Northwest Flower & Garden Show 2013
Living Amongst the Stars, the Garden Takes Center Stage
Our garden at the 2013 Northwest Flower & Garden Show was a contemporary outdoor space- an intimate garden for two- to get away, and become one with the space, to become a different character than our 8 to 5 selves; one that is deeply grounded in the present moment and not in the busyness of life and its to-do lists. Like good movies do, we aimed to captivate our audience and draw them in to our garden; the way you feel when you get lost in the plot of a movie, becoming the character that you are watching.
Good movies also always have an interesting location, some sort of conflict, mystery, drama, and an underlying message. The underlying message of ‘Living Amongst the Stars’, is that we are all part of something much bigger: a universe that connects each and every one of us. Star-gazing changes our perspective and helps us to see that we, and the problems we sometimes perceive as being so large, are minuscule in the context of an infinite universe.
Creating a garden like this truly takes a team of people and I couldn’t be more grateful for the team we had to work with! I would like to express special thanks to the very special people and companies for working with us to create our gold medal award-winning garden (in no particular order):
Fred and Fred Jr. Moore from M & M Irrigation for their long hours and fabulous carpentry skills building our garden walls and cabana
Mike and the great crew from Bear Creek Landscaping for bringing in the huge Monkey Puzzle tree, their hard work and great attitudes building the garden
Joel from Closer to Nature Landscaping for his hard work and diligence and help in building the garden
Bill Neidermeyer from Mukilteo Cedar and Phil Schneider from Midway Plywood for generously donating all the lumber for the garden
Angela and Stepstone, Inc. for donating the oh-so-popular modular pre-cast concrete pavers
Jennifer Gilbert Asher from Terra Sculpture for creating the beautiful ‘Kismet’ sculpture
Charlie and Diamond Spas for the providing us the stunning stainless steel spa
April and Mike from Luma Stream for providing installing the LED lighting fixtures and ultra-cool colored lights that set the tone for the garden
Dave Hunt and staff from Intuitive Integration for programming the lighting and providing the booming sound system for the garden
Matt Roberts, creator of the concrete lounges (the original inspiration for the garden)
AW Pottery for loaning us pots for the garden
Bedrock Industries for providing the tumbled recycled glass for our water feature
John Dunton, stone sculptor, from On the Rocks for creating our stone table and sculpture
Rock Mountain Products for loaning us the stainless steel gazing balls, granite tiles, and pump for the water feature
Simply Rocks for felt and liner for our water feature
Marenakos Rock Center for delivering and setting the black granite steps (this show could not exist with out them!)
Sawdust Supply Company who provides the unseen (but crucial!) filler for the garden- sawdust!
Don Marshall, staff and students that forced and took care of our plants at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (my Alma mater) and well as helping us set up the garden
Kirsten Lints from Gardens Alive Design for helping to procure plant material
Jaquelyn Davis, Jeannie McNeil (thanks for all the food that kept us going!) and WSNLA and the entire volunteer crew that took part in the set up and take down
Ben and staff at Windmill Gardens for forcing our bulbs and perennials
Kern and staff and The Bark & Garden Center for delivering and loaning us plant material
Charlie from Western Nursery Sales for delivering and loaning us plant material
Kathy and Ella from Wetlands & Woodlands for loaning us plant material
And to the following nurseries for donating plant material:
We could not have created this garden without all of you! To everyone who has donated and loaned items to us for the show we want you to know how much we appreciate not only your generosity but your faith in us to do you products justice- I hope we did you proud!
And, finally I must give a big thank you to my team of Kyrssie Maybay and Devin Golob– for your hard work and incredible talent in designing and creating the garden. And to John, for creating the amazing play list for the garden and for his continued support and encouragement throughout this process. Also to Gina Mazzaferro Photograpy for the beautiful shots of the garden.
