Thursday, February 4, 2010

Seattle flower show

Three of us, Judy, Karen and I traveled down to Seattle with the Senior Center to attend one day of the five-day-long flower show. Last year was supposed to be the last one, but it was opened under new management, and I found it to be every bit as good as last year's. Click on any picture to enlarge. We walked in and saw (and smelled!) myriad flower beds, a reminder that spring is just around the corner!
We not only had REAL flowers to look at, but ingenious ones made of bottle caps and other whimsical things. Another great way to recycle, isn't it?
Here's a closeup of a beautiful display. This is from one of the flower arrangements that competed for Best in Show. I loved all the textures and exotic flowers in this one.
And there were faces in the crowd, both from lots of people and this one hiding in the garden. These ceramic sculptures are available in many different sizes. I didn't see it at first, and then I could not NOT see it!
Some people had ideas of how to recycle old trucks, like this one. Frankly, this seems like a lot better idea than putting it in a landfill. Fill it with land and plant it!
One entire section was filled with elegant arrangements like this one. Each was credited to a single artist and the school the artist attends. I think this one is especially graceful.
Throughout the show, we saw so many different plants I have never heard of before. Now I have heard of a Tasmanian Devil, but here is a picture of a Tasmanian Angel. All in all, we had a great time, and now I must plant my bulbs as soon as I get back from my hiking trip tomorrow. This retirement business is sure filled with adventures!
:-)

13 comments:

  1. These are incredible! I'm glad you had fun. I love the variety and all of the colors. I would happily put something like the flowers or the face in my yard, although I'm sure neither is inexpensive.

    I'm not the best gardner (due primarily to a lack of knowledge). I have lots of ideas but not the money to implement them! My birthday falls in the spring and I often ask for plants or trees. I love looking at flowers and gardens though. I wonder if there's anything like this around here. I'll have to look and see.

    So what kind of bulbs did you get?

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  2. I would think the flower show was a big hit. The flowers are lovely. I am not much for bottle cap blooms but then I am for some other things, like plant hooks and things that help the flowers out a little.

    Yes, the squirrels are veterans here and fight for females and food mostly. It happens. The really old vets look like old goats. Mean.

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  3. I enjoyed going to the flower show virtually with you but I would have rather been there in person. I love flowers but they are hard to grow in Georgia clay and water restrictions. My mother used to always buy me a flowering hyacinth in a pot for my birthday in March and I would keep the pot for a while, but when I tried to place the bulb in the ground for the following year, it would not grow. I have never tried to grow a hyacinth bulb here, or bought one. I like the flowers made with soda tops, very inventive.

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  4. It looks fabulous. What a great pick-me-up for a winter blah mood.

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  5. Very cool! What type of bulbs are you planting? I didn't make time in the fall, and would love some new flowers this year, but don't know enough to know what to plant!

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  6. oooooooooo I know what you mean about the sculpture. I couldn't see it at first and then, suddenly it leaped out at me. Wow. It's wonderful isn't it. The flowers are gorgeous. The bottle top ones are so ingenious. I bet you had a wonderful day, didn't you.
    Blessings, Star

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  7. What a fun way to spend a day! I have been to the show in Toronto...and loved the smells and displays. Just what the doctor ordered to put one in the mood for spring!

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  8. Our flower show was canceled last year (bankrupt, sad) but I've heard a rumor it's going to be resurrected. Yay! there is truly nothing better than a flower show in February to reassure you that spring is coming (no matter what the groundhog says!)

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  9. This post was a breath of fresh air...I would have loved to have been there.

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  10. What a great event to brighten up the winter days. I love the first photo with all the different kinds of plants, especially the daffodils. Seeing all the lovely blooms make me want to dig in the dirt.

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  11. Wow what a feast for the eyes! I loved how the truck was recycled. And the sleeping sculpture was a must have for my next garden. Thanks for taking us along to share in all the color!

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  12. Well now my Winter spirits are lifted in hope of flowers bloomin'.
    What a wonderful display of all those different kinds of flowers, and themes. I especially like the face one, just awesome.
    Thanks for the little bit of sunshine, on a cold winter day.

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  13. Wowowow!! Sorry I'm late for the flower show, but I had a lot of fun. Looking at the first photo, I already knew that you had lots of interesting things for us to show! I like the bottle caps, you know I'm fond of recycled things. Did you had a lot of fun DJ? I thought so!

    AL

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