The Northwest Flower and Garden Festival - More Fabulous Vendors

The NWFGF  has a lot of great gardens big and small, some great plant vendors, and thrilling art for sale. There was so much to see and admire that it's impossible to share more than a small fraction. Here are a few  things that caught my eye:

In the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association area was this piece by Larry Lawlor

Bedrock Industries had some delightful new designs as well as some old favorites. All of their wares are made from recycled glass.

Anthony Jamieson Designs had some cool architectural cast glass panels.

Vintage Glass Gardens

Oh those daffodils!

Modhome Ceramics 

Because of the texture, it feels like the white porcelain base was covered with a layer of porcelain slip mixed with cobalt and then the negative space carved away. 

I forgot who made these but it's an imaginative use of shovels.  Probably not so great for digging now though.

The delightful Katy Lareau is a Portland-based artist whose fused glass flowers and bugs have been a show favorite for many years.

Much of Andy Byrne's metal sculpture is difficult to capture with a camera as it really needs to be experienced to be appreciated, the minute details that make up the whole can best be appreciated in person in the context of the entire piece. 

Obviously a master of the material!

More from Abraxas Crow. 

Nothing quite like having a life-sized blue heron gliding just overhead.

Unless it's a pair of fighting bald eagles. 

Happy 30th birthday to this annual event!  Every celebration needs a cake, right? 

A summer floral pillbox hat  supporting a  Christmas tree decorated with spring colored macarons.  A cake for all seasons!

Sorticulture 2017

Last year, after hearing so much about Everett's garden arts festival called Sorticulture,  I finally attended and swore that I'd never miss it again.  What an amazing feast for the senses with all sorts of fabulous garden art, plant and food vendors, plant talks, and live entertainment.  You know how sometimes when you attend an event the first time it seems over-the-top amazing but when you see it again, it doesn't seem so grand because you know what to expect?  That certainly was not the feeling I got going back to Sorticulture.  It seemed just as fabulous as my first visit.  The park in which the event is held is large and one can easily loose track of where everything is.  The sheer volume of eye candy can be overwhelming so it's best to plan on spending an entire day.  This year, I spent less time taking pictures and more time just taking it all in and enjoying the experience. See previous posts here, here, here, and here.   Here are just a few images of the fun:

There are some garden vignettes put together by local landscape companies.  

Fun art was everywhere!

Carnivorous Plants From Mars.  Really, check it out here. 

Lots of glorious glass.

This adorable dog by Justin Bergevin (The Rusty Bolt)  garnered much attention and praise. 

There were smaller pups available as well.

Thanks to Barbara Saunderson for  telling me that these cool fused glass egg plats were crated by Aiko Vail.  I'd forgotten.

Beth Wright's wire and bead baskets are perfect for succulents. 

Portland-based Katy LaReau's glass flowers and bugs are cheerful and popular. 

Cacti but no metal agaves this year. 

Merrilee More's glass drops look grand in large groups like these. 

Bedrock Industries makes everything out of recycled materials. Their motto is "Specializing in trash beautification since 1992."

While I love the pieces they create, I equally enjoy visiting their shop to find materials for all sorts of projects.

Shannon Buckner's Bent Productions with their graceful organic lines have always caught my eye but I never fully appreciated their beauty until seeing them in garden settings.  How on earth can a blacksmith create such delicate-looking pieces from metal?

All decked out for the occasion.  A few of these fish swam home with me. 

So did a metal flower or two.

Growing 

 or cut, flowers abounded.

Plant vendors, oh yes!  Is that a Wollemia nobilis by any chance?  

Albuca spiralis 'Frizzle Sizzle.'   

 Many of the plant vendors were independent growers who brought specialty plants.  River Rock Nursery of Carver, Oregon once brought a lot of swell plants including Quercus alnifolia, an evergreen oak whose common name, Golden Oak, comes from the golden color of the undersides of the leaves and is the national tree of Cyprus. RRN brought them to the Rhododendron Species Garden sale this spring,  there were specimens at Hortlandia.  this time, they had tiny ones and one of them came home with me.  Yes it's already in a bigger pot and no, I don't know where I'll plant it eventually.

Just when hope seemed slim -   Yes Virginia, there is always an agave thanks to Marcus Harper Glass Works.

Taking a break from all the excitement, this fellow relaxes 'neath a Podophyllum parasol. 

This was an iota of the artwork and plants at Sorticulture.  I certainly plan to attend again next June and hope you do too!