Don't be fooled. Inside this thin coating of sweetness is a fiery core of total insanity.

Monday, April 28, 2014

A Visit to Ravenna Gardens

I've mentioned the urban garden shop Ravenna Gardens before, but I don't think I've ever done an entire post about visiting the shop. I've been there several times, to this chic little urban nursery in the University District in Seattle, and it's always a treat. Ravenna usually does one of the Small Space Showcase gardens at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, and it's always striking, colorful, imaginative and lots of fun. At this year's show, I bought some Tillandsias from their booth in the vendor market. You can read my post about what I bought at this year's show here.

On Saturday I visited again, and this time I took some good pictures of the shop and its wonderful displays of goods. They are masters of the art of display, which I admire greatly since I myself have no talent for that kind of thing. The shop is in University Village, a large, sprawling, pedestrian-friendly open air mall, in a standalone building at the mall's north end.


Outside the shop are plants for sale, as well as large items for the garden such as metal trellises and arches, and various items of furniture.



Inside is colorful and crowded, an assault on the senses

Love this head planter


Everywhere you look in the shop, every time you turn around, a different display grabs your attention.
I had to get a closer look at those colorful little square pots

Next time!

I adore the fat meditating Buddha, and the pots that look like they're made of stacked circles.


I like the sentiment, and rationally I like the imperfection of the implementation. But my OCD tendencies balk as well. It would bug me, but also enervate me, to have this on the wall.


There was a great display of terrariums


I like the simplicity of the text on white paper, and the fact that the letters are straight. You can read the entire quote here.

These old fern prints were sandwiched between two pieces of glass in the frame

The artfulness of the displays of plants continues outside.


So lush!

The Heucheras or Heucherellas match the color of the big concrete orbs

I bought a couple of things -- An Oxalis 'Plum Crazy', an Echeveria nodulosa, a little froggie sculpture, and a few printed quotes on rough brown paper. I have plans for all of them. Um...except maybe the Oxalis.

Ravenna Gardens is a fun place to spend some weekend time!