Northwest Flower and Garden Show

My sister-in-law and I attended this annual celebration of all things gardenlicious on Friday. It seemed to both of us that there weren't near enough gardens. Lots of shops, though. Lots and lots. Which seems a waste to me since the only one I was interested in was Fremont Gardens, where I bought many packets of sweet peas.

The theme of this year's show was "outdoor rooms" and there were some stunning displays with pergolas, beautifully dressed tables and gorgeous outdoor lighting. It confirmed my view that we need to remove our back deck and replace it with a terrace. The deck cuts off the back garden and a terrace would allow for easier flow from one end to the other, as well as be infinately more attractive. I picture replacing our sliding glass doors with French doors that would open onto wide, poured concrete steps. These would be decorated with some containers and lots of pillows so that guests could actually use them as seating. Yes, a definate project.

I took the little garden notebook Rachael had given me and made a few plant notes. I fell in love with a particular type of Japanese maple, Acer Palmatum "Sago Kaku", which has rich burgandy colored bark. It would look spectacular in the winter, when everything around it is died back and brown. Similarly, there was a red ring dogwood which also had red bark and Nandina D. "Moon Bay", an orangy-red shrub in the bamboo family.

There was also a garden which used wide tubes of bamboo as faux fencing. There were clusters of the tubes, in varying heights, which were scattered along a path and at corners, hinting at definition without obscuring vistas. Each column of bamboo was planted with some sort of mossy thing in the top to soften the look. Very groovy idea and one I fully expect to employ in my front garden, assuming I can get my hands on some bamboo without sacrificing the college fund.

The other inspiring bit was being reminded that gardens need not be planted in a linear manner. Groupings of plants flowed into others. Moss, creeping thyme and camomile spilled out from between pavers and over edges. There was a garden that had a long swirl of primroses curving through a bit of grass. I expect that this year's sod turning will be dedicated to bowing out some of my very rigid rectangular beds, especially in the front garden.

The weather this weekend has been spectacularly spring-like. Not that I did anything about it. But I fancy that maybe, just maybe, if the weather holds, I will do some serious weed-clearing tomorrow.