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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 23, 2015

In A Vase(?) on Monday; Northwest Flower and Garden Show Floral Competition.

Many garden bloggers participate in a delightful meme called "In A Vase on Monday"  sponsored by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  The idea is that one is supposed to pick flowers from his/her garden and arrange them in a container and photograph them each Monday.  I've seen many cool arrangements put together by my blogging friends and have often wanted to participate but I seldom cut flowers from my garden as I enjoy seeing them outside so much and I'm far too lazy to arrange and photograph them. Today I've decided to cheat and share Floral arrangements from the NWFGS Floral Display.  The rules have been broken but after all, I am the Outlaw Gardener, right?


"Sunset Love" by The Art of Forest Blooms.  Loved the sunset painting idea.  Were the branches supposed to be paint brushes?  Foreground outside of the frame...hmm.

This was a touch of genius and made the whole thing sing for me; the artist's palette on which the paint colors are the spectrum of flowers used in the "painting"

"Perfection in Imperfection Itself" by Tiare Floral Design.

"Show Your Love With Local Flowers"  by Slow Flowers. I liked this collection of interesting containers with simple arrangement that actually look like what gardeners might bring in from outside.
"When Heart is Open" by Safeway Floral.  Am I the only on who really wants to see an article of speech used between when and heart?
There were so many elements of this arrangement that I really admired but all of them together are a bit busy and my eye wasn't sure where to rest.  I guess that when a heart is open blood gushes everywhere.  This is an arrangement to experience, not just to view from one angle.

 Floating Mandarin oranges/Clementines/tangerines are cool but what is that wire thing?

I'm fond of rich saturated colors but it's like every crayon in the box was used  in creating this celebratory explosion (Myocardial rupture?)

Come to think of it, this kind of exotic saturated color might be just what sky bridge garden "Romancing the Kasbah" could have used.  In fact, this arrangement would have added some more exotic vibe to this space. 


"Evolve" by Juniper Flowers is a collection of some of interesting things but I wasn't sure what it was evolving from or to. 


Columbia City Boquet's "Love in Flight" 

Fun.

"Falling for You" by LaVassar Florists - Simple and elegant. 

 "Woodland Wedding Cake" by Lusher Life Design
 Complete with a piece of wedding cake.  One way to get more fiber in your diet!

"A Hard Man to Love"  by Flowers Hardcore.  I didn't get it but there are a lot of things that I don't understand.  If you have an interpretation, please share!


"Love Triangle" by Ikebana by Megumi. 

Window to Your Heart by Blue Lace Design - dripping with romance.  The exposed hardware fabric and chicken wire keep it from being too cutesy.

So there you have it, my first "In A Vase on Monday" post.  Perhaps in the summer when I have more time, I'll participate without cheating.  Until then, I'll enjoy everyone else's Monday offerings!

23 comments:

  1. Very creative! I like those tiny cottages...Happy week, Peter!

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    1. The floral people always come up with something to creative and fun! Happy week to you, Satu!

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  2. You are so right about those tropical fruits and bright colors belonging in the Kasbah display. It definitely would have livened it up. I loved the wedding cake and also the one with all the Gloriosa lilies. They both won first and second place ribbons, so I guess my tastes coincide with the judges.

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    1. I mostly agreed with the judges too. Would have been very difficult for me to choose between "Window on Your Heart" and "Sunset Love" for third! It's always fun to see what the florists come up with!

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  3. That's a unique way of joining the meme Peter!

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  4. Thanks for pointing out this meme to me. Like you I probably won't participate much (I have a hard enough time doing bloom day!) as I like the flowers out there, but we'll see what this next year brings. Love "Falling for You" -- simple and lovely!

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    1. It's a fun meme even though I don't post. It's great to see what others in the region have growing outside that is vase worthy, especially in the winter. Great ideas in those vases for winter interest plants and plant combinations.

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  5. Funny, I came very close to doing the same post today! Only I wasn't as thorough as you and only took photos of the things I liked.

    p.s. was that your Starbucks cup? ;)

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    1. I'm assuming that you didn't photograph "A Hard Man to Love." Still can't figure that one out.

      Oh honey, I haven't worn that shade of lipstick in ages. Must have been someone else's Starbucks cup.

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  6. The idea of a garden as an artist's color palette appeals to me. I find that working on color combinations in the garden occupies a lot of my thoughts and plans. The "wedding cake" is a fun idea, and, true to form, I loved the butterfly tree. A little fairy garden'ish, but I can't help myself.

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    1. Lots of fun ideas as usual at the floral part of the show. The butterfly tree was cool but hard to see well and photograph in that situation. Nothing wrong with loving fairy gardens!

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  7. The "everything but the kitchen sink" aesthetic seems to prevail. I did like the 'Falling for You' and the 'Woodland Wedding Cake'. My take on the 'Hard Man to Love' has pornographic overtones and I would hate to get kicked off your blog.

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    1. Less is more seems reserved for the Ikebana show in a different area of the show which I'll post about another day. In the floral competition, the idea seems to be as over the top and different as possible. I'd better go back and look at "Hard Man to Love" again!

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  8. I love the Woodland Wedding Cake, particularly the cake slice! I may have to copy that one day for my own "vase."

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    1. That one was pretty imaginative and was very popular with attendees whose exclamations of glee at finding the slice of cake were fun to hear!

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  9. these arrangements are so creative and quirky. I love that you 'cheated' - I would have to do the same. Rarely manage to make the effort to cut flowers and arrange them in vases. Maybe it's a character flaw we share? The Hard Man to Love - I'll have a go - the way to a man's heart is through chocolate, right? And is that a slice of chocolate cake I see before me? Not really a coherent interpretation, but maybe it's a start ...

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    1. They always come up with some unusual arrangements for the show! This is a good character flaw to share! I like your interpretation of the slice of cake which went with the previous arrangement. My captions are confusing. The Hard man to love arrangement is the big cloud of baby's breath with camellia branches and red glitter spheres.

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  10. I liked 2 arrangements, they are: artist's palette and white orchids, I think the both are simple but brilliant.

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    1. I liked those two as well! Happy new week, Nadezda!

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  11. Your post helped me to wake up, Peter (as well as your answer about that coffee cup)! Some of these bouquets are brain teasers!
    Anyway, I appreciate their authors' creativity.

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    1. Glad that these bouquets and the coffee cup comment helped you to wake up! The arrangements at the show are almost always very creative and fairly outrageous but so much fun to see.

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  12. It's good to revisit some of the fun things of beauty from the show.

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