The Tacoma Home and Garden Show: Part the Second

The good news about the plant sale part of the show was that there was a lot of space to walk around the tables.  The bad news is that the reason there was so much space is that there were fewer plant vendors this year.  This event used to have a whole separate huge room for the plant vendors; now they're just in a corner of the one space.  While the number of plant vendors was disappointing, the ones that did come brought some lovely things.  This is a very busy time in the horticulture industry and it's difficult to be loading up trucks of plants to take to events if  you're already busy in  greenhouses, receiving plants, planning for the year, etc. so I'm grateful for the vendors that did come and hope that the organizers of this event will do something to entice more participants to next year's event!

This one was new to me.  How fun to discover a new place to visit!

Agave "Blue Glow" seems to be popping up everywhere round these parts.  Has anybody tried growing it outside in the PNW?  Tony Avent places it as being hardy to zone 8b but I've always brought it inside for the winter.

Shy and sweet Hellebore.

These were cool but where would I put them?

Another great use for pruned branches of contorted filbert. 

Baby Dicksonia antarctica in four inch pots.  How long do you suppose it would take these to grow big enough to walk beneath?

Pinus contorta var. latifolia 'Chief Joseph' doing it's golden winter dance. 

I was too busy buying plants here to take pictures.  Bless their hearts for coming all the way from Stayton!  I just potted up the Hymenocallis bulbs and daylilies that I got here. There were also some tempting Oriental and Asiatic lilies but I must wait to see where the bulbs I planted last fall come up. 

Alison also found some treasures here!

The good folks from Lael's Moon Garden brought some great plants including three unusual  teeny dwarf conifers that came home with me.  I've bought great things from Lael's at various sales and always vow to go see the nursery.  Hooray, another great destination to visit this spring/summer! 

B&D lilies always has a great selection.  Their sign reading "Sun to Shade Lily Bulbs" intrigued me. They'll also be at the NWFGS and I'll definitely want to learn more about lilies for shade!

In contrast to the smaller number of plant vendors at this year's show, it seems like the Vintage Market perhaps had even more participants.  The Urban Gardener sharing a space with Millesime Designs.  Didn't get a picture but Millesime Designs had some gold-painted Monkey Puzzle tree branches in vases.  Brilliant! (And a fun idea to steal.)  If gold's not your thing, how about white, chartreuse, or black paint?

Ah, nostalgia is a wonderful thing!  

There was a pay phone with a rotary dial in one of the spaces.  It's interesting to think that there is a generation of people who would have no idea what that object was.

 Alison and I both thought this face was cool. 

Another punch cup chandelier.  I keep meaning to make one of these myself but never get around to it.  I sort of wish I'd just bought this one.

This vendor had some very nice American pottery including an unusual  McCoy vase that I thought was the bees knees and was reasonably priced but I have too much stuff already! (That doesn't usually stop me.)

Marianne Binetti yucking it up with Ciscoe Morris  as they broadcast his radio show.  Looks like they had as much fun as Alison and I!

The Tacoma Home and Garden Show Part One

This Weekend, Alison (Bonney Lassie) her husband Nigel, and I met at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show.  It's always a joy to see them and we had a blast taking in the event.  I was uncharacteristically early, perhaps because the venue was only a nine minute drive from my house, and when I arrived, there were already folks queueing up to enter. 

There were a lot of home improvement ideas (it is a Home and Garden show after all.) This display of pet doors for sliding glass panels was perhaps the cutest.  Nice to know that your stuffed animals can come and go as they wish.  (Tip:  if they stay outside too long in the Pacific Northwest, they start to smell funny and grow moss.)

The folks at Whitworth Pest Solutions, a fine company whose services I've used and with which I've  been very pleased,  brought along these eye catching displays of bugs from around the world.  

Yikes!  Wouldn't want to run into some of these bad boys!

There were several fetching waterfall displays.  Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the company whose work this was.

Alison did not seem amused when I asked her if she had crabs. I meant in her garden.  What could she have been thinking?

 It's always a pleasure to see Carman (Mad Mozaics) and her lovely work.

Alison and I each came home with one of these skulls.

This show-stopping table and benches are made of rescued redwood roots.  (The trees had already died.)

 Marenakos Rock Center always does a nice large display.

The glass-like surface of the polished rock begs to be touched!

Can you imagine having this in your garden? 

Olympic Landscape Design also has a large display garden each year.  Interesting to see the Cyclamen coum!

Thrilling to see "fiddlestix" by the talented and wonderful Barbara Sanderson (Glass Gardens Northwest.)

This water feature is hidden from view until one actually walks into the garden and acts as a lovely focal point to ponder from the patio seating behind it.

Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') with Yellow Twig Dogwood is a great and tasteful combination.  I would have chosen Red Twig Dogwood and maybe a screaming red pot, perhaps spray painted the lantern purple and thrown some blue crushed glass around the base of the pot.  You see, tackiness like mine can't be learned but I've heard that it can be overcome.

Another distinct pleasure of the event was meeting Chavliness, who has been commenting on on my blog for quite some time, and the owner of her garden!  She'd even brought me some orange Alstroemeria seeds which I'm very excited to have and will do my best to not kill!  Thank you so much Chava! After we chatted a bit, their question was, "Where are the plants?" (My kind of People!)  More on that in tomorrow's post but for now, it's time to relax with a beverage of your choice

Some warm milk perhaps?