How I Spent My First Day at the Northwest Flower Show

This morning as I was driving Nigel to the train station to go to work, he pretended to be reading a news headline. "Bonney Lake woman buys entire display garden at flower show. 'Pack it all up and ship it to Pierce County,' she said." I think he figured I was going to spend a little money....

Unfortunately I didn't arrive at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show (NWFGS) until 11, and the place was just wall-to-wall people. So I couldn't get good photos of the display gardens. There was still plenty to look at. I decided to pretty much bypass the display gardens, and head for the Container Garden Exhibition, which takes place on the SkyBridge. This wonderful exhibit caught my attention immediately. The more you look at it, the more you see! It has so many wonderful little touches.

These terrariums seemed to be all the rage at the show!

And if you can't get close enough to the display gardens to get a good look, there's always the display called Funky Junk, where local high school students integrate plants with repurposed materials. My favorite there was this Steampunk greenhouse.

Those are some wonderfully creative kids!

I checked out the Floral Competition too. These are not your typical supermarket bouquets!

I loved this simple twiggy nest

A closer look inside

Finally, yes, I went shopping. I bought two books that I've been wanting ever since I heard they came out recently. One is Landscaping for Privacy by Marty Wingate and the other is Handmade Garden Projects by Lorene Edwards Forkner (both women were Fling hosts last year). Both books are from Timber Press.

I also checked out the plants for sale at various booths. I was looking for drought-resistant and succulent type plants for the gravel garden that I'm planning.

What do you think of this Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice?'

Or this Yucca 'Bright Star?'

Rather than just buy these two, I thought I'd come home and check to see if they were truly hardy and appropriate. I did buy a new Hellebore and two Dierama (Angel's Fishing Rod).

I ended the day by meeting Nigel for dinner in town. On the way home, he said, "Same again tomorrow? After all, you know what they say -- Too much of a good thing...is great!"

Yes, indeed -- I am going back again tomorrow. I still have to get some good pictures of the display gardens to share with you!