Hungry for spring?
A buffet awaits.
“Taste of Spring” is the theme of the Northwest Flower &Garden Show, which starts Wednesday at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
There will be festive “plant, grow and eat” elements throughout the show, billed as the second largest in the nation, which runs through Feb. 26.
The show attracts a swarm of people, many who come every year as a rite of spring. More than 60,000 people are expected to attend. Part of the fun is feeling the energy of so many garden enthusiasts under one roof.
Peruse the marketplace with 350 vendors. Attend a few or a few dozen of the 110 seminars and demonstrations. Wander through the 22 display gardens that will make you green with envy.
Seventy-two hours: That’s all the time that display garden creators have to turn their bare, flat, lifeless concrete space into a blooming garden paradise.
Check out “Bugs’ Abode: #Lifeunderthelettuceleaf” created by Gold Bar’s Fancy Fronds Nursery. It takes a cartoon-like approach, showing both a bug’s eye view of the human-sized world and a level where the insect world is magnified. See our insect friends at work. “Sanitation engineers” — a motley crew of beetles, centipedes, worms and the like — hang out in the Compost Café. Colorful “bug hotels” contain habitat materials to entice insects to reside in the garden.
Farmer Frog in Everett created a garden titled “Honey! We Shrunk the Farm: Urban Farming in Style” that includes a chicken coop where you can pick up a few eggs laid by one of the backyard hens.
“Herbal Remedy — the Cure for Cabin Fever” by Stone Works &Co in Arlington is described as having flowering tulips, hyacinths, narcissus and other bulbs emerging from a winter’s sleep to form a bold kaleidoscope of blues, yellows, oranges, purples and greens. Step from a Tuscan-style patio into the garden for herbs and edibles and prepare meals by the fireplace.
The show is a chance to hear national and regional experts and also see local gardening luminaries such as Ciscoe Morris, Lucy Hardiman, Jessi Bloom, Sue Goetz, Debra Prinzing and Richie Steffen.
Come to look, shop, learn, dream, eat and drink. Concessions include beer and wine.
Talks include everything from birds and bees to roses and cocktails.
Seminars are included in admission. Drinks aren’t.
Andrea Brown at 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.
By the numbers
1989: The first year of the Northwest Flower &Garden Show, now in the 29th year.
$2 million: Combined total retail value of show gardens on display each year.
15: Number of awards given to show gardens (in addition to gold, silver or bronze medals). Judging begins at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, the day before the show opens.
200,000: Weight in pounds of the rocks and boulders placed in the elaborate show gardens each year by Marenakos Rock Center.
60: The number of dump trucks filled with dirt and mulch that Sawdust Supply will bring into the convention center to form the foundation of the display gardens.
20,000: Individual bulb flowers are on display.
60,000-plus: The number of visitors expected to pass through the gates this year.
74: Number of speakers at the 2017 show.
17: Number of U.S. states and other countries speakers are from.
Source: Northwest Flower &Garden Show
If you go
The Northwest Flower &Garden Show is Feb. 22 to 26, Washington State Convention Center, 705 Pike St., Seattle.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $22 at the door. Show passes for five days are $70.
Ages 13 to 17 are $5; 12 and younger are free.
More at www.gardenshow.com.
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