Edibles, Fresh, Cultured and Preserved at Garden Show

Had a quick look at the display gardens at this year’s Northwest Flower & Garden Show, which opens today, and here is an instant star, and an award-winner.

I love the tower of mushrooms being cultured in logs, and the bench filled with preserved veggies. In the foreground, asparagus spears poke through compost, surrounded by salad greens.

Called Nature’s Studio, this garden was created by the Washington Association of Landscape Professionals – King

County Chapter and the Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association, designed by Gardens ALIVE Design and installed by Avid Landscape Design & Development.

Congratulations on a great creation.

Bloomin’ February! It’s Garden Show Time

A north wind blew strongly across the giant truck loading doors at the convention center Monday, setting a chill on the 22 extravagant show gardens getting their final trim-and-polish. It’s probably for the best–the cool blast will keep the blooms from opening too early. After all, the Northwest Flower & Garden Show doesn’t start until tomorrow, and you want everything to be fresh.

But the seasonal breeze was appropriate, too. We’re used to chilly gardens around here, aren’t we? Any February garden walk in the maritime Northwest is bound to send your hands to your pockets pretty fast. That is, unless you visit the giant, temporary gardens created high atop the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in downtown Seattle. Once the show is up and the crowds are milling, this garden walk is plenty warm.

The 26th annual show is the best way to shake off the winter doldrums and get ready to get back in the garden. This year’s theme, Art in Bloom, will combine well-loved Northwest artists with the plants, amazing rockery and outdoor rooms that are always in evidence.

I’m looking forward to the Arboretum Foundation’s display, which will feature the work of the incomparable Ginny Ruffner. You can see one of her creations just a few steps from the convention center, at the corner of 7th and

Union. It’s a giant flowerpot with permanent blooms and a watering can that moves. Her glass sculptures will no doubt simultaneously highlight and outshine the plants in the always expertly designed display.

Garden art studios, a recycled greenhouse, and homages to Monet and Darwin are sure to be among many other display highlights.

Besides the gardens, there are three other main areas of focus: the retail marketplace, the greening nonprofit section, and the seminars.

I am proud to be appearing again

on a seminar stage, this time with two friends in a Saturday tag-team talk on growing great edibles. Our 90-minute talk, which starts at 11:30 a.m., is part of the “Gardening 101” series, and I’ll be joined by Willi Galloway and Colin McCrate.

I’ll offer tips on year-round, cool season gardening, Willi will wax enthusiastic about her favorite veggies and Colin will give you the down an

d dirty on pests and diseases. I have seen both of them in action — Willi’s eyes light up when she discovers the color and flavor of a vegetable at the height of ripeness, and I once saw Colin zap a cabbage butterfly out of midair with nothing but his bare hands.

Take a look through the program and plan your attack on the seminars, because there’s a lot to draw you in, every day. Here’s just one first-glance pick from the 20 or so talks going on each day:

• Wednesday: The Circle – Discover a Secret to Great Garden Design, by Phil Wood
• Thursday: My Biggest Bloopers Ever! (his exclamation point, of course), by Ciscoe Morris
• Friday: Backyard Solutions for Our Declining Bees, by Dave Hunter
• Saturday: Did I mention our talk? OK, here’s another one: Farmer John’s Top Ten Tips for Seed to Table, by Farmer John Muller
• Sunday: Going Native: Are NW Natives the Best Choice for Gardens? by Linda Chalker-Scott

In the nonprofit area, I always take time to stroll around and visit my friends from Plant Amnesty, the Seattle Tree Fruit Society, Seattle Tilth, Master Gardeners and P-Patch, but there are so many more. Bats Northwest, for one. You can scare up a good time by chatting with these folks.

And last but not least, hit up the retail bazaar, which ranges from plants and seeds to gadgets and tools. What will be the show’s gotta-have gizmo this year? There always is one. And I always find interesting stuff at stores set up by the local nurseries.

I hope Hardwick’s will be there again this year – great selection of odd or hard-to-find tools. Tim is bringing his fantastic horticultural posters to the Good Nature Publishing Company booth, Raintree Nursery will bring

in the berries, and Irish Eyes Garden Seeds will very likely have bushels of potatoes ready for planting.

On Thursday and Saturday at 3 p.m. each day I will be doing one-hour book signings at the University Book Store booth.

One final shout-out to our World Champion Seahawks and their equally champion fans: if you’re heading downtown for the team’s victory parade on Wednesday, plan to spend the rest of the day at the show–at a discount! In honor of the team, the show is offering a $17 full-day ticket ($5 off the regular price). Could be a great way to ease yourself out of football season and into gardening season.

See you at the show!

 

 

Urban Farmers Barter and Party This Sunday

Join me and a whole bunch of urban

farmers this Sunday for the Urban Food Fair, Celebrating

Homemade and Homegrown Food. It will be at the Phinney Neighborhood Center on Sunday, Oct. 27, from 5 to 9 p.m.

I’ll be giving a talk on seed-saving and planting your final fall edibles, 7-7:30 p.m.

Check out this poster to see all the great stuff being planned:

 

 

San Francisco garden show’s imaginative designs

From a giant, succulent-covered globe to a crazy way to grow lettuce, here are pictures of the imaginative designs at this year’s San Francisco Flower & Garden Show.

 

 

Fire, Swings and Color at Portland YGP Show

A fire-breathing flower, a giant swing made from a steel culvert and the sweetest little greenhouse in which to overwinter your Meyer’s lemon were highlights in the colorful display gardens at the Yard, Garden & Patio Show

in Portland last weekend.

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