2015 Flower and Garden Show

Winner of the Pacific Horticulture Award – West Seattle Nursery

Now that the Northwest Flower and Garden Show has come and gone we can look back on some of the highlights of the show. The show gardens are always the big draw. The gala is centered around them and they are the first thing you see when you enter the main hall. The judging is done on a point system so it is easy to tell the quality just by the number of gold and silver awards.

Besides the display gardens the numerous market place vendors would keep anybody busy. They had offerings from plants, garden tools, books, garden ornaments and art. Then there was the whole vintage market, which for a picker like me was quite fun. I did find a few things that I just had to bring home. This years big find was a life size pygmy goat made from an old Quaker State Oil sign. That probably isn’t something that would appeal to just anyone.

Winner of the floral competition

In the entry was a floral competition which many local designers take very seriously creating some amazing displays. On the sky-bridge there was a container, vignette competition which is always very creative and diverse. This years theme was ‘Living in the City’. I;m sure there were a lot of people that would love to take anyone of them home for their own decks.

I spent most of my time in the ‘Garden Resource’ area. It is the area to find booths to answer a lot of your gardening questions. There were groups specializing in everything from day lilies to roses and public gardens to native plants. I was working at the booth for the Northwest Horticultural Society and the Hardy Fern Foundation. NHS is the one of the largest education non-profit organizations. We do a series of education events including monthly lectures, symposiums, tours, classes and plant salesThe Hardy Fern Foundation also has lectures, hikes and the largest plant sale in the country that specializes in ferns and companion plants.As part of NHS we promote the Pacific Horticultural Society which produces the finest gardening magazine in the country that focuses on the west coast gardener. PHS also has a wonderful tour program and a series of educational events.

Northwest Horticultural Society

For the serious hort-head the lecture series is unbeatable. There were three separate stages with lectures on each running from morning until night. It’s no wonder this show is so popular. In fact it is the second largest in the country so for those of you from out of the area it might be a good winter break next year.