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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, February 2, 2015

A Northwest Flower and Garden Show Plant Peek

Windmill Nursery in nearby Sumner supplies and or stores plants for some of the designers participating in the NWFG Show each year.  Eager to see what we might find in some of the gardens, I sneaked (with permission, of course) past the Employees Only sign to take a peek.  In addition of a lot of hellebores and other plants in the cool house doing what they usually do this time of year here are some to the others.

Greenhouse magic making delphiniums bloom in February. These have been moved form the warm house to this cooler area to slow the blooming so they'll be perfect for the show.  Timing is everything! 


This heather was also in the cool house as it usually looks like this right now. 

Especially nice looking lemons.

Again with the greenhouse magic...

With protection these Acanthus might look a little like this in January only more tattered.

A field of lavender?  Notice the fuchsias in the background?  They are huge standards.  I heard a rumor earlier in the season that there had been a call for roses in bloom as well.  Maybe in another house?  Maybe a change of plan?

Interesting foliage!

And speaking of foliage, looks like someone will be using coleus.  There were huge grow lights above all of these plants in the warm house. to induce growth.  Will any of the vines bloom in time?  There were also quite a few large Bougainvillea in bloom.

I'm guessing it's our native Lysichiton americanus (Skunk Cabbage.)  Mine hasn't broken the surface of the soil yet.  Where might these be popping up at the show?

A tropical garden?  I'll be looking to see how these plants are used in the show gardens.

Going a bit further (The greenhouses are extensive) I found part of this year's crop of geraniums growing on in their four inch pots.

Seedlings.  Spring is only a month and half away and I'm hoping that our mild winter has no more frozen intervals!
Happy Monday and I hope to see you at the big show!

22 comments:

  1. We're looking forward to hearing yours and other bloggers report and photos of the event!

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  2. WooHoo! Thanks for this quick look at the plants that are being forced for the show. There's going to be a rain garden in one of the display gardens, I wonder if the skunk cabbage is going there? I think I might swoon if there are large blooming Bougainvillea in one of the gardens.

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    1. Take smelling salts in case Alison swoons. One good whiff of ammonia and she'll be good to finish the garden show and go on to several nurseries. Or you could just set her among the Bouganvillea. Have her wear something bright pink.

      I look forward to every single photo of the displays.

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    2. Thanks Jean! Your comment gave me a good laugh today! I can just see Alison, dressed in pink, slumbering among the Bouganvillea!

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    3. Alison, I need to get online and do more reading about the gardens this year!

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  3. How fun, lucky you getting an in person preview!

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    1. It was fun to see what people had there and wonder about how they'd use the plants.

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  4. So looking forward to the NWFG show. This sumner nursery is massive; their Hosta is my favorite. Isn't it's color and shape marvelous?
    Beginner gardeners may try to emulate what they see in the show and assume Hyacinths and Delphiniums bloom at the same time.

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    1. This show is something I look forward to all year long. Windmill is a large nursery and there are lots of large greenhouses on the property as they are owned by the same brothers as DeGoede Brothers greenhouses, (270,000 square feet of indoor growing space with even more outdoor growing space) wholesale operation that sells all kinds of plants to retailers. Check out the fuchsia baskets at Fred Meyer. At least here in the south sound, they all come from DeGoede.
      There'a always a bit of a danger of confusing less experienced gardeners when forcing blooms out of season. There used to be way over the top displays at the NWFGS that were more like walk through flower arrangements than gardens and that concern/criticism came up leading some designers to go so far the other way that one could have very well just taken a February tour of local gardens and called it good. I like a bit of both, the "I could do that in my space." gardens along with the over the top wow factor, "this could never happen." sorts of spaces. Inspiration can come from both.

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  5. I love behind-the-scenes looks, so this was great! A bit frustrating with our temps in the low 20's F -- my spring fever doesn't need much encouragement to get going now that Feb. is here.

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    1. Oh, that's too cold! It was cloudy here today so the groundhog couldn't have seen his shadow so early spring it is!

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  6. That was fun to see. We are anticipating the flower and garden show next week, and I'll be looking for those plants!

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    1. Maybe we should have a contest to see who can spot the most plants at the show that were in this post.

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  7. Between you and Alison, now I'm all excited! Too bad its about 1100 miles away! Take lots of pictures. Bring extra batteries for your camera.

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    1. Oh Kris, just hop on a plane and you'll be here in no time!

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  8. Those hostas are so perfect! What a wonderful display of perfect plants, I'm not surprised that you are looking forward to it.

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  9. For some reason the most weirdly unseasonal thing about this for me were the hostas. Looks like there are going to be some cool displays; I would have never thought of someone forcing skunk cabbage.

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  10. Did you see my plants??!! ARE THEY OKAY??!! LOL

    See you at the show!

    R

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    1. They may have your plants in one of the other houses that I didn't see. Can't wait to see what you come up with this year as your Explorer's Garden was phenomenal! See you next week! Can't believe it's time already - time is flying!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.