The Northwest Flower and Garden Show
The Seattle Garden show, officially the Northwest Garden Show, is an annual and welcome February event. Going on right now (in 2004) from Wednesday the 4th through Sunday the 8th, in the Convention Center, it is the third largest such show in North America!
We go, again this year, on the Garden Bus, led by The Peninsula Daily's News' Garden editor, Andrew May. Last year, many of the florists' displays at the entrance to the Show carried out the theme of "Fiesta Botanica", using imaginative props. The display gardens, as usual, show a lot of imagination. My favorite was the serene Bamboo Garden. And I always enjoy the ikebana and orchid sections, upstairs.
Other imaginative displays included a garden living wall- a good idea that can add some color to my fences if I can get it to work.
There were many many garden-related vendors at the Show. Ornaments, accessories, tools, seeds, plants, bulbs - dahlias and lillies which do so well on this Peninsula, even trees - all can be purchased and many vendors feature special Show Prices which make shopping for your garden here such a bargain. If you go: Tickets are available locally at McComb Nursery and it is best to have those tickets in hand Before You Get There! The lines are long... and the show is crowded. There's a cut-rate price after 3 p.m. on each day of the show. Photos of this year's show will be posted as soon as I get back - Wednesday night!
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Many of the sets were not only a treat for the eye, but also for the nose as the garden's creators worked their magic through fragrance. They also stirred up a few ideas - making a frame for some expensive tilework so that the path to your door can be moved, when you move... |
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Most of the displays had some sort of water feature- some more elaborate than others... but all enhancing their garden's mood. |
Upstairs on the 6th floor are the Ikebana, bonsai and orchid shows. Many of the groups and societies in the area also had displays and information there. The show also had many lecturers and seminars available on a first-to- come -gets-a -seat basis. |
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The vendors area was expanded this year, and felt a lot less claustrophobic. The aisles are wider, there's more people room. The show seems just as busy though. It is because they have expanded the vendor space available. Some of the yard art caught my eye - the glazed potteryware, the metallic windvanes, wooden decks and gazebos, and tools of all sort, not to forget the plants,seeds, and bulbs available. It was a gardener's paradise! |
The really hot news in town this week is that Wal-Mart is planning a superstore for Sequim on Washington Street off Priest Road- utilizing the River Road exit off Highway 101. They have purchased 37.5 acres and will have to upgrade Priest Road to accomodate the expected traffic. And look for a traffic light. This is to be a huge building- 118,000 square feet of retail space - and a 76,000 square-foot grocery store. It should employ about 200 people, when completed- which is scheduled for August 2004.
hmmm...Well... they just got their permit from the city and have some legal things to clear up yet- and this is the end of January 2004.
The Sequim Gazette has more information about the proposed superstore. And more of the same: across Washington Street from Wal-Mart will be another still-only-proposed large shopping mall- and it is rumored to include a Home Depot as an anchor store. Plus, quietly, the one by the Sequim Avenue and Hammond street Bell Creek area is also proceeding - it's to have a Fred Meyer anchor.
These announcements have brought passionate discussions, created citizens' groups, and generated talk of lawsuits, all over town...
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deebrrs@sequimjournal.com
© Helen Hille and deebrrs, 2004
Last updated February 19, 2004
