In A Vase(?) on Monday; Northwest Flower and Garden Show Floral Competition.

Many garden bloggers participate in a delightful meme called "In A Vase on Monday"  sponsored by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  The idea is that one is supposed to pick flowers from his/her garden and arrange them in a container and photograph them each Monday.  I've seen many cool arrangements put together by my blogging friends and have often wanted to participate but I seldom cut flowers from my garden as I enjoy seeing them outside so much and I'm far too lazy to arrange and photograph them. Today I've decided to cheat and share Floral arrangements from the NWFGS Floral Display.  The rules have been broken but after all, I am the Outlaw Gardener, right?


"Sunset Love" by The Art of Forest Blooms.  Loved the sunset painting idea.  Were the branches supposed to be paint brushes?  Foreground outside of the frame...hmm.

This was a touch of genius and made the whole thing sing for me; the artist's palette on which the paint colors are the spectrum of flowers used in the "painting"

"Perfection in Imperfection Itself" by Tiare Floral Design.

"Show Your Love With Local Flowers"  by Slow Flowers. I liked this collection of interesting containers with simple arrangement that actually look like what gardeners might bring in from outside.

"When Heart is Open" by Safeway Floral.  Am I the only on who really wants to see an article of speech used between when and heart?
There were so many elements of this arrangement that I really admired but all of them together are a bit busy and my eye wasn't sure where to rest.  I guess that when a heart is open blood gushes everywhere.  This is an arrangement to experience, not just to view from one angle.

 Floating Mandarin oranges/Clementines/tangerines are cool but what is that wire thing?

I'm fond of rich saturated colors but it's like every crayon in the box was used  in creating this celebratory explosion (Myocardial rupture?)

Come to think of it, this kind of exotic saturated color might be just what sky bridge garden "Romancing the Kasbah" could have used.  In fact, this arrangement would have added some more exotic vibe to this space. 

"Evolve" by Juniper Flowers is a collection of some of interesting things but I wasn't sure what it was evolving from or to. 

Columbia City Boquet's "Love in Flight" 

Fun.

"Falling for You" by LaVassar Florists - Simple and elegant. 

 "Woodland Wedding Cake" by Lusher Life Design

 Complete with a piece of wedding cake.  One way to get more fiber in your diet!

"A Hard Man to Love"  by Flowers Hardcore.  I didn't get it but there are a lot of things that I don't understand.  If you have an interpretation, please share!

"Love Triangle" by Ikebana by Megumi. 

Window to Your Heart by Blue Lace Design - dripping with romance.  The exposed hardware fabric and chicken wire keep it from being too cutesy.

So there you have it, my first "In A Vase on Monday" post.  Perhaps in the summer when I have more time, I'll participate without cheating.  Until then, I'll enjoy everyone else's Monday offerings!

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2015 - A Glass Act

The Pacific Northwest is a hotbed of glass art so it's no surprise that there was a lot of great glass to see at the show.  Here, glass fire pit tables from a company in Tacoma are dressed up for Valentine's Day.

Lots of people, including myself, make glass flowers from found pieces but the sheer number and fabulous style of these is impressive.

Barbara Sanderson, Glass Gardens Northwest, got into the theme of the show with her blown glass hearts.

Although she makes all kinds of truly beautiful things, my favorites are her "fiddlestix."

Totally Blown Glass, known for their exquisite vases and other vessels (some incredible colors!) is now creating these poured glass and metal garden pieces.

New to me, Island Art Glass, had some way cool creations over which to drool.

My favorite of theirs?  This one!

Although, these beautiful leaves came in a close second!

 Believe it or not, this was just the tip of the glass iceberg.  There were lots of other great creations.  If you'd like to see more, you'll simply have to make plans to visit the show next year!

I love all of this beautiful shimmering garden art and enjoy seeing it at the show each year.  What I like even more is plant vendors and I hope that the show organizers will find a way to encourage more of them to participate because their numbers seem to be dwindling and it's all about the plants, right?

Happy weekend everyone!

Meanwhile, Back In the Greenhouse...

Back to show posts tomorrow but today I took the camera out to the greenhouse to see what was going on.

First, the Hippeastrum (Amaryllis)  I got three bulbs just before Christmas at Sky Nursery, planted them at the same time and left them out in the greenhouse, which is only heated to 50 degrees F, as an experiment.  I've grown these in the house before and they always take off in the warmer temperature.  This week, the first bloom appeared on this one.  It has another bloom stalk coming as well.

This one (three stalks) is going to b spectacular!  I think it's going to be solid red in color  or maybe this is 'Appleblossom,' we'll see when it opens. (Rex Begonia at the bottom from N & M Herb Nursery at the show.)  I can't wait to go visit this nursery in Hubbard, Oregon this summer!

Th third is in a slightly cooler and a bit less sunny area and the bulb is still healthy and firm but there is no sign of growth yet.  I'll be happy with the progression of bloom but am thinking that perhaps I should move this to a warmer spot.

Lastly, this one came from a discount store and I paid very little for it as the blooming stems were already emerging.  The blooms didn't make it but there is nice foliage and I've had great luck with summering these outdoors, feeding them Tagro (our local biosolid organic fertilizer) and having them re bloom for years.

The first thing I notice when I open the door is the glorious smell of Jasminum officinale in bloom. This plant came from a clearance table at Fred Meyer late in the fall.

The variegated clivia, which I swore had pale yellow flowers last year is almost ready to pop open.  The one with solid foliage is a bit behind.  I love these as they add interesting foliage in the deep shade of the bamboo grove in the summer and seem quite happy in a shady area of the greenhouse. 

A bit of a cheat here. This just came from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show (Christianson's Nursery, I think.)  with the bloom on it.  I've killed this before by watering it.  I won't make that mistake again.  Little Aloe, you're on your own!

 I love this Graptopetalum!  A long stem of it disintegrated when it got moved so now I have a few trays that look like this.  Someone can't bear to throw them away. There'll be lots of them for the fall plant exchange!

 Despite my best efforts to ignore it, the grocery store gardenia keeps pumping out flowers.  How long do you suppose this will go on?

Speaking of flower power, Begonia 'Gene Daniels' has been doing this for a couple of months now.

Hyacinths are almost done now and have added to the intoxicating fragrance out there!

Agapetes serpens and  'Ludgvan Cross' are both blooming still. 

I think this is a Rhipsalis starting to bloom.

The blue haired lady now has company from the Seattle show.

I'm liking this plant in the "mermaid planter." Makes the ladies look a bit more like Medusa.  

 Cool begonia from the show (N & M Herb nursery.)

Euphorbia from the show (Ravenna Gardens or was it Dig?)  O.K. maybe this is a bit of a show post. 

Face from Blackwaters Metal at the Show.

I'd been lusting after one of these tentacled  planters since I first saw them a year or two ago and finally got one at the show (Dig) shown here with Tillandsia xphicaerogra (Ravenna Gardens.)

 70's chandeliers that my sister took out of her house years ago and gave me. They lived in the garage for years and now I'm trying them here.  Don't know if they'll stay or not. Hate the look of the insulation but like what it does.  What to do, what to do.