And lastly, to Cyle, Janet and the many others that are the nuts and bolts of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, for without their hard work and dedication there would be no show for all of us to enjoy!
Until next time….
Heidi
Plant list
| Trees | |
| Araucaria araucana | Monkey Puzzle tree |
| Cotinus coggygria ‘Ancot’ | Golden Spirit Smoke Tree |
| Pinus densiflora ‘Golden Ghost’ | Golden Ghost Japanese Red Pine |
| Cryptomeria japonica ‘Elegans Aurea’ | Japanese Cedar |
| Cryptomeria japonica ‘Rein’s Dense’ | Rein’s Dense Japanese Cedar |
| Shrubs | |
| Abelia x grandiflora ‘Kaleidoscope’ | Kaleidoscope Abelia |
| Ceanothus thyrsiflorus ‘El Dorado’ | El Dorado California Lilac |
| Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Prostrata’ | Spreading Japanese Plum Yew |
| Cephalotaxus harringtonia | Japanese Plum Yew |
| Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’ | Upright Japanese Plum Yew |
| Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ | Mexican Orange |
| Grevillea ‘Marshal Olbrich’ | Royal Grevillea |
| Hebe ‘Karo Golden Esk’ | Karo Golden Hebe |
| Fatsia japonica | Japanese Aralia |
| Nandina domestica ‘Fire Power’ | Fire Power Heavenly Bamboo |
| Nandina ‘Moyer’s Red’ | Moyer’s Red Heavenly bamboo |
| Pittosporum tobira ‘Wheelers Dwarf’ | Wheeler’s Dwarf Japanese Mock Orange |
| Rhododendron ‘Mallotum’ | Mallotum Rhododendron |
| Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum | Pseudochrysanthum Rhododendron |
| Tropical and marginally hardy plants | |
| Alpina zerumbet `Variegata` | Variegated Ginger |
| Abutilon spp. | Chinese Bellflower |
| Brugmansia spp. | Angel’s Trumpet |
| Codiaeum variegatum | Croton |
| Punica granatum ‘Orange Blossom Special’ | Orange Blossom Special Dwarf Pomegranate |
| Edgeworthia chrysantha | Chinese Paper Bush |
| Rhododendron Sinogrande | Sinogrande Rhododendron |
| Perrenials | |
| Acanthus mollis | Bear’s Breeches |
| Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ | Lucifer Crocosmia |
| Helleborus ‘Jacob’ | Jacob Hellebore |
| Sagina subulata ‘aurea’ | Scotch Moss |
| Ferns | |
| Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’ | Brilliance Autumn Fern |
| Polystichum polyblepharum | Tassle Fern |
| Grass-like plants | |
| Acorus gramineus ‘Oborozuki’ | Golden Sweet Flag |
| acorus gramineus ‘ogon’ | Golden Dwarf Sweet Flag |
| Carex trifida ‘Rekohu Sunrise’ | Variegated Tataki Grass |
| Liriope muscari ‘Big Blue’ | Big Blue Lilyturf |
| Phormium ‘Wings of Gold’ | New Zealand Flax |
| Yucca aloifolia ‘purpurea’ | Purple Leaf Spanish Dagger |
| Bulbs | |
| Hyacinth ‘Carnegie’ | Carnegie Hyacinth |
| Narcissus ‘Tiritomba’ | Tiritomba Split Cup Daffodil |
| Lilium ‘Venezuela’ | Venezuela Oriental Lily |
| Lilium ‘Montenegro’ | Monte Negro Asiatic Lilly |
| Narcissus ‘Double Beauty’ | Double Beauty Double daffodil |
| Narcisiss ‘ Tritomba’ | Tritomba Double Daffodil |
| Tulipa ‘Frohnleiten’ | Frohnleiten Tulip |
Organized under Design Style, Gardens, Northwest Flower & Garden Show. Labeled as foliage texture and color, Garden Design, Landscape Architecture, landscape design, Northwest Flower & Garden Show.
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