When I first attended the Yard Garden & Patio Show (in 2006) I expected it to be the type of show with roofing companies, hot tub vendors, gutter and downspout cleaners, window manufacturers, chimney sweeps, etc, right on down to the slicer and dicer crowd. I was thrilled that indeed it was a real, honest to goodness garden show. Not as big and flashy as the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle but every bit as focused. I’ve attended every year since. Yes I have opinions about how it could be better, but I still look forward to it and enjoy every minute of it. But hey, there’s another show in town, the Portland Home & Garden Show...
Some years it seems to run consecutive with YGP, this year it ran the week prior. I’d given no thought to attending (never have), well, until several friends mentioned it. Then there was a coupon towards the entry fee, and free parking after 4pm. Oh what the heck!
Publicity for the show was touting the fact the vendors had been rearranged this year: "One of the most anticipated attractions this year is the unveiling of the new Excellence in Landscaping area! We are moving the garden feature to the front of Hall E – with new designers, a new emphasis on plant material and flowers, new lighting effects and staging. It’s going to be gorgeous!" I'm all for getting people to think about gardening. If the new show design meant they might catch a glimpse of a cool plant in route to the rest of the show (the roofing companies, hot tub vendors, gutter and downspout cleaners, window manufacturers, chimney sweeps) then that's a good thing. I watched the people flowing in, to see if indeed they stopped to walk around the gardens. Sadly most of them did not. Maybe they circled back around later? One can hope. I do think it was a little hard on the eyes to go from the bright outdoors and lobby into the dark of the display gardens area. You were almost pulled across the hall to the light beyond (the other vendors).
Okay, but what about the gardens? Above and below was one designed by the ANLD (Assoc of NW Landscape Designers). My favorite part of this garden were the curtain pull backs, they used steel strapping tape!
Love it. While I have no plans to incorporate curtains into my garden (no way, no how) I do think this metal tape has great possibility for a future project.
"A Hobbit's Garden" wasn't that done last year at the Seattle show?
There were at least two gardens with big gorgeous alocasias, passers-by just had to reach out and touch them.
This display was my favorite over all, and it won gold from the judges too. Of course the horrid lighting made getting a good photo pretty much impossible.
Right about here I discovered a peculiar theme.
Do you see it too? Gardens for cars!
This I love...
Outdoor showers are all the range in the magazines. I've never really gotten the appeal. Showers are meant to be quick and efficient, where as baths are for relaxing. Relaxing in the garden is always a good thing. If I had a private garden space this would be wonderful.
Where to go to see blooming helebores and aloes together? A garden show display garden, of course!
I kind of liked this corner, there was a small fire pit in front of those chairs but that was it. No monster outdoor kitchen or fake waterfall. Just a place outside for enjoying being outside.
That's it for the display gardens, next up I went in search of the plant market. I'd heard there were plants for sale but they were nowhere to be seen. Ah, turns out they were at the complete opposite end of the show, two exhibition hall lengths away. Interesting.
The first thing that caught my eye were enormous piles of eremurus roots. I love the flowers but haven't had great luck with them. Working in the garden the next day I discovered mine are already coming up, maybe I'll get flowers this year!
The N&M Nursery booth. These ladies are fixtures at all the spring garden shows, I hope they sold several alocasias here.
Loveable and huggable! Am I ready to take a chance on another Acacia cognata? Maybe another time.
An new (to me) name! Turns out they have a retail location, how have I not heard of them before now?
Definitely going to have to check them out.
There was also a large orchid show and sale, lots and lots of people fawning over the admittedly gorgeous blooms. I managed to avoid the purchase.
Time to get on my way, I traced my steps back towards the exit, past the hot tub display, when something crazy caught my eye. Yes, there really was a person swimming, right there in the AquaTrainer14fX. Oh what will they think of next? Next, that reminds me...next is the real plant and garden deal, the Yard, Garden & Patio Show! This coming weekend at the Oregon Convention Center! Details here...
All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
I always am disappointed by these shows. Admittedly I've never been to a huge one, but I just don't enjoy the displays. Of course I've never been to one where you could actually buy plants either...
ReplyDeleteBuying plants is definitely a draw for people like us. While I don't ever plan to have a garden in the scale/style of a show display garden I do enjoy seeing what the designers cook up, and occasionally they spark and idea that I can translate to my own garden.
DeleteI'll wait for the real deal, but thanks for this peek at the pretender, and for sacrificing precious weekend hours to do it.
ReplyDeleteActually I went on Thursday afternoon, parking was free after 4pm. If I would have had to go on the weekend it wouldn't have happened. Too many people then!
