Site change

Hello all of my readers. I have recently renovated my website and would like you all to stop by and go for a tour. I have been updating the blog rather consistently on the web site.

Thank you for your interest and I hope you are happy with the new setting for my blog!
Gregory
www.nativerootdesigns.com

Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2011- In Review

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show just finished its second year under new ownership by O'Loughlin Trade Shows. With sixty years in the trade show industry and twenty-five years based in Tacoma, they slipped in seamlessly. Maintaining the familiar friendly faces of Linda Knudsen, Cyle Eldred and Janet Endsley certainly didn't hurt! I was impressed this year by the fabulous marketing that went into the show. I followed Janet on Twitter (@nwfgs) and on Facebook and felt consistently informed on updates and schedule changes throughout the planning and building of the show. Five stars on PR this year!!

The gardens had something new going on with them. I've described it as approachable, simple, refined. They seemed to have lost the pretentiousness that has often plagued the garden show. Perhaps it was the theme, "Once upon a time..." but I felt welcomed in to many of the gardens. As though each was a friends backyard or a project that I helped create (well I did help with one a little...)

I definitely did notice the lack of patio tables and chairs with staged wine bottles and glasses half full. A few years ago so many gardens had these that I wondered what they were trying to sell, furniture or landscaping???

Here is the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association's Gold Medal winning garden, designed by Kate Easton, Kirsten Lints and Megan Pulkkinen. As usual, WSNLA has slammed the space full of stunning plants. I must say that they pulled it off real well in this garden. It wasn't too confusing to look at. The foliage variations played very well together in clusters, and similar tones drifted from foreground to background as your eye made its way into the giant tree ferns and bamboo. A thoroughly understated water feature had many admirers watching the little coconut shell float in the stone without falling out.

I also enjoyed the garden by the Arboretum Foundation. Designed by Phil Wood, Bob Lilly, and Roger Williams, it won a Gold Medal and the Pacific Horticulture Magazine Award. It was a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Japanese Garden at the Arboretum. Lovely, simple path and bridge with an elegant entry gazebo. Extreme awareness of the composition and design elements made this garden stand out to me even when it was just getting started.

A Wrinkle in Time garden had a great balance of simplicity and grandeur. The crystal ball fountain was an eye catcher at twenty four inches diameter, almost clear acrylic with water flowing down over it in the middle of the pool. Beyond that was the stunningly massive yet open shelter built by B.Bissell General Contractor, LLC. The garden was designed by Karen Stefonick Design who took home the Founders Cup Award for the second year running!

All of the gardens were created thoughtfully with respect for the materials and the planet. Every garden used reused materials or natural building elements. In a boost from previous years I enjoyed seeing these incorporated more into an actual part of the gardens not only as focal points and eye candy, but integrated in more functional and creative ways.

I enjoyed my day and listened to a few of the seminars. A talk by Lucy Hardiman on "The Art of Transforming your Garden" was entertaining and insightful. I managed to forget a pen or pencil, so I relied on tweeting my notes throughout her talk. She presented her garden in addition to a couple of others in the Portland area.

Kate Frey gave a no-nonsense talk on "Gardens that Give--Creating Sustainable Gardens that Sit Lightly on the Planet." She went right down the list from the gallons of fuel consumed by lawns in the US to the very few plants that bees can actually feed from in the typical landscape. She inspired me to further my commitment to habitat space in the garden and the importance of permeable surfaces, both of which I incorporate whenever possible. However, it's great to be encouraged!

The list of things goes on but so does the time! I enjoyed the show and thank the producers and volunteers as well as the garden creators!

Next years theme was just announced: "A Floral Symphony--Gardens Take Note."
I'm not entirely sure where they will go with that, but it's nice to have a heads up. And they say they will provide details soon! http://www.gardenshow.com/

New signs for Truck!

Well, it is about time I titled my new truck. I recently traded in an '03 Tacoma for a '94 F250. Interesting trade for sure, however I needed power and size. So far I love it! It has a canopy on the back of the long bed so I can store tools, plants, and flowers out the weather. It tows our landscape trailer along just fine.

I've been using the same printer forever and they are fabulous to work with! United Reprographics in South Seattle.

September Harvests

It is so easy to think of Summer ending in September here in the Pacific Northwest have such rich bounty coming from our gardens this month it is certainly still Summer to me. The dryness on the leaves has started it's slow transition into fall colors. The sun is hanging much lower in the sky making it blinding most of the day and backlighting plants from nearly all sides. The lighting is dramatic the gardens are lush and bursting at the seams. I am still waiting for my a last Aster to open it's little starry flowers and then all five will be blooming. Sunflowers are a lovely plant, they fall all over but that just gives me an excuss to cut them.
We harvested loads of Tomatoes and I definitely have a favorite this year; Pruden's Purple. It had six larger than fist sized perfect Tomatoes on it the other day that made the sweetest large bowl of Salsa! All our Tomatoes are producing pretty well and the fruit is excellent. I am planning to sow in some Fava Bean cover crop in one of our beds for the winter but I am waiting to see if I get any Blue Corn before I pull it. Our beans are still going strong Rattlesnake is a winner, perfect texture and flavor for fresh eating; aka grazing!
With darkness at six am it's nice that most of the garden is holding it's own, resting at it's peak before it comes crashing down in the fall. All we have to do is enjoy the views and share the harvest.

Intro to new blog

Gregory here, I am starting this blog as a source for my many thoughts that don't fit into my other Blog, The New Parents Organic Garden Blog, which is most easily seen from my website www.nativerootdesigns.com. You can also find out all about Native Root Designs at the website. In short we are a seattle based organic gardening/landscaping company.
I have found that I think a lot about a very wide range of issues and would like to practice writing about them. I do not intend this Blog to be any sort of finished writing material it is more a source for me to vent ideas in writing.
I look forward to reading any and all comments!
Thanks!

Enjoy...