Northwest Flower & Garden Show 2015: Romance Blossoms (Day 2)

IMG_3282I’ve lived through another day of complete and total exhaustion and yet here I am up late in the hotel room posting a blog post when I should be sleeping.

Earlier this morning I attended the annual Tweetup. During this brief event the lights are turned up over the display gardens at the show and the garden media is set loose to take some photos.

Since it’s so late, I won’t write a lot. I really only wanted to get these little show details out there. What do you think?

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Interesting way to use some more of those corks I’ve collected in my kitchen. (A Garden Built with Love/Adam Gorski Landscapes)
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(A Garden Built with Love/Adam Gorski Landscapes)
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(A Garden Built with Love/Adam Gorski Landscapes)
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Beautiful Hosta. I thought I wrote down the name but cannot find it now. (Will You? A Romantic Proposal in the Park/Fancy Plants Gardens, Inc.)
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(Love the Space You’re In/Susan Browne Landscape Design)
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(Love the Space You’re In/Susan Browne Landscape Design)
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Beautiful looking glass Sansevieria. (Love the Space You’re In/Susan Browne Landscape Design)
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Cute “dresses” for photo ops. (Picture Yourself on Azalea Way/Washington Park Arboretum)
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(Knotty and Nice…Here’s to We Time/Karen Stefonick Design)
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(Birds do it… Bees do it…/West Seattle Nursery)
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(Birds do it… Bees do it…/West Seattle Nursery)
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(Romantic Folly/ Pamela Richards Garden Design)
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I love my salmon. (Romantic Folly/ Pamela Richards Garden Design)
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Great container wall. (Romantic Folly/ Pamela Richards Garden Design)
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(A Moment to Remember/ Nature Perfect Landscape and Design)
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(Over the Moon/Assoc. of Professional Landscape Designers—WA Chapter)
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(Over the Moon/Assoc. of Professional Landscape Designers—WA Chapter)
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(The Root of True Romance: Beautiful Chaos… Love, Art, Nature/Elandan Gardens)
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(Three Phases of Love… Young, Passionate, Forever/ WA Association of Landscape Professionals)
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Hard to see from the picture, but it’s a bike. (A ‘Bio-Cycle’ Built for Two/ Evergreen Landscaping & Designs)
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Fountain designed by Douglas Walker. (The Romance of Steampunk/ Whitby Landcare and Design)

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The display gardens were too numerous to capture so I’m jumping to some retail now. At large garden shows such as this one you’ll find all kinds of things for the outdoor and indoor gardening lifestyles.

From vases such as the one on the left, to handmade glass work and other objects to ornament your garden with—there is something for everyone. (I’ve purchased from the booth on the right in the past (Bedrock Industries. Check under their tab: Gift & Garden).

I think I might just go back to purchase this number 12 for the front of the house tomorrow. Sure, it has something to do with football, but it’s also my house number!

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There are many rustic, recycled, and upcycled items too. Some are made by hand, and some are likely mass produced. No matter what, there is really something for everyone. IMG_0851

After the Tweetup I was exhausted but I met up with a landscaper friend to help him select a few plants for clients. This Trifoliate Orange (Poncirus trifoliata) was something we had to get. These are such great plants. IMG_3206

As I started to get drowsy I turned to go back to the hotel. Just walking back, through the displays, you’ll find the sweetest plants to admire. I very much want to get one of these Variegated Brugmansia.    
     IMG_3281 I’m also a sucker for a Geranium that’s become a standard. IMG_3284

More than anything though, I now have my heart set on an Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’.IMG_0854Walking back to the hotel I looked up at the Rainer Tower building across the street. From my room—for the past two year—I’ve admired this building. Yet, I only just discovered it was designed by U of W alum Minoru Yamasaki, and it just so happens that he’s also known for having been the lead architect of the World Trade Center.

Gardening is a wonderful thing, and design is all around us. Sure, I’m having a wonderful time in Seattle, but looking at this building brings along with it a somber feeling for those connected to his other work, a love of freedom in my country, and a sense of awe for what we’re able to design and build. I hope that in the years to come we’ll build again, and stop the destruction.

We garden to forget these things. I know. But with the building there outside my window as I sleep, it’s difficult for me not to think of its power.

And with that, it’s to bed, and I’ll be back at the garden show in the morning…

Comments

9 responses to “Northwest Flower & Garden Show 2015: Romance Blossoms (Day 2)”

  1. Alison Avatar

    Great post, Ann! Thanks for taking the time even though you’re so tired (and having been there two days, I sure know how tired that is.) You found some plants and views I missed, that always happens, doesn’t it? And you got probably the best shot of the Moon Garden that I’ve seen.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Amateur Bot-ann-ist Avatar

      Thanks Alison! I adore that garden and the borrowed owls from the Burke Museum. That’s the kind of scene I dreamt about as a girl and I have a feeling I’m not the only one.

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  2. igardendaily Avatar

    Great post Ann! I didn’t make it to the show this year and I love seeing the photos. Love your reflection at the end of a long day… Hope you slept well!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Amateur Bot-ann-ist Avatar

      It was great until the car alarm outside went off but I’m up now and ready to go back early for lots of seminars today. Sorry you missed it, maybe next year?

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      1. igardendaily Avatar

        For sure! Opted to go to Santa Barbara instead this year.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Amateur Bot-ann-ist Avatar

        Makes sense to me! I can’t wait to go back there. Such a beautiful place.

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  3. luminouszest Avatar
    luminouszest

    I thought that was crab cakes at first ha! pretty

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Desert Dweller Avatar

    The red seat cushions were good, but the container wall is stunning! (I might have to employ that, on a project)

    Liked by 1 person

  5. A Sudden Softness: Flower Shows | A Moveable Garden Avatar

    […] Flower & Garden Show 2015: Romance Blossoms (Day 1) (pics of things she found interesting) and Northwest Flower & Garden Show 2015: Romance Blossoms (Day 2) (plants and […]

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