Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Topsoil, the 2014 Northwest Flower and Garden Show Opens Today!

Alison and I were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the  display gardens at the NFGS today.  We both left energized after seeing so many green and blooming gardens after seeing snow falling but not sticking thank goodness, as we left Alison's house.   Following are just a few of the many pictures I took of the gardens.  I will share more interesting details about each garden in later posts but for now, here are a few images to pique your interest.

Our tour was led by the delightful Marianne Binetti

"Paint Your Own Garden"

Art In Bloom is the theme/title of this years show.

 

You see, there's this sports team that won something called the Super Bowl...

 Make sure to check out the NWFGS website here  to find out about the 12th man discount on Wednesday!

"The Garden of Artful delight - Homage to the Art and Garden of Ginny Ruffner" Notice the blown glass spheres sandwiched between two pieces of glass in the wall. 

 

"In Our Hands"   The giant fingers making up the hand holding the planet are made of  a year's collection of plastic shopping bags

Photographs of hands in Northwest Native American carvings.

"The Art of Upcycling"   Greenhouse is fabricated from discarded glass patio doors.

 Judith Jones of Fancy Fronds who has had a garden in the show every year except one since the inception of the NWFGS

 

"Circles All Around Us"  This is a working gate!

 

Screen made from sliced steel pipe.

"A Conduction of vigorous Immersion: Seattle's Best Artists Enhance Your Flow"  Cool new technology allows the stairs

to become a ramp in seconds.

 The Seahawks logo, once flush with the deck magically rises

 

To become a table under which something would need to be placed so that chairs wouldn't tilt into the depression in the deck. Notice the green wall. 

 

 

 "Peace in Motion - Sanctuary of Peace"

 

"Nature's Studio: AROUSE | EVOKE | CREATE | GROW | CHILL"  If it weren't such a cool garden, I'd make fun of the title.

Steel retaining walls with tree stumps  as fence posts. 

 

 "The Art of Zen - Find Zen in Your Own Backyard"

 

 "The Artist's Studio"

During the show, a rotating group of painters from Northwest Artists in Action will be painting. 

"Terra Cadence - The Rhythm of the Earth"  This one was th rill ing!

"MOFA - Museum of Foliar Art"  Plants as art!  Can't wait to show you the other two walls. Notice the tillandsia chandelier on the left. 

 

"No Stress Allowed - A Sanctuary of Tranquility for Everyday Life"

"Awakened Inspiration"

"ART-itecture for Urban wildlife"

"Darwin's Muse - Art Imitating Life" 

 

"This Garden's theme, and an impressive blown glass Darwin Orchid displayed therein, stems from Charles Darwin's hypothesis that there had to be a moth physically capable of drinking nectar from its flower.  It was fulfilled with the discovery of a subspecies of the gigantic Congo moth from Madagascar."

 



 "Monet Dreamed Here"

"50 Shades of Orchids"

 

All of the orchids in this display are at their natural and normal bloom time.  It would be very easy to be seduced into growing these, which, Ms Binetti and the members of the Northwest Orchid society want us to know,  is as easy as other plants just a little different. 



 

Marianne also said that orchids are often the entryway drug to gardening and encouraged us to give them to children.  You heard it here first, Binetti encourages giving drugs to children. 

 

Notice the huge paint brush and the large blown glass orchids!

 There were so many other great gardens that aren't shown here because my images of them weren't very good.  Hope you enjoyed this preview of a few of the many fabulous show gardens.  Look for more gardens and wonderful new plant introductions and artwork from the vendors in future posts.