There were about 25 demonstration gardens for us to look at. This year's theme was Art in the Garden (I think).Glass Houses. . .
I was fascinated with the glass sarracenia (pitcher plants) display garden.
This one really was our favorite - the glass looks like super-sized pitcher plants.
Sooooo many great ideas
Wouldn't this look great in a koi pond? (especially my koi pond)
Asian Style GatesThis garden was a happy surprise. We've been talking about adding this kind of gate to our garden entry, but hadn't found a good example in the scale similar to our yard. This is exactly what we were looking for.
The back fence was also really beautiful and gave us some additional ideas.
And then there are the cool conifers. I've started getting into conifers lately (not literally, because they are pokey), so I find myself fascinated by all the new colors and textures tht are available. This display had a little bit of everything.
Another display had a red gate with a slightly different approach to the same gate style.
Ever wonder what to do with that dead tree you have laying aound? How about adding a splash of blue, white and purple paint?
Who'd have thought you'd find that in a garden. Can't say its a bad idea, just one I would not have thought of on my own.
Well this is a cool idea for plant markers.
I have rocks all over the place and these labels are really easy to read - talk about creating an 'organic' look using an inorganic material (that would be a rock for those that don't remember science class)
Hmmmm, this was an interesting display - lots of stumps and rocks of assorted sizes.
We thought this one was alot of fun. It was an interesting collection of glass, stone and metal.
Though I'd love to have some of this artwork, the large metal sculpture is a little too big to fit in the yard - and I'm not going to fire up a torch and do this kind of project right now.The glass plants were very cool. They looked like Dr Seuss plants, which are always very appealing to us, especially the green horn shaped ones.
I also really like the way they did the glass bamboo. I've looked at those for a couple years now and at some point I'll break down and start collecting them slowly.
We loved these (the artist is Kevin Russell) and I'd really like to have one or two. Doesn't everyone need a few neon jellyfish??
The sky-bridge had some mini-gardens displayed. I liked these glass vases. I just saw some empty ones the other day and wasn't sure what one would do with them. Thinking these may make really nice gifts in the future. They look pretty easy to make.
This is the sort of thing I should not see at a garden show, but I immediately start searching the web for one. If only I had a pile of spare 'copper downspout cash' floating around, because I would love to have one of these. It really is way too cool.
I'm now kicking myself for taking a photo and not finding the card for the company that makes/sells these. The copper wheel in the center spins with the water flow and this would look great on our deck above the rain barrel.
Shopping at the Show
You can't go to a national garden show without shopping, right? Right! There weren't as many plant vendors as there used to be, but we wonder if it is because this year's show was so early in February and everyone's plants are not ready to sell yet. Not everyone is willing to keep their plants in a "cool, but not too cold" place while they wait for spring to show up.
Ozothamnus coralloides
Cool plant, huh?? It's a little green, a little white, a little slick and a little fuzzy. It looks like a cactus, but it isn't. It looks like a succulent, but I don't think it is. This won't get too big, only about 15" tall and more shrubby looking over time. I guess I better do more research before I turn this little guy loose in the yard.
Thujopsis dolabrata 'Aurea' (Aka Golden Elkhorn Cedar)
My husband says I love this tree because it looks like a big fern. Wish I could say he was wrong, but once again he hit the nail on the head.
Our new little Golden Joy Heath. The plant is about a foot tall right now, but it turns out that this is a 'tree heath'. That means this quiet little plant is going to grow into a 6 foot tall monster in a few years. Apparently there is a difference between Heath and Heather. We don't actually know the difference, other than one is a girls name and one is a boys name. This one appears to be the boy.
Our other new one is Winter Fire Heather, so it must be a girl. It has not flowered out yet, but that's ok. The ones that were forced for the show were really beautiful, so we're excited to have these.
It sounds like these will take off sometime next month and put on a show until May.
Arisaemas!! (Aka, Jack-in-the-Pulpits)
OK, so I already have griffithii, but mine was lonely, so I got him a friend to hang out with. In truth, I'd like a little flock of them, so I'm going to expand to 2 and see if they feel more confident in the garden and spread out.
We have tons of different strains, but this one is cool and I'd like to have more to look at.
This is our first tiny arisarum. Its not going to look like the others and hopefully it won't get lost in the hugeness that is the rest of the garden plants. Maybe I'll tuck it in near the tibetan poppies...hmmmm.
Toad Lilies!!
Some of us are hard core 'Toad Lily' people. I happen to have way too many of them in the garden, so of course I needed a few more. This year Edelweiss www.edelweissperennials.com had several interesting toads that I don't already have, so I put in a little extra time in their area. Last year I bought the prettiest Dodecatheons and look forward to seeing them again this year.
I've been looking for this big 'Tricyrtis Woodland' for a while now. Because everyone needs a 4' tall Toad Lily dominating their yard.
The 'Tricyrtis maculata' looked nice. I don't have alot of the really tall toads, and this one looks nice. I'll start it this month so it has a jump on things this spring.
Yeah, this 'Tricyrtis formosa Blushing Toad' is a smaller one, but who can resist blue flowers liek this? I never get tired of looking at the structure of these flowers - there is so much going on in that tiny flower that it is just amazing.
Veggies!!!
This year we're going to try out some different strains of onion, shallot, garlic and potatoes.The white Ailsa Craig onions are supposed to get huge, so we'll see how that works out.
White Cipollini are sweet and about the size of a golf ball. It sounds like they are great for roasting - yum!
Candy Apple Red onions should be sweeter than normal reds, but it sounds like they don't keep in the pantry as well. Maybe these will get flash frozen this year.
We also picked up some Holland Red shallots and some Early Italian Purple garlic.
We're going to have a ton of potatoes this year - 5 different strains this time. We got a blue, a red, a yellow, a white and a russet. Some get big, some are late, some are early - so we'll do some potato experiments and see how things go.
Potatoes: Cherry Red, Russet Norkotah, All Blue, Kennebec and German Butterball.
Red Fuchsia Begonia
Yes, this is an outside plant. It's a Fuchsia Begonia. It's not too tough, but worth the effort, if you get a chance to try one. They can get 4' tall over the summer and are very cool looking. We normally have one on the patio during the summer.
I was happy to get one again this year. Its an annual in our area but I'll bring this one indoors next winter and see if I can grow it huge.
Just the planter I was looking for. . .
What luck, I've been looking for pots just like this. These are called Plantopia Hanging Baskets (http://www.plantopiaflowerpots.com/home2.html). They were really reasonable for what they do - only $12 each at the show (you can get them on Amazon for $14).
These are large planters with removable panels so you can insert plants and have them hang down.There is a reservoir at the bottom so the plants don't die of thirst in the sun.
We're going to mount these onto our plant posts this spring. I can't wait to give these a try.
Little Cement Koi
We stopped at our favorite statuary shop at the show. We usually get something from them every year - this time it was half price koi.
They're pretty small, only about 7" long, but they are multi-colored and very cute. They look drab because they are dry. They turn bright colors when they get wet.
So Much for Spring
On the drive home we were surprised with snow. Yep, it is early February and winter decided to come back and visit for a day or two. Unlike the rest of the country, we really haven't had winter here, so snow in February came as a surprise. This snow won't stay, it should be 44 degrees and rainy tomorrow, so this is just a quick blip on the radar.
In the mean time, I can do some research on what we bought today and figure out where to put this year's new plants.
