Two weeks to go. The plans have been in the works since July of last year. All the planning and purchasing that began long ago and is now coming to the frenzied end. This is my fifth time doing a display garden and I can’t help but remember the first time I went to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. A friend suggested I go with her and her husband. I was amazed at the display gardens and all of the people experiencing a little bit of spring in February. Wandering through the gardens I could not even imagine the set up and work it would take to recreate it. Little did I know…
Years later, after a career change to Landscape Designer and a feature article in Sunset Magazine, I was invited by the director of the show to do a small display called ‘Living it up’. I was nervous and thought as long as it was only a patio space I could do it. After creating planter boxes out of old roofing they were then planted with columnar apple trees and spring flowers. A bistro table and a few other containers on a permeable concrete floor and I was done. Whew!
The next year the invitation came for a bigger space. An example of a natural swimming pond was the plan. I like to plan and build ahead so we sprayed the pond liner in an old warehouse and built the deck in the barn. The gabion wall that surrounded it was the most time consuming part because it had to be done at the show with rock from Marenakos. The most challenging part was the supplier for the plants didn’t cover them during a cold snap and they all froze two weeks before the show. ARGHHH. A call to a species Rhododendron grower filled in the plantings with borrowed finery. It was exciting to have Evening Magazine film a portion of their show sitting on the deck in the garden.
In 2011 the show theme challenge was to use a literary reference in the garden. Great Expectations was created with dark plants on one side that changed to light plants on the other side. A recycled metal bridge with worm wood planks connected the two spaces. Again recycled planters this time filled with hellebores from Marietta O’Bryne, a grower in Oregon who created the ‘winter jewel’ series. The most challenging part of this garden was getting the bridge to be level and creating a stone pathway on sawdust fill. People wanted to walk into the space and sit on the stone bench so keeping them out was difficult.
Hollywood was the next theme given to us from the show officials. I’m not a big Hollywood fan so it was a challenge. I love beach gardens and have worked on many. Using the movie ‘Zorba the Greek,’ the beach garden ‘It’s never too late to learn to dance’ came into being in the middle of downtown Seattle. The garden shack was the most challenging part of this garden. The builder I was working with had no idea what the garden show was or the logistics of working in the build. The shack was finally completed and was being stained at the last hour with stain dripping on the plants as we were hurrying to get the rest of the garden done. Planting a sweep of grasses with daffodils made it feel so light and spring like. We created columns with dripping water, which was quite effective.
2013 saw the Garden is Art theme, ‘Terra Cadence: Rhythm of the Earth’, was my title for the garden. I partnered with a glass artist and interior designer to create a hanging glass chandelier that complimented the restricted palette of the garden. The plants were green and white and had a calm serene feel. A precast concrete rill was made ahead of time and the water ran through the middle of the garden (and onto the floor). The most challenging part of this garden was the water that ran back under the rill and filled up the sawdust. After the 3rd day it started coming out the sides of the garden. Every morning we had to do a little mopping before the show opened.
This year the show’s theme is America the Beautiful and I’m looking forward to building a garden depicting the Na’ Pali Coast in Hawaii. The natural cedar deck and boulder fountain will give us the feeling of being in the tropical garden in our own back yard. Placing a Japanese Soaking tub in the center of the garden helps you be immersed in the garden. The build will be fun with new people helping and I’m sure there will be challenges but that is part of the fun of the garden. Stay tuned for updates and pictures of the build and of the finished product. Come and join us at the show!
