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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.

Friday, January 31, 2014

More Fun from the Tacoma Home and Garden Show

Like Alison, I bought some lily bulbs at B & D lilies.  Some Casa Blanca, a few African Queens, and a variety new to me that I can't remember right now.  It was such a treat to smell lilies in bloom at this time of the year. 


But this fragrance really belongs to high summer when it meets that of brugmansia and honeysuckle as the sun begins to rise.  When I plant my bulbs this Saturday,  I'll be thinking of those glorious and warm days to come. 

B & D was also offering Musella lasiocarpa.  This sight made me wonder if I could overwinter other bananas with less soil and avoid hauling huge pots to the basement.


So, what do you think of this  boulder with a glass table top?

Through the glass you can see water collected on the surface of the rock.  It would be a job keeping the glass table top clean.
 
Raintree nursery has a great catalog and sells a lot of unusual and hard to find berries, fruit trees, and all kinds of unusual edibles.  Of course, they also have more popular varieties as well but this is the place to go to find olives, meldars, papayas, paw paws, and others. 
 
 
I know that one sees these in a lot of places but they still thrill me.  Maybe my classroom needs a few of them?

Always a joy are the bright and cheerful watercolors of Gig Harbor artist Kate Larsson.  Kate will also be at the Seattle Flower and Garden Show.

Don't know who makes these but they're interesting.

Carman at Mad Mozaics was as delightful as her work, sharing her techniques  and material sources. 



Her work was all wonderful and you can see more of it on her website.  I like Carman's technique of reusing old windows in their sashes by gluing stained glass on the existing clear glass and covering the whole with epoxy.  There's a little more to it than that and Carman teaches classes in your home if you can get together a minimum of 5 people.  What a great party idea!


No show in Tacoma, Dale Chihuly's home town, would be complete without some blown glass garden art.  Here we have  work of Studio Rynkiewicz from Everett. 
 
This trio of bowls could come home with me if I could only find space for them.



Glass is such a beautiful material and many nothrwest gardeners love to include it in their gardens. What do you think of glass in the garden? 

I'm a fan of anything shiny, like the sun which I hope you'll be seeing a lot of this weekend!  Happy Friday everyone!

30 comments:

  1. Beauuutiful lilies... and I too loved the trio of bowls

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  2. You found some beautiful pieces to show. So many ideas and nice things to add to the garden or home.

    I haven't been to the Home and Garden show for a while. Might have to check it out again though most local artisans also set up at other shows throughout the year.

    I love those blown glass art pieces. I have a few glass pieces in the garden but I would worry about hail with art pieces like those in the garden.

    The boulder works for a show but it also reminds me of all the faux stone tables with glass tops turning up in thrift shops these days.

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    1. I haven't seen a faux stone table with a glass top anywhere here, I might be tempted to buy one if I saw it at a thrift store!

      You're right, most of these vendors will show up in lots of other places but it's nice to have a show only 10 minutes from home!

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  3. Those glass sculptures can add a touch of Chihuly inspiration to the garden!

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  4. I mentioned on Alison's post yesterday that I might follow your (and her) example and buy my lily bulbs earlier this year as well...planting in April/May is just too late...the ones planted in February do so much better...and yes...I look forward to sitting in the garden surrounded by their perfume as well :-)

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  5. I loved those long blown glass pieces, especially that one in the back on the right, with the orange and blue colors. It was fabulous!

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    1. I expect to see you carrying that one out of the Seattle Show!

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  6. I love glass in my gardens. I am a big fan of Barbara Sanderson all of my glass art comes from her. I put it where the sun shines through. Have a happy day.

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    1. Barbara does gorgeous work and I've posted a couple of times about her stuff. Glad you like glass in your garden!

