Northwest Garden Show: Mixing Magic and Materials

Fire pit planter
Photo by Doug Gochanour

By Victoria Gilleland

2018 Northwest Flower and Garden Festival: Garden Party

30th Anniversary, February 7-11 

Washington State 

Convention Center 

705 Pike St, Seattle 98101

Tickets  

One of the best things about a visit to the annual Northwest Flower and Garden Festival is the inspirational ideas, which we gardeners can adapt for our home gardens.

One of my favorite and easiest ideas to adapt from this year’s show came from Millenium Landscape's display.

Millenium Landscape and Construction offers their display, “Mother Nature as Muse - Mixing Magic and Materials.”

A lighted twig orb
Photo by Doug Gochanour

They have created attractive vignettes in their beautiful garden, emphasizing spheres and orbs as Nature’s most basic forms.

A round Metal Fire Pit has become a raised bed garden. Metal reflective spheres nestled in garden beds bounce light off structures and plants.

Twig orbs are stuffed with battery operated mini lights in varying colors and hung from trees or placed in garden beds.

An upright container plays as a compact, easy to maintain, bubble water feature. 

The sound of gurgling water is there, but not the work of maintaining a larger feature.

Jobe Lights offer paver bed low voltage lighting.

Photo by Doug Gochanour

Take Away: Use a variety of hardscape materials to create visual and physical interest. 

Repetition of a specific shape in the garden can create a feeling of continuity. 

Put what you have to new use ... a seldom used Fire Pit or other container might become a terrific planter, a raised bed or the vessel for a water feature. 

Add color and light through reflected light, battery operated or low voltage.