stuff about artstuff.: Garden Inspiration

Last month was the triumphant return of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. I am not being silly and dramatic here, it was pretty triumphant after not knowing if we'd ever have one again for most of last year.

I spent a glorious day with my 2 sisters soaking in every single thing we could ... it was a blast. It was a little smaller this year, but that only made it easier to cover the whole thing in a day without killing ourselves.

There were the usual dramatic textures,

Elandan Gardens

gorgeous water features,

Plantswoman Design

serene and inviting settings,

Pacific Stone Company

Ravenna Gardens

and heavenly scents (so welcome in early February!).

But there also seemed to be a little more playful whimsy in the display gardens than usual.

One of my favorites, by Fancy Fronds and Albe Rustics, was full of cool stuff I just want to junk up my own garden with! There were monsters popping up right out of the ground. Can you see his snout, shrimp-eyes, and further back ... wings?!

Maybe if Dune had taken place somewhere more cuddly and Seussian...

I love the glass fiddleheads...

and how cool are these metal ferns?

Even the pavers became a splash of color.

There's No Place Like Home by WSNLA, Partners for Water and Innovative Landscape Technologies was complete with a flying monkey (I love me some flying monkeys)

and they cleverly landed the entire display on top of the Wicked Witch (ding dong).

And to top it off, the frieze along the green roof reminded me that my favorite quote really needs to be somewhere in my own backyard ... hmmm. I'll work on this...
All the displays incorporated sustainable themes: there were green roofs on almost every structure and I noticed several really clever treatments for rain-barrels - the design dilemma faced by so many of us who want to conserve water but hate that giant plastic glob taking up all that space - my favorite was in the Seattle Tilth and NW Bloom display. Not to mention the way cool blue-bottle downspout, I so want to do this!

And the giant colored-pencil obelisk-trellises (or bean-teepees, depending on where you're from)...

...extras just sat in a giant pencil cup by the door. Suddenly, in spite of the hundreds on my desk, there are not enough colored pencils in my life: I must make giant ones to sit in a giant cup in my yard. Ohmygosh.

They had me at the rain-barrel. And the giant pencils. And the lime green cold-frame. But this display also had chickens and little goats. Look, you get me in the vicinity of little farm animals and I'm suddenly 5 years old again. I want to pet them. Mom can I have a chicken? Please? Why not? I want a little goat then. Please? Please? I want to bring him home. Why can't I bring him home?

And finally, this:

Crops for Clunkers ... a small pickup decked out as an amazing edible garden, by Seattle Urban Farm Co. A-flipping-mazing, this thing!

And the cab had been refitted as a chicken coop.

Yes, that blob on the left there is a big fat chicken butt. How awesome is this? I was in love. This is a scary thing for someone like me to see, as I tend to get a little too attached to my own old cars and have actually threatened to turn them into planters when that sad day does come.

Don't worry, frightened neighbors, I probably won't.

The day really was inspiring and fun and time with my sisters is always a blast.

(obligitory view-from-the-convention-center photo alert)

But all that was back in February, and here it is already the second half of March, time to get moving on the for-real garden! Kicking it off, this weekend here in Seattle is the Seattle Tilth Early Spring Edible Plant Sale. Tilth's plant sales are great ... it's the place to get your healthy, hearty little organic heirloom (and other interesting varieties) starts for your edible garden as well as other goodies, you can even stock up on Cedar Grove Compost for only $5 a bag! This is the first year they've added the early sale to their usual May event.

I'm expanding the vegetable/sunny-garden beds again this year ... I had meant to get this done over the winter but since this pile of wonderful rocks showed up on a soggy morning last November
all I managed to do was stack them neatly between the existing beds and the parking area
and at the end of that day,

I was pretty much through with rocks for ... well, apparently for 4 months. I finally started bed-building this afternoon, and the good news is that after all the digging I still seem to have internet service and a telephone this evening (remember last year?) so I'm off to a smokin' start.