Pacific Northwest Flower and Garden Show

Leila in front of a lovely little garden

I attended the first day of the Pacific Northwest Flower and Garden show this year. Since I took the bus to avoid parking issues in downtown Seattle, my daughter-in-tow was more than ready to set her little feet down and run around the exhibits. The photo above is from my favorite (and gold medal winner!) garden design, “Paradise (to be) Regained” as a tribute to the author Thoreau. More impressive than any use of native plants and a cool, casual design is fact that the designer Courtney Goetz from The Creative Gardener is only 17 years old!

A lovely selection of succulents

I think the thing that scares off some people I know about garden shows is the cheese factor that exists in some of the vendor stalls as well as the designs. I can’t help but think of the art-collector Mom from Beetlejuice sometimes when I see certain garden ornaments for sale. I hope that doesn’t sound too catty but it’s my gut reaction when I see some things. Most of the time when that happens I just move on.

Jury's out on this one.. although my little girl liked the stone rabbits.

Plantings in Paris

Photo by Val Easton

A garden writer I’m very fond of named Valerie Easton recently took a trip to Paris. As usual, her article talks about how her perspective on not just the architecture and vibe of a city, but its plantings. Her article “Paris plays to the eye with plentiful plantings” makes some lovely references to the cream-colored stone buildings that play up green plants wonderfully, as well as the living walls designed by Gilles Clément and Patrick Blanc. I also just loved the photo pictured here, the mix of formal and informal is lovely.