DeleteSo excited to go on Sunday to the YGP show, especially since we missed the Seattle one. Yay for gardens in February! (ok, March technically)....so would you go to this one again next year?
ReplyDeleteProbably not...
DeleteI've never bothered to go to the LA home and garden shows for the very reasons you describe at the top of your post. Interestingly, cars have also crept into the South Coast Spring Flower Show - display gardens have decreased to about half the number they once had and the vacancies are filled by new car sale promotions. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteIt's just weird to me who goes to look at gardens and gets tempted to buy a new car?
DeleteI've been curious about this show, wondering how much garden it incorporated. I have a feeling it's rather similar to the Tacoma Home and Garden Show, which is fun but is really kind of a run-up to the real thing. And finding all the garden vendors sprinkled throughout the gutter protector and hot tub people is a challenge. I love that Hammer + Vine display. That fuzzy hairy thing you took a closeup of -- is that a Tillandsia?
ReplyDeleteYes I was thinking of you and Peter at the Tacoma Show. I suppose going with a friend would have made it more of an adventure. And really? The garden vendors were mixed in with the others? That's odd! I don't know if I'd of had the patience to hunt for them.
DeleteYep, a tillandsia, pretty cool huh?
I would have enjoyed walking through the display gardens for an hour or two, but *I HATE THE LIGHTING.* It's like that at every show I've been to. Since when does weird yellow, orange or red lighting make anything look good? I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAll I can figure is they're trying to make it easier to hide the shortcomings of the display gardens with the dramatic lighting. It makes no sense, but you're right they all do it!
DeleteLooks like you had fun even though it wasn't as plant centric as the YGP show! Love the Hammer and Vine display and look forward to your coverage of their retail outlet when you visit. So the new trend is gardens for cars eh? Hm. I wonder if the cars appreciate them. I'm sure it would make your next tailgate party a hit!
ReplyDeleteI keep forgetting to plan a tailgate party...
DeleteYay for hammer and vine, another new place for you to explore and share to us! Outdoor shower, good idea in warmer areas, or at least gets predictably hot summers.
ReplyDeleteYa the idea of a cold outdoor shower is certainly not pleasant!
DeleteIf the garden section of our home and garden show were even half that good I might consider going. Hammer and Vine calls out for its own post sometime.
ReplyDeleteIt will be fun to see what's new next week.
Ouch, not even half this good? I'm sorry.
DeleteThere was a little preview section in the paper this morning, on the YGP Show. Looks promising!
Oh that lovely Paphiopedilum! My favorites among the tropical orchids. They actually do quite well indoors in the Pacific Northwest. (They even bloom every year for my parents!) I've wanted to try Eremurus ever since I started reading Linda Cochran's blog earlier last year. It seems they can take 5 years to put on a good show. She has a very informative post on them here: http://lindacochran.blogspot.com/2012/06/eremurus.html
ReplyDeleteI love the eremurus in Linda's old garden! I think my problem is that I have a hard time putting up with ugly foliage. I know it needs to stay in place in order to provide energy for next years bloom show but I just can't leave it and end up cutting it back to soon. Last year the (now dead) tropical cordyline grew enough to kind of hide the ugly foliage and thus it got to stick around a bit longer, maybe long enough?
Delete"Where to go to see blooming hellebores and aloes together? A garden show display garden, of course!"
ReplyDeleteOr my garden. Those two are both blooming here today. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Here everyone is thinking outdoor shower as a way of watering the garden during this terrible drought. Purely practical desperation.
That Camry looks like it is about to run those plants over. WTF?!?
Great post, thanks.
As I wrote that line I thought to myself, someone in California is going to tell me they're blooming away in their garden! I should have said "where in Oregon"...
DeleteYou're right about the Camry! When I passed by there was a person scrubbing all the windows clean, and stepping on the surrounding plants...
Soooo . . . did you go swimming?!
ReplyDeleteThat "pool" was not nearly as temping as the one at Maryellen's garden...
Deletelove the bathtub in the garden too, but isn't that what hot tubs are for? lol!!!
ReplyDeleteHot tubs kind of give me the creeps. Besides this was the best of both worlds, a shower head pouring into the tub.
DeleteI made it to the Philly flower show this weekend, and only saw one seamless gutter salesman, most of the vendors were garden related, The show as a whole was incredibly creative and plant-centric. I hope to get a post up as soon as I recover from having my personal body space continually violated the whole time I was there.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read your account of the show! Someday I hope to see it and be prepared for the crowds...
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