Any of you who read my Northwest Notes blog with any regularity know how much I enjoy using the Hipstamatic app with my iPhone4.
Every year I look forward to the Northwest Flower & Garden Show with the proverbial bated breath, as much for a much-needed reminder of spring and the rebirth it promises, as the opportunity to experiment with my Hipstamatic app.
Above is a photo of a well-tricked-out greenhouse photographed using one (random) Hipstamatic lens combination. . below the very same shot with another randomly chosen option!
Held at the Washington State Convention Center, this year’s show featured 23 display gardens, more than 120 seminars by gardening luminaries, and a Marketplace with more than 350 exhibitors. After several very pleasurable hours of walking around all the display gardens and shops, we were both starved and pooped!
The theme of this year’s Flower & Garden Show was “Art in Bloom,” and the large and impressive garden displays never failed to deliver.
Asian was a big theme throughout, as evidenced by the vibrant red Asian bridge above. . .and gorgeous Asian entry gate below.
Another Asian-inspired garden display replete with oodles of glass art. The scale was massive!
A bit of humor with an “In Case of Zombies” display.
Stunning art glass designed for the garden by Jesse Kelly, glass artist and designer.
Another vibrant display from Jesse Kelly.
More glass art, but a bit less apparent. Can you spot the gecko amidst the rocks in the stream?
One of the display gardens that particularly caught my eye, an “Asian contemporary meditation garden” used “flowing space, natural elements, and sculptural structures to create an environmental-art experience,” according to the F&G Show program. It was designed by Mian Iftikhar Ahmed of Treeline Designz and featured an array of prayer wheels created by Chris Moench of Axis of Hope. . .
centered by a giant buddha handcrafted from a single stone! This garden really was “an oasis of solitude allowing you to focus on the journey, not the destination.”
And while the grammar might be wrong (it should read “You & Me,” not “You & I”), the sentiment could not be lost just a week before Valentine’s Day.
There were playful asparagus spears peering above the soil. . .
More beautiful flowers of every possible type than you could believe. . .
Including lascivious live orchids in the “50 Shades of Orchids” display. . .
And glass globes in a gurgling basin.
An exotic bird guarded a geometric pile of eggs (note the bird feeder on the pole in the background!). . .
While a flock of metal chickens clamored for a new home.
Even our very own Seattle Seahawks were represented in an adorable living miniature garden by Two Green Thumbs.
I loved the interplay of textures and colors captured in this shot of some of the live flowers that were for sale. . .
And the country-French feel of seven simple sunflowers in a terra-cotta basin.
A cabinet full of gardening books and supplies. . .
A table top designed for nature enthusiasts and sketch artists. . .
And finally full circle with inspiration from the “Art in Bloom” theme just waiting to be captured.
And, while you have your calendar open, don’t forget to save-the-date for Arcade Lights, which returns to the Main Arcade on Friday evening, April 25. The annual springtime celebration of all things artisanal offers you a chance to taste handcrafted savory and sweet bites, washed down with craft beer, local wine, and nonalcoholic beverages, all made by local artisan food and drink purveyors.
