The NWFG Festival; the plants, the people and the city

The big display and "City Living" gardens (which I wrote about on Wednesday) are only a small part of the appeal of the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival that took place in Seattle last week. Today we'll look at the rest of it, starting with this waving "greeter" in the Christianson's Nursery booth. She welcomed all of us plant people into the aisles of shopping opportunities...

Andy's orchids has many plants besides orchids in their offerings, like this oak-leaf fig. I love those little leaves and picked one up at Terrain during the Fling last September. Of course I also picked up a few things from Andy's booth, more on that to come.

I forget which vendor had this colorful sea of sarracenia, but of course it had me thinking back to the plastic plants I saw in the opening garden. Why do plastic when the real are so easy?

I lost track of exactly how many vendors were selling Quesnelia marmorata at the show, there were at least three, it was rather fantastic to see.

Which brings me to an overheard quote from someone explaining why they hadn't bought any plants: "because it’s mainly about houseplants now"... I will never understand the big divide between houseplants and "plant in the ground" plants. They are ALL PLANTS PEOPLE! 

Here's a plant I would have loved to take home, even though it would have been a houseplant part of the year. At $75 it was too rich for me...

And another! I fell hard for Microsorum steerei when I saw it at Chanticleer (and the Morris Arboretum fernery) last September. It turns out that plant also goes by another name, M. thailandicum (aka blue oil fern). Which I saw at the show...

But geez louise, $88!!! No. I stood there actually thinking about it for longer than I care to admit. Then I came to my senses and walked away.

So what did I buy? Here's my Andy's Orchids haul, hanging out near the shower in our hotel room.

Scaphyglottis-amethystinum (stellata), it's blooming right now but the flowers are so small I couldn't get a good photo.

Lockhartia hercodonta, looks a little like a fern, but it's an orchid.

Pyrrosia piloselloides (or Dragon Scales) an epiphytic fern native to Singapore.

Hanging out next to our hotel window is a mix of things bought at the show, and plants from my visit to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (RSBG) on the way up to Seattle...

Did you spot it? Yep, I found a blue oil fern (Microsorum thailandicum) I could afford! This one only has three leaves (opposed to the seven+ on the $88 version), but it was also 1/3 the price.

Also tucked in the box is a Rhododendron nakaharae 'Mariko' from the RSBG.

And a pair of Gaultheria nummularioides var. minor.

Not to be overlooked is another pyrrosia from the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, Pyrrosia sp SEH#15113.

This cutie came from the show. Ya, it was the bloom spike that got me, Tillandsia houston 'Red Princess'.

When I saw small Strobilanthes gossypinus in the Ravenna Gardens booth I grabbed one. My plant has been a little temperamental after 6+ years in a container (it's not hardy here) so I thought maybe it was time to start over again.

I also visited a couple of area nurseries where I picked up a trio of Saxifraga taygetea and tiny Lonicera crassifolia.

I love the winter color on the lonicera. In my experience not all of them color up like this...

I thought my plant buying was done with that, and I guess really it was—because these next plants were gifts from a friend who was downsizing. First this fabulous tillandsia pup...

And then this collection of full-size plants. Ya, really. How could I say no? Fun plant projects ahead for the summer!

But back to the show! The first seminar I attended was "Inside the Design" from Nick McCullough author of American Roots. He was a very engaging speaker and I found myself taking a few notes.

He described the gardens he designs as being "Plant Forward NOT Pavement Forward" an approach I fully support. He also mentioned being happy to describe himself and others as gardeners, it's not a negative label, even though some struggle with what to call themselves and try to come up with a title that is a lot fancier. Also; Make gardening your sport! Who needs to follow sports on TV when you can be out sporting in your garden? Finally he pointed a finger at one of the dirty little secrets of the industry... plastic. Plastic plant pots that we all consume by the hundreds: "Let’s not go to space, let’s figure this plastic thing out!" 

My friend Jenifer Jewell was the moderator of the "Plant People Panel: Next Phase of the Houseplant Craze" which included Eliza Blank - Founder & CEO of The Sill, Kamili Bell Hill - Planterior designer, author, and founder of PlantBlerd, Derek Haynes - Plant biologist known as "The Chocolate Botanist" and Alexa Patti - Head Grower, Little Prince of Oregon Nursery. It was a lively discussion!

Jennifer asked each of the panelists to sum up the next phase of the houseplant craze with one word, their words were: Gateway (as in houseplants are the gateway to ALL the plants), Curated (as in curated collections are the next phase), Affordable (as in no more $300 monstera cuttings!) and Inclusive (as in everyone and every plant).

The final seminar I attended was another Plant People Panel, this one "Where Do Plants Come From?" Moderated by Mary Ann Newcomer - Author, speaker, radio host and newspaper columnist; expert at gardening in the intermountain west. The panelists were Ross Bayton - Director of Heronswood Garden and horticulture author, Ann Amato - Horticulturist, production manager at Secret Garden Growers and blogger at amateurbotannist.com, Karl Gercens - Manager of Conservatory at Longwood Gardens, and Dan Heims - Award-winning author and president of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. Another great discussion! (although I was a little brain dead by this point and failed to take any notes).

Just for fun I stole this Instagram photo from Ann (pic taken by JJ DeSousa). While it's a horrible photo of me, I thought (L to R) Evan (who had just give a great presentation on bamboo), Ann, Karl and Theo (who was to speak on Fuchsia) all looked fabulous.

Okay, wow, this post got really long! Just a couple more photos. First the view from our room at the Hilton, complete with my Valentine's Day protea from Andrew (we drove up on Valentine's Day).

A pic Andrew snapped during his visit to the downtown Seattle Public library. As I've said before, seeing your book (or a photo of it) never gets old.

The tiny Lonicera crassifolia I bought came from the Pat Calvert Greenhouse at the Washington Park Arboretum, which is where I snapped this moody photo.

And this one of a completely unharmed (by winter) Pittosporum tenuifolium 'County Park Dwarf'.

Andrew did a little fishing in Puget Sound, which is where I snapped this image when I dropped him off at Golden Gardens Park.

Then I took off to visit Swansons and Sky Nurseries (the photo below from Swansons). I also managed a visit to the Amazon Spheres while up in Seattle, which I'll post about in the next couple of weeks. It was a VERY fun and full 5 day trip!

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