Monday, February 27, 2017

Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Part 3 - Orchids and Flower Arrangements

One of the display gardens is created by the Northwest Orchid Society.


 It seems to me that orchids enjoy have their picture taken. 









More pretty is to be found in the floral arrangement competition in the entrance hall.  There were fewer this year, but I had fun finding the edibles in the bouquets.

Look for the vegies.












More to come!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Northwest Flower and Garden Show - Part 2, Market Place Arts

There are so many temptations at this show, and most of them aren't even plants. 

Here is what you can buy to decorate your garden or your garden shed or your garden room, or .......yourself!




 This potter was new to the show. He makes exquisite pottery prayer wheels, which spin and reveal remarkable designs all the way around. They are very Pacific Northwest in flavor. I loved the kingfisher on the pot above, one of my favorite island birds. 

 Bob's Rustic Sheds are so much fun, and he is a Whidbey Island guy.
 These birds rock,
 and these are stoned, ...er, stone. 



 Oh, look! Pot heads!
 This vendor is one of my favorites. I have several pieces, and I bought another - that cute sunflower face in the photo below. 
 We love Rusty Birds, too. We have some, and we bought more. I'll have to show you what we did with them. 

 I resisted buying any more fused glass bugs from this vendor. 





Of course there was much more than this sample. I just picked out some of my favorites and those that make pretty pictures. 

Maybe in my next post I'll show some actual plants!

Friday, February 24, 2017

Northwest Flower and Garden Show

It is that time of year again, when, as rain and snow and sun showers pelt us outside, we flock to the convention center for a "Taste of Spring". 

That was the theme of this year's show, the 29th annual flower-and-plantstravaganza. Tom and I were there for opening day on Wednesday. 

The show features large display gardens constructed on the convention hall floor, as well as extensive markets featuring plants to paintings to pottery to posies to pots to potting soil, and just about anything else having to do with gardening. 

I took a lot of photos, of course. The wow factor is the display gardens, and I'll make them the subject of my first post. The lighting is fairly low in the display hall, so photography is tricky. Flash washes everything out. Low light tends to create fuzzy photos. I did my best to eliminate the fuzziness.

The spring flowers in the entry display are always such a treat, and the scent of hyacinths fills the air. 
The first garden inside the door is golden - a study in yellow in all of its forms. 






I'm not even going to try to identify the garden creators or name the plants or make much commentary. If you have questions, ask, and I'll get back to you. 

Since the theme this year is about edibles in the garden, Dan Robinson, famous for monumental bonsai, featured fruiting specimens.. 
 It's hard to appreciate the size and form of that big old contorted filbert in this photo but it was spectacular. 
 Dan was most proud of this rooted limb from a 100 year old apple tree. 
































 What a charming little fairy garden in the corner of this display. 

 I would very much like to have tea here!













Which garden would you most like to dine in?