The Tacoma Home and Garden Show 2013

The weekend before last, on Saturday afternoon, Nigel and I went to the Tacoma Home and Garden Show, which is kind of a smaller version of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, but with an even bigger emphasis on "Home."

If you're a newbie gardener, or even an oldie gardener like me who is jonesing for spring, the gardening portion of the Tacoma Home and Garden Show makes a nice little entree to gardening. It's smaller and much less overwhelming than the NWFGS. They don't have enormous themed display gardens, but some of the vendors on the show floor have put together displays as examples of what they do. And there are plant vendors as well as free seminars to attend. I didn't go to any this year, but I have in the past. Local garden gurus Ciscoe Morris, Marty Wingate, Marianne Binetti, and Sue Goetz held seminars this year.

This small water feature was just inside the door of the show floor

This little fountain with the gorilla figurine was set up in the display for Bark and Garden, which had lots of plants for sale.

There was a full-size stryrofoam gorilla too, which Nigel tried to befriend.

He was having none of it.

They had quite an assortment of little cacti.

I think they said the Agave was Mr. Ripple. I really like it next to the Hellebore, but I don't think that's a combo that would work for real.

Agave stricta was tempting. It was very poky.

I wish I had taken better photos of Bark and Garden's entire display area, they really had a wide variety of perennials, shrubs and conifers for sale, and very nicely displayed. Besides Bark and Garden, there were a couple of other bulb vendors at the show, selling lilies and other bulbs for spring planting, such as B & D Lilies and Mak Lilies and Perennials.

Olympic Landscape and Irrigation Company always has a big display. I loved this combination of a rill that emptied into a naturalistic pond.

Isn't this a great lighting idea? The light shines upward through the glass flowers, and throws color onto the underside of the tree.

Another small water feature from Evergreen Landscaping

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the stone fish in front is a fountain that spits water into the pond.

Koi in the pond were swimming languidly around.

Another nice display, this one from SK Landscaping

Marenakos Rock Center, which I wrote about visiting here, also always has quite a large display.

This disappearing stream was part of the display by Marenakos Rock Center.

Another part of the Marenakos display, which was essentially an enormous rock garden.

This was the most adorable little kids' playhouse.

This wooden chair would look cool in a wild, shady garden bed, under a tree.

The Tacoma Home and Garden Show has a Vintage Market, where local vendors of antiques and recycled stuff sell their wares. A lot of the vendors are from the South Tacoma Antique Mall, or Antique Row in Tacoma.

This painted dresser and side table were eye-catching.

Little outhouse-style shed made of recycled materials.

Great little potting bench

One of the vendors had refurbished this old wood stove, isn't it gorgeous?

I can't imagine having a bigger than life-size Elvis in either my home or garden, but I had to get a picture of it. He kind of overshadowed the cool pink pots.

One of the vendors had a Wild West focus.

Of course, I couldn't leave without buying some plants from the Bark and Garden booth.

From the top left, going clockwise: two Helleborus x hybridus 'Black Diamond', Helleborus x hybridus 'Painted', Heucherella 'Solar Eclipse', Leucothoe fontenasiana 'Rainbow', Heuchera 'Obsidian'

And now, my appetite only whetted by this morsel, this veritable crumb of gardeningness, I am moving onward to the opulence and frenzy of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in a few weeks.