Portland and Tacoma Invade Seattle!

One of the biggest treats for me last week, during the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, was meeting other bloggers -- Tacoma blogger Peter of The Outlaw Gardener, and two Portland bloggers, Loree of danger garden and Jane of MulchMaid. Jane even brought a bonus -- her sister Sally!

On Wednesday, the first day of the show, after an initial few minutes of confusion over which Subaru display we were supposed to be meeting at, I had lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon with Jane and Sally, wandering around the show, checking out the vendors, and going to an excellent talk by Rebecca Sweet on creating harmony in the garden. We talked about all sorts of things -- family, jobs, etc. -- but mostly gardening. As they were getting ready to head back to Portland, we roped a kind stranger into taking a picture of us. I was thrilled to meet these two wonderful ladies!

Jane on the left, her sister Sally in the middle and me on the right

I had all of Thursday to wander the show on my own, shopping and gawking and taking more pictures. Then on Friday morning, I met Peter The Outlaw Gardener and we walked the show floor together, again talking about everything under the sun, but especially gardening. Peter had already been to the show on Wednesday as well. You really should read Peter's delightfully hilarious account of his first day in the big city at the flower show here.

The Vintage Market was of particular interest. We both have a penchant for interesting art and repurposed articles in our gardens.

Perhaps hard to see with all the "junque" loaded on it, but this cute little green cart was a temptation!

I love the idea of creating something like this little shed, or an arch or arbor, with old windows. Those old porch posts are cool too, although I wouldn't know what to make with them, I just like them!

Same with these awesome columns!

And these corbels!

At noon we met Loree who writes danger garden and went for a long lunch at the nearby Palomino Restaurant, which involved delicious food and lots of talking and laughing. After returning to the show, we roped another stranger (a different one!) into taking a photo of us together.

Me on the left, Peter in the middle and Loree on the right

It was somehow fitting that I should have meetings scheduled with two Portland bloggers, because just a day or so before the show opened, there was an announcement that next year's Garden Bloggers Fling would be in Portland, Oregon, and both Jane and Loree are on the planning committee, along with Ann of Amateur Bot-ann-ist and Scott of Rhone Street Gardens. Loree asked me at lunch what my favorite part of the Seattle Fling two years ago was, and after an initial temptation to say visiting so many fabulous gardens, I had to be truthful and say meeting other garden bloggers. Although my inclination is to be an introvert, I do crave interaction with others who share this crazy gardening bug.

If you can't make it to the San Francisco Fling this year (WooHoo! I'm going!), try try TRY to make it to Portland in 2014. When we first moved here and I started blogging, I sought out lots of local bloggers who could teach me about this brave new world of wet winters and dry summers, and that included lots of Portland bloggers. I learned all about the great private and public gardens they have and the awesome nurseries. Portland is going to be a real treat!

More great Portland-area bloggers:

Rainy Day Gardener
Gardening with Grace
Whatsitgarden
Lelo in Nopo
Garden of Discovery
Sprig to Twig