Latest from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show

Calling all plant lovers! The much awaited Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Feb 8-12, is now open at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle this week and a great place to wander through to get inspiration for your garden.

After spending three days helping build a couple of the gardens, it is such a delight to see them all in their full glory. The artistry and the ingenuity of the designers is reflected in the various elements of the garden. The theme – A Floral Symphony is visible in both subtle and bold forms in all gardens at this year's show.

Gardens like ‘April in Paris’ (Wights Home & Garden) and ‘Tales of Wonder’ (Fancy Fronds) transport me to a romantic fantasyland, while ‘A Force of Nature’ (Elandan Gardens) reminds me of the resilience of the natural world. The grandeur of the 600-year old tree trunk (a combination of cedar, hemlock and silver fir) is simply breathtaking!

As you navigate through the show, take notes and photographs of the elements you like. Refer back to them when you build your own dream garden.

Contemporary design ideas

Permeable paving, garden sculpture made out of recycled materials and the beautiful repurposed pallet box are some of the elements that stand out in 'Winter’s Come and Gone’ by WSNLA and Native Root Designs. The secret behind the disappearing pondless water feature is the permeable patio with a small underground catchment system. Not only is it cost-effective, it is clearly low maintenance and works well in small spaces.

A garden with a purpose is ‘Dinner Bell Rings’ by Cascadian Edible Landscapes. A rustic farm table under a beautiful musical trellis is surrounded by fruits and vegetables growing in raised beds, that are built using compost socks and tree rounds. Seems very sensible and down-to-earth to me!

Planters made out of tree rounds and logs catch my fancy in ‘Twistin’ the Night Away’ by Dakara Landscape Design. I love the red colors of Nandina ‘Sienna Sunrise’ that can brighten up any winter landscape. And how can I not mention the beauty of Contorted Filbert’s twisted stems and late-winter catkins?

A bird-lover’s paradise is ‘BirdSong’ by The Arboretum Foundation and Seattle Audubon Society. The tech geek in me loves the QR codes on the signage. When scanned by your smart phone, it lets you listen to bird songs and sounds. Note the snag (a standing dead tree) in the garden – a critical bird habitat for many bird species. Use of native plants like red huckleberry, red osier dogwood, evergreen huckleberry, bunchberry, etc in the garden is something that we can all do to make our gardens wildlife friendly.

On a side note- the recent snowstorm has brought down several trees, especially in Woodinville. Keep them in the garden! Choosing to let the standing snags stay, recycling the tree rounds for a garden bed, and placing the logs around your garden, can help attract birds into the yard.

Something for everyone

The container gardens are on display at the Skybridge. It’s a great place to get ideas on gardening in small spaces, especially on apartment balconies. I love the shocking orange containers in Cultivar LLC and Aw Pottery’s design – such a superb focal point in the garden. What a fun way to add the 2012 color of the year ‘Tangerine Tango’ into the landscape!

The Marketplace is brimming with plants for sale. Gardening books, botanical art, garden boots and tools – all so enticing. There is impressive line-up of seminars as well.

Don’t forget to stop by the Great Plant Picks booth – a wonderful resource for plant lovers of the maritime Pacific Northwest. They are handing out their new “Made in the Shade” posters free to all attendees.

Families with young children will especially love the PlayGarden. It offers hands-on garden activities around-the-clock and features well-know musicians like Casper Babypants and Nancy Stewart on their Sprout stage. Kids under 12 get a free entry to the show, which makes this event just the thing to do on a cloudy winter day.