I was looking into every corner of your pictures. LOL! I saw the heel. How terrific. I love the colorful wagon and Gerbera daisy in the grass. Now I am stoked to see our Garden Show. I hope the girls enjoyed it too.

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  18. Thank you for sharing. I love garden shows. I anxiously await ours each year. I may be refering back to you pictures again soon. Bonnie

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  19. Thanks for sharing these amazing gardens with us, Catherine. So many great ideas! Wish I could be there!

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  20. Thanks for the photos. My eyes shot straight to those tables which look like tortoises.

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  21. I had a wonderful time visiting the show too and was able to spend a second day there. Today we bought a lot of goodies and I sat through more of the lectures. It was amazing!

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  22. I'm still in Massachusetts so I thank you for posting these photos of the NWF&GS. I miss the PNW, and especially this annual garden-show-must. Through your blog post though, I can vicariously experience it...so nice!

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