danger garden

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

NWFG Show, the vendors!

Well this took long enough to get to, don't you think? I've written about the small space gardens at the NWFG Show, as well as the big display gardens. But while "looking" is all fine and good what's a show without a few shopping opportunities? Ya, that's what I thought. We'll start at the booth for Vashon Island's Dig. It's been written about by my friend Peter (click through for a look at them getting ready for the show) but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get to see more of their delicious styling...

I love how much the manage to cram into a small space, kind of like my garden...

That Jack Planter is planted to perfection.

Concrete diamonds and baby heads, everyone needs a few.

And cactus kokedama!

I love the Esther pots when I see them in spaces like this, but I just don't think my home has the right vibe.

Whoa! Monster Tillandsia up above...

More cactus kokedama...

Now we move over to the Swansons booth. I am not (very much NOT) a fan of Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'...

But this one, it actually caught my eye and made me stop to appreciate it.

These though, they just look a little sick.

I would have loved to come back on Sunday and see how many of those potted up guys were left. Do people actually shop like that?

Ferns, they're the next big thing you know. Succulents have had their moment (a very LONG moment) but now, it's all about the ferns.

Not that succulents are going away anytime soon.

Over in the Christianson’s Nursery booth I spotted this gorgeous Bromeliad. The price was such that it stayed behind.

This is a Grevillea robusta (Silky Oak), also in the Christianson’s booth. It was very very difficult for me to walk away from this one. However at $34.95 it would have been a very expensive annual.

Ditto for this Schefflera soleil at the Molbak's booth.

Over in the Vintage Market I noticed this fine pair of cement planters, under the table, in the dark. Okay you're right. What I really noticed were the poor Agaves inside the containers.

This interesting mash-up was at the Pacific Galleries booth. I managed to visit their retail location the next day (I'll be writing a little about that on Friday).

Monday, March 7, 2016

In a Vase on Monday; they can't all be winners...

I bought that little orange (painted) glass vase at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, in the Vintage Market...which after 3 years I decided to go ahead and drop my boycott and shop at (the boycott was in place because I believe that floor space would be better suited to plant vendors, it is a GARDEN SHOW after all).

I stuck it up on top of the refrigerator with the other vases because I didn't really have any other place for it. Then I realized what a nice trio they made, and decided to fill them for a little grouping on the kitchen counter.

Working with the colors of the vases I thought a few Grevillea victoriae 'Murray Valley Queen' branches in the creamy Fiestaware bud vase would be nice.

And maybe a couple leaves from Astelia nivicola 'Red Gem' worked in...

The collection needed a dramatic backdrop so I cut a Fatsia polycarpa ‘Needhams Lace' leaf, or two.

For the small green vase I decided a sprig of Brachyglottis greyi (Senecio greyi) would work well.

And as you can see the new orange vase got a bit of Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow'...

Inside though, I did not like what I'd created. Too big, too dark...didn't work.

I moved them around but couldn't find a space where they all looked good together until I put them on this small shelf. That's better...

Especially with my wheel-barrow man added to the mix.

The dining table needed something new too, and I'd spotted this old bowl thing when moving some storage in the basement.

My thought was I'd float some Hellebore blooms in the big side and do something with moss on the small side. Once I had the blooms in place though (sorry, I didn't take a photo) I had a visual of my husband moving the container to the side of the table when we eat dinner. Water and flowers everywhere. Not a great idea.

So they went in this smaller container...

And I went back to the moss plan...

Hmmm, moss and Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop', ya...

And a few cuttings of Sedum confusum...along with gravel to hold what bit of soil came with the moss and a little moisture for the Sedum and Ajuga to (hopefully) root into.

This combination was incredible hard to photograph, but really fabulous "in real life"...

However I still wasn't loving the flat bowl thing so much, it needed some height. So I grabbed a vase I had that matched the bowl (same black paint/shiny silver combo) and cut some Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Atropurpureum'.

And since the Azara microphylla is blooming with it's chocolaty scented flowers I cut a few bits of that too.

And a couple Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae flowers to round it out.

Here's the whole thing on the dining table. I think it's kind of a "fail"...

But I still enjoyed putting it together!

And it smells good!

As I said in the title, they can't all be winners – and even when something isn't fabulous we still learn from the process, right?

So get out there in your garden and cut a few things! See what you can create.

Then post about it (and if you don't have a blog...start one!) and then join up with Cathy and the rest of us by sharing your post on her blog Rambling in the Garden!