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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The NWFG Festival; things I liked in the display gardens

If you've been online much this last week you probably know the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival took place in Seattle Feb 14-18—it was a fantastic gathering of plant people from near and far. The theme this year was...

Which got a big "thumbs up" from all who attended. I felt like the show had been struggling post-COVID and honestly was a little worried it was going to fold completely—or worse—turn into a hot tub, sock and Veg-O-Matic sales event. Thankfully this year it felt like a renaissance was underway. There were so many wonderful seminars and plants (actual plants!) everywhere you looked. 

Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl' in the entry garden...

Which is where I also spotted a pot of plastic sarracenia and an accompanying plastic slug. Why plastic sarracenia? I have no idea. 

This fantastic metal roof was the first thing I saw when I wandered through the big display gardens, the garden was titled HERE COMES THE SUN and was the work of Devonshire Landscapes and Zenith Holland Nursery.

Their garden was also the location of this great woven wall.

I swooned over this simple water delivery device in the garden called BACKYARD BLISS by Wintergreen Landscapes and Nursery.

But was rather annoyed by this fellow who sat there working in their booth for longer than seemed appropriate. He wasn't there to say "pull up a chair, let's chat", cause you couldn't actually walk into the "garden", you just looked at it (and him), from the side.

Check out that fabulous structure! HOW MUCH SHE LOVES US by Jen Szabo Collaborative Landscapes.

Love the staggered deck, love the metal "rib cage"...

The show lighting, while overall much better this year—no dark theater feel—still made it hard to take some photos, like of the plants in the metal wall, a great detail.

I have to say it again, I love that house-shaped rib cage! White was a great color for this venue, but I would love to see it black in an actual landscape.

Next up, HARVESTING BEAUTY from HomeGrown Organics and NW Green Panels. I'm usually a sucker for a nice metal greenhouse, but this wooden frame was lovely, as was the metal water ring at the corner.

There were many planty things to admire inside the greenhouse.

I especially loved the suspended logs, covered in moss and plants. So well done!

Little Prince of Oregon (Mark Leichty) and Relish Gardens were responsible for EMERALD REVERIE: LIVING A PLANT-FILLED LIFE...

...and it truly was plant-filled! Such a refreshing change from many of the show gardens that were just about the hardscape. 

One side of the garden was done up "stumpery" style.

Complete with a table base that I would LOVE to have in my garden.

Vertical bark planters hung on the wall separating the outdoor and indoor spaces.

My one beef with this—and most of the show gardens—was the need to look at the garden from outside. Here at least you could walk through part of it, but why not all of it?

This cozy reading spot finished off the garden's corner.

PLUNGE INTO SPRING! from Method Hardscapes was (as you might imagine), a hardscape lovers dream come true, but I did love the paver pathway across the water feature. It was generous in size. If I had been able to walk across it, I wouldn't have feared falling into the water.

Finally, the most interesting garden I saw at the show was one of the small, City Living spaces, designed by Richard and Deborah Bloom of Obsidian Wind Chimes.

The balcony display itself was wonderful, but the screen that fronted it was beyond amazing. 

It was a curtain of Proboscidea lutea (aka Devil's Claw) seedpods.

I got to talk with Richard about their work, and should have asked how many interconnected seed pods there were.

They left a few at the base of the curtain wall, so people could pick them up and look at them without destroying the display.

The center section was made of strung together Trapa natans (water chestnut) seed pods alternated with Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel) seeds.

I kept hearing people ask "are those real!?!", to nobody in particular.

On the floor of the "balcony" display was a pathway of obsidian.

And on the table a sphere of devil's claw seed pods, wow!

In talking with Richard about their work I learned he and Deborah live in Portland, not too far from me. I hope they know how many people were completely enchanted with what they created.

Up Friday will be a look at the plants and the people of the 2024 NWFG Fest...

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.