A Grower Perspective

Dave and I had the pleasure of attending the NW Flower & Garden Show last week in Seattle, Washington. This was the first year we’ve attended and I must say it was quite impressive.  The show filled up several rooms of the downtown Seattle convention center. The display gardens were absolutely stunning.  Huge. I couldn’t begin to imagine how much work must have gone into designing and constructing  these massive gardens inside the convention center.

I was thinking about how to sum up my feelings about this show. I think I went believing that I’d come back with my focus on plants. However, what really struck me at this show was the creativity and inspiration I felt about garden design. I was overwhelmed with the design inspiration I felt about creating outdoor living spaces with everything from plantings, pavers and night lighting to art, accessories and outdoor structures galore. I’ve never felt such a desire to get out into my own garden

to create spaces like I saw at this show. From children’s play areas to places that bring peace and serenity to outdoor cooking and entertaining areas to pathways with plants and interesting art tucked in.  I loved the use of repurposed, old things to create an artfulness to the garden.  Who would have ever thought to use old apartment radiators as a garden wall?  Could you imagine cargo shipping container as a charming gardening shed – perfect for housing tools, a potting bench and more? It was hard to even tell what some of the items used were in their original state but you could tell they were old and their use now as a garden design element provided visual interest and kept them out of a landfill somewhere. I so admired the creativity and resourcefulness.

 I will share some photos here in our blog to bring some of this inspiration to you.  Plan to attend next year and have a fun few days in Seattle, it's such a great city to visit. You can find more information about the show here.

So the show was wonderful. Not so much because I discovered a lot of new plants but because it was full of inspiration and lit a fire under me to bring my own creativity to our outdoor living spaces and to our nursery.  I’ll keep you posted on what transpires. On that note, does anyone have any old radiators lying around?