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  7. I'm fascinated by those round lamp shades but worried they are difficult to put together. Did you ever try one of them?
    I've bought lilies at the show in the past. I find that their performance declines as time goes on. It must be the conditions in my garden they aren't happy with. Last year I bought Dahlia tubers instead.
    I've always wanted glass ornaments in my garden, but It will brake my heart if anything happened to them. Beautiful examples of using blown glass in the garden setting can be seen in Chihuly's permanent exhibit at the Seattle Center. I was blown away, no pun intended. You simply must see it.

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    1. You can buy the lamps already assembled and choose the color combination you desire! I've never been brave enouth to try to put one together myself.
      I've seen some great posts about the Seattle Center exhibit and am looking forward to seeing it sometime.

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    2. Oops, forgot to mention that if they're in a sunny spot with fairly good soil, your lilies will get bigger and better each year. Sometimes they get botrytis which is a spore that lives in the soil and can cause the bottom leaves to brown and the plants to get smaller each year. The nice man at B & D said that during the late winter, just before the lilies emerge repeatedly spraying the soil with chelated copper unitl there is a green hue on the surface of the soil, is the only way to keep the spores from getting on the leaves of the emerging lily. This must be done every year because once you have botrytis in your soil, it's there forever.

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    3. I never heard of botrytis before. It's good to know there is a solution, but I must admit that annual spraying doesn't appeal to me. I want for plants that take the conditions I have, and show their appreciation by preforming well.
      Maybe I can talk the home owner into doing the spraying...

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  8. Reading your posts on the Tacoma show, I'd been wishing we had something like that nearby, but, with today's post, I decided I'm glad we don't - my pocketbook couldn't handle the temptation.

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    1. There are so many cool things at these shows that it's hard not to want them all! We just need bigger pocketbooks!

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  9. The boulder and glass seem like incompatible materials to me. Speaking of glass, I love the look of blown glass in the garden, but, klutz that I am, we are also incompatible and I will leave it to be enjoyed on garden tours. After years of stellar performance, my Casa Blanca lilies did poorly last year...time to plant afresh, I guess.

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    1. I had that thought about the boulder and glass and then add to those two materials the chairs & it didn't seem to be a great combo. I loved the rock by itself though. Sorry about your Casa Blancas declining.

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  10. I think those blown glass shapes are amazing.
    I would love a huge boulder in my garden but not with a glass top, it just doesn't go.
    A good choice of lilies:Casa blanca and African Queen- gorgeous!

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    1. I seem to have a profusion of pink lilies in my garden right now; they need some white and yellow/orange to balance them out. I agree about the boulder sans glass top!

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  11. Do you have a potlifter? If you haul around heavy pots, you should. They're the best thing since sliced bread. http://www.potlifter.com/

    I do love all that glass........someday.....sigh.

    Deirdre

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    1. I do have a potlifter and someone to help me with it but if I could store a banana without hauling the pot in and out, it would make the annual migration a lot easier!

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  12. You can over-winter your bananas with no soil! I've done it with Ensete maurelii a couple of times and there's a guy who opens his garden for HPSO tours who does the same. His are at least 8ft tall...

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    1. Hooray! I'll do that this fall! Only 3 more days until the show preview and four more days until it opens!

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  13. Lovely lilies and great, colorful paintings. That seems to be a fun happening to visit. Happy weekend, Peter!

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  14. I went to a much lamer flower and garden show yesterday and saw the same mod lanterns, but I could not figure out who I could give them to, they were very cool. I also purchased a Martagon lily, which will be the first new plant of European origins in my garden in many years.

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  15. Love the mosaics and the colored glass! The tabletop on a rock, not so much.

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  16. Dear Mr. TOG : )
    This show is beautiful .. have you ever heard of "Eye Liner" Asiatic lily ? .. I just ran across it now and would love to pair it with my Casa Blanca .. I can just imagine the smell from all those beautiful lilies : ) ... I love the garden art ... the fish, the mosaics .. absolutely stunning.
    Did I mention how jealous I am that you are able to plant so early while we are stuck in snow here ? .. BIG sigh ! ... You are one lucky gardener !!
    Joy : )
    I might have to start addressing you are Mr. Peter now that I know .. wink wink !

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