The Northwest Flower and Garden Show - A Preview

Maybe the title should have been a taste of a taste of spring, the theme of this year's show.


It's an hour and a half before the floor of the convention center must be cleared for the judges to view the display gardens.  Tired designers and their teams, some of whom haven't slept for days, are putting finishing touches on their gardens.  The occasional forklift passes by, large carts of unused plants sit awaiting their fate, brooms and mops are busy everywhere sweeping leftover soil into tidy piles.

The excitement is palpable as preparations for this year's show reach their zenith.

I sneaked into the vendor area as well. 

In just a few hours this place will be buzzing with attendees of the Tuesday evening gala, and on Wednesday morning, at the opening of the show, crowds will fill the space.

The South Entrance to the show is always planted with locally sourced gems.

In this area, every plant is well marked so that even non gardeners (I've heard that there are such people.) can identify them.

The taste part of the theme "Taste of Spring" is seen frequently at this year's show with edible plants being in vogue.

More posts of the show will follow but today, here's a sampling of a few highlights in random order. Wanting to give you a taste of the show as soon as possible, I'll publish the post first and then go back to add descriptions if time allows. To really get the whole scoop, pick up a show guide on your way into the show!

 I recognized quite a few of the plants seen in the greenhouse of Windmill a few weeks ago in the Fancy Fronds garden.

A hand carved marble fountain ($9,500.00 if you want to take it home) is one of the details of an Italian garden

From an entirely different part of the world comes the inspiration for this garden. 

Yes, it's natural rock!  

 Elandan Gardens brought in the largest Contorted Filbert in the state of Washington for it's display.

The G-spot?  

Honey, I Shrunk the Farm features natural filtration of water, using fish waste as fertilizer, and highlights sustainable garden practices.

All set up for a game of teacup golf. 

This represents pasta (a taste of spring)

A stack of butter cubes

And here we have Swiss Cheese.

Do you see the bed springs? 

The bunkhouse features a first for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, a urinal planted with yellow violas.

Making it's world premier at the show is "The Drunken Lotus Fountain"

 Even we'll have lows below freezing for the next week or so, colder than normal for us this time of year, the show always makes me ready for spring.

After all of that loveliness, I'm ready for a nice cup of tea, how about you?

The show opens tomorrow and runs through Sunday.  You won't want to miss this highlight of the garden year in the Pacific Northwest. 

Many thanks to those talented and tireless souls who spend months of preparation and sweat to make this annual event such a joy for all of us.  Special thanks to O'Loughlin Trade Shows for saving our show from coming to an end.