reporting in
Hmmmmmmm. I am sorry to report, this year’s show in Seattle was a disappointment.
There were a handful of very good display gardens, but just a few. Much to my chagrin. Here are a few snaps from my favorites:
Robyn Cannon’s French potager: delish! One part of a three part display titled Garden 2 Table.
A diminutive planting of purple, gray and blue…….enchanting, and was found at the base of the the upcoming planter……
At the base of this ripped and curled steel planter which I absolutely coveted. Couldn’t imagine getting this on the plane.
And this was a cheerful outdoor space……..good color
Incredible dry stack rock work. We were crazy about the walls. I might even be able to pull off the river rock gabians.
And this soft aqua/blue/gray patio set up may be my favorite garden this year, the plant materials were perfectly coordinated with the fabrics or maybe the other way around…..anyway……it worked for me.
I also really liked this outdoor kitchen because it was so humble. No $10K barbie here folks. This reminds me of the rusty kamp kitchen we have in Oregon or the canning kitchen that was featured in one of the articles on Mary Jane’s Farm in Idaho. LOVE IT!
It came with a chicken coop full of laying hens a ‘layin (I counted 2 eggs Wednesday and 1 on Thursday). Sorry the focus is so poor. The coop was roofed with a strawberry patch. This was a LOT of fun!
One more for good measure: This birder’s identification chart was eye catching and a great idea. May steal this notion for the botanical garden. OK, maybe for my garden.
Well your photos look great and interesting too. Too bad the show didn’t quite live up to expectations.
Gee, do we both have exquisite taste, or what? Did you know, MA, that the gorgeous chocolate brown and robin’s egg blue garden designed by Tami Ott-Ostberg of Garden Dreams Design was the garden I chose (along with fellow editors at Seattle Homes & Lifestyles) to receive our award for the best residential design?!!! It is as perfect as a Tiffany box, isn’t it?
And you’ll get a kick out of hearing that Bob Smaus, former garden writer for the LA Times who “retired” to the Olympic Peninsula, wrote a fun piece about the show this week, including a rave about that rusted container that you feature here. He described it this way: “a steel pipe crafted… so its sides (are) peeled back like a banana, … stuffed with little plants.”
Here is the link to the story:
http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-northwest28feb28,1,3676018.story
Hi there, Mary Ann…I am very honored to be
included on your list of favorites. It was
a very fun exercise in building a garden with the hard work of NHS volunteers
and some great donors—Lakeview Stone,
Lucca Statuary among them. Normally,
I don’t enjoy the idea of designing by
committee (that’s why the camel has
two humps you know, it was designed
by a group!) but this turned out great.
Special hats off to Wendy Welch, Gillian Matthews and Nita Jo Rountree
for all their hard work, too. It was great to see you and finally meet Delos–
better not turn your back on that man
too long, as all the women in the NW
corridor will be sending in their resumes! Of course, he’s got the best
already….September will be here before you know it and we’ll see you in
Portland if not before. Stay well and
happy gardening this summer!
xoxo Robyn
Good to see you in the NW. I must say I agree with all the musings you had from the show, loved the work and rockery, but I really missed the WOW factor that the show has been missing.
Yes…we want to reach the balcony, patio, small living space gardeners…but do we have to do it so repetitively. I just returned from the Philly flower show and was a bit wowed by the in your face color of the New Orleans theme, but it is not a garden designers show…it is definitely for the floral designers. Still can’t help but be a flower show junkie and admit to lovin’ it all. Happy spring!
Sue, I had the good fortune to check out the show in Philadelphia a few years back. ALWAYS GOOD to attend a garden show, especially for the first time. I tend to agree with you, Philadelphia’s show is very over the top, luscious and driven by floral design. I also felt it leaned toward traditional and formal. Fun all the same. The REAL show came on the way home when we made an unscheduled stop at Longwood and while we were in the conservatory, a blizzard wrapped around the glass and we thought it was pure magic! See? Always good to go to garden shows.