Muck About

Kid Stuff - NW Flower and Garden Show

 Guest blog by Jeanne Keyes blogging at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show

(Click on images to view larger.)

The 2009 Northwest Flower and Garden Show (NWFG)  provides many fun activities for your child to enjoy. Sproutopia, a place for kids, features educational, hands on activities such as creating flower photo cut-outs and planting a seed.Seeds, dirt and a pot are provided so your child can plant the seed at the show, take it home, water it and watch it grow.

 The Sprout Stage features 30 minute presentations starting at 10am,running on the hour each day of the show. With titles such as "Don't Squish That Bug: Exploring the Incredible Insect World" and "Who Wants Garbage for Dinner: The Wonderful Ways of Worms", what could be more fun and interesting or a better way to teach your child about the little creatures in your garden?

Don't miss out on the treasure hunt! Pick up your treasure hunt form at Sproutopia: A place for Kids,look for the cute little Snooter-Doots at all the display gardens and win a prize. By the way, you can purchase a Snooter-Doot by visiting booth #2452 and help Make-A-Wish Foundation at the same time. There will be a silent auction of the Snooter-Doot hidden in each of the 2009 NWFG display gardens. A hundred percent of your bid will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Also, check out the childrens' gardens. These gardens are very inventive and creative. I for one would love a garden such as the "Drip, Drip, Bloom", a funky junk garden created by Interlake High School. The glass water drops "falling" into the drum, like a rain barrel are priceless.

As always, free childcare is provided in room 303 near the South entrance and is operated by licensed childcare providers. Children 5 and under are admitted to the show free and a youth ticket for those 6 to 17 years old is $4.00.

Rock Solid Conifers Display Garden

Guest blog by Jeanne Keyes blogging at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show

(Click on images to view larger.)

From brown and creame petrified wood boulders to golden evergreens such as 'Gold Cones' Cedar (Thuja occidentalis aurea 'Wells'), this garden packs quite a punch.

 I could be wrong but I believe this is the only garden in the NW Flower and Garden show that is not displaying flowering plants.I find it interesting that although Wells Nursery is known for Japanese Maples and other woody trees and shrubs, they confined their plant selection to conifers.

This garden is about foliage texture, form and all the subtle shades of color between blue and yellow. From 'Golden Grape' Hinoki Cypress(Chamaecyparis obtusa aurea 'Wells') to 'Emerald Creeper' Prostrate Deodara Cedar (Cedrus deodara prostrata 'Wells'), from 'Blue Totem' Columnar Blue Spruce (Picea pungens glauca fastigiata 'Wells') to 'Golden Sunset' Spreading Cedar (Cedrus deodara aurea prostrata 'Wells'), fine and coarse textures, tall,short, weeping and round forms, yellow, gold, green, gray and blue colors are well represented.

 Quartz, basalt and granite from across the United States, in diverse shapes and sizes were placed in natural groupings to enhance the mulitiude of textures,colors and forms of coniferous plants.

Flowers, smowers, this garden would be exciting and colorful any time of the year. 

Top photo: Rock Solid Conifer display garden.

2nd photo: Picea pungens glauca fastigiata 'Wells' (blue totem columnar blue spruce).

Bottom left photo: Cedrus deodara prostrata 'Wells' ('Emerald Creeper' prostrate deodara  cedar).

Bottom right photo: Thuja occidentalis aurea 'Wells' ('Gold Cones' cedar).

Borukan Mask Making and Orchids

I don’t know that much about orchids, beyond my admiration for them, and I can never get them to bloom for me again. But I understand someone having a passion for them. I was stopped in my tracks at the Northwest Orchid Society’s display garden, “Masked Perfection--Are Orchids the Perfect Mask?”  A Costa Rican, Pedro Rojas Morales was demonstrating the art of carving the multi-colored masks.  He did not speak English; however, his hands spoke a language everyone could understand--art. A Borucan Indian, he carves masks out of balsa wood or cedar, a long time tradition of their culture.

In the garden display, the mask is used as a metaphor to the orchid, which nature created “…through color, shape and aroma to attract the one significant insect or animal…” I will let the following photos paint the story.

Click on images for larger versions.

 

A real crowd pleaser.

The Third Largest Garden Show

Here I am, back in Seattle for the third largest garden show--the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. The media preview is over and our quick tour through the display gardens left me wanting more time. I want to take in every nuance down to the last detail.  I want to see and understand each designer’s inspiration. So back to the show I will go, and in between the seminars, I will meet with gardening buddies and visit as many non-profit groups and garden society booths as feasible. My eyes will keep busy ogling all the gizmos and gadgets, must-haves and can’t-do-withouts. It’s guaranteed to be an entertaining time.  Here are a few of the display gardens. To see more, visit  Small Worlds.   

Click on images to see larger versions.

The first two images are from Garden Getaway created by Garden Dreams Design and Outdoor Living Environments and designed by Tami Ott-Ostberg.  Who wouldn't feel the relaxing vacation feel in this plush sitting area? It's a perfect place to unwind after a stressful day.

The next garden, Arabesque - Gardening on the Curve, is created by Fancy Fronds and Albe Adventuresome Twig Hunters and designed by Judith Jones and Vanca Lumsden.

 

Designer Deluge

More from the Yard Garden and Patio Show

This display garden shows that a practical system for drainage problems need not look utilitarian or remain hidden from view. A striking patio borders a fabricated dry stream that doubles as a channel for water during storms. The drain course can be engineered to empty into a drywell or other drainage system. It borders on a rock water feature and simulates a natural waterway.

"Dell of Deluge" created by Drake's 7 Dees

Click on images to enlarge.

View post below for more about the show.

 

 

The Yard Patio and Garden Show Previews

 

I’m down here in Portland enjoying Portland’s favorite garden show. I love it!

Be sure to check out the sneak previews of the display gardens at the Yard Patio and Garden Show happening right now in Portland. If you can’t go, you can enjoy this portion of the show too.

View the article on  Rainy Side Gardeners .

A Really Good Show

Thursday I travel down to Portland to enjoy the fantastic Yard, Garden and Patio Show, February 15-17. Portlanders should be proud of their garden show.  Although it’s smaller than the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, it has a lot to offer show goers, no matter if you are expert or beginner gardener.  The seminars alone are worth the price of admission into the show, with many choices for each time slot. Thursday night I will put up a few photos for you to get a sneak peek at the display gardens before they officially open to the public. Unfortunately, I only have one day to enjoy the show, and then I head back north full of ideas for my own garden. For you avid gardeners, I recommend going more than one day to take it all in. Yard Garden & Patio Show web site.

Got Pen? Go to Flower Show Free!

For those who like to write, you can receive free tickets to the garden show by agreeing to write about it on their blog.

How would you and a companion like to visit the Northwest Flower & Garden Show for a full day—for free?

TicketsDuring each day of the show—which opens Wednesday, February 20 and runs through Sunday, February 24—we’re giving away tickets to folks who agree to blog about their experiences at the show…right here on Flora’s blog.

We’re looking for people of all ages:

    * Parents (and grandparents) with kids in tow
    * Gen Xers and Yers
    * Baby Boomers
    * Seniors

I am sure these won't last so head over to see Flora's Blog at the NW Flower & Garden Show site for more information.

Click on last year's display garden to see larger.