A Taste of Spring
Gardens of the 2017 Northwest Flower & Garden Show
Jeanne DeBenedetti Keyes
Alas, the Northwest Flower and Garden Show (NWFGS) is over for another year. Although I love perusing through the exhibits and attending seminars from my favorite garden personalities, the gardens are the reason I go every year.
The 2017 Northwest Flower & Garden Show provided 21 large, and 10 small space, beautiful gardens for your viewing pleasure. At first, the sheer visual overload of these gorgeous gardens is a bit much. By the time I viewed the last garden, I felt a bit jaded. Some of these ideas are just beyond the average homeowner on a budget, like me. These gardens are over the top!
To understand the inspiration behind the gardens, the designers provide garden descriptions and take–home-ideas in the official show guide for your own garden.
Pizzeria|Decumani Garden
Looking at this plant rich garden with a fully equipped kitchen and huge, poured concrete counter top, I thought I don’t need another kitchen with a sink, stove, and kitchen cabinets right outside my back door. The idea for the garden Pizzeria|Decumani — designed and created by Adam Gorski Landscapes — Inc. is to give the viewer the feel of a cozy restaurant or small home near Naples-complete with an outdoor kitchen and functioning pizza oven. While I don't need another kitchen that I have to stock and maintain, I could introduce a dedicated area for a grill. I certainly get behind the take home idea where fresh ingredients and food preparation come together. What really caught my eye was the Mediterranean palms (Chamaerops humilis) , along with the large urn fountain.
Hanami-Savoring Spring Garden
There is something about the quiet greens of the mosses and the evergreen shrubs that calls to me and calms my heart. The inspiration for the garden Hanami-Savoring Spring — sponsored by The Washington Park Arboretum and designed by Phil Wood, Bob Lilly and Roger Williams — is the Japanese tradition of the annual viewing of and picnicking under the Cherry Blossom trees. The structure modeled after a minka, is a traditional farmer’s dwelling. According to the show guide, "the moss carpet knits the plantings of dwarf conifers, and Japanese flowering shrubs such as camellias and pieris to complete the plant palette." I am tempted to add a few more choice plants to this lovely and serene garden. Although, their plant list includes some of my favorites, such as tea plant (Camellia sinensis), paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha), Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) and many others. The take-home idea for this garden is to celebrate the seasons. What better way is there than to picnic under those lovely trees?
Mid-Mad-Mod…It’s cocktail hour! Garden
I am always impressed and amazed with Sue Goetz’s creativity and ability to design such diverse gardens. This photograph depicts the seating area in the garden she designed for Father Nature Landscapes, Inc. Although I am not a big fan of 1950-1960’s era garden styles, I applaud her efforts to create a garden in sympathy with that era. I wouldn't go so far as installing fake turf as she has here; I can definitely see how that fits in with the concept of the garden, Mid-Mad-Mod…It’s cocktail hour! Fake turf may not be one of the take away ideas I would use, yet it is one solution to drought and dry gardens. She combined the simple plantings of sedge (Carex tetacea), Himalayan birch (Betula utils var. jacquemontii) and jetfire daffodils (Narcissus 'Jetfire') in such a way I don’t miss the textures and colors of a more complicated planting. That’s a tip I took home with me. The container gardens are filled with edible plants such as basil, bay laurel, swiss chard, lemon grass, meyer lemons, blueberries and much more. I would love to have a taste of spring from this yummy garden.
An Evening in the Mountains Garden
Lastly, my favorite garden of the show was An Evening in the Mountains — designed by Ryan Gaither for Choice Landscapes, LLC. When I saw this garden, I thought, now that is the garden for me.
The show guide said, “A relaxing escape into the mountains doesn’t mean your taste buds have to rough it. After all, your cabin is surrounded by blueberry bushes, strawberries and herbs”. Although true, you also don’t have to rough it with the sumptuous bedding and décor in your comfy cabin, tucked in between the trees and large boulders. The cut log arbor, while rough and covered in moss, shelters you and your significant other from the summer sun.
My friend, Debbie Teashon, was particularly smitten with the moss and flower tablecloth and arrangements. The flower boxes, candle and solar lights, fire pit, little seating areas etc. all point to your home away from in a gorgeous mountain setting. It is little details like these that really make the garden. You won’t find so many flowering shrubs and trees in most Pacific Northwest woodlands, the take home idea of scaling either larger or smaller settings certainly ring true here.
Although, the garden show was many weeks ago, the Pacific Northwest is finally having a taste of spring with cherry blossom trees, daffodils and tulips all putting on amazing displays, reminding us that the Northwest Flower and Garden Show really gives us a bit of spring to keep our spirits up through the dreary days of winter.
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By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton
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