Spring Flower & Garden Show

Every year, Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, NY transforms their showroom to a gorgeous display of landscape plants and flowers right as old man winter is starting to release his grip. The annual Spring Flower and Garden show is the largest and most popular flower show on Long Island. For many local gardeners, this flower show is the official beginning of spring. 

Each year has a different theme and to be honest, I think some have been better than others. This year's theme is "Garden for Life: Discover Health and Wellness through the Joy of Gardening"  - how gardening can enhance your life, your neighborhood and the planet. I thought it was fantastic. 

There were four different garden displays: the Relaxation Garden, the Easy Garden, the Earth Friendly Garden and the Learning Garden.

The Relaxation Garden was like a tropical oasis in your own backyard:

Filled with Palms, Bromeliads, Croton, Gardenias, Orchids and other tropical plants, it was soothing just to look at it. An outdoor shower was on one end and a naturalistic seating area with a chiminea on the other. 

On the other side of the shower was a delightful and beautifully decorated fish pond, complete with water lillies, orchids and ferns:

I found myself imagining taking a rest on this love seat, breathing in the sweet scent of the nearby Heliotrope, and looking up at the magical colors of the stained class "ceiling" above:

The Easy Garden focused on planting the right plant in the right spot to make gardening easy for anyone. One half of the display showcased plants that enjoy and brighten up the shade:

Hostas, Coleus, Begonias, Ferns, Hellebores and Hydrangeas were among the many different colors and textures that enjoy a shady spot. 

The other half of the Easy Garden displayed plants that enjoy bright, sunny spots in your yard:

Knockout Roses, Salvia, Viburnum, Forsythia and Snapdragons were among some of the many plants displayed that enjoy a more sunny location.

The Earth Friendly Garden featured clever and innovative recycling ideas. Using sneakers as planters, an old dresser as a potting station and sunken tires as stepping stones, it enforced the idea that recycling and repurposing items into the garden can be fun and whimsical as well as economical.

My favorite was the artistic piece above the shed. At first I thought it was a clock, but then on closer inspection, I realized it was created using various colored gardening gloves with a bird house in the center. 

The Learning Garden was full of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables you can grow in your own backyard. The aim for this garden was to inspire families to get out into their gardens and plant their own food together. 

All in all, I thought it was a great show. I loved the theme and loved to see how different each of the gardens were. They provided a great many ideas, but even more so, it was a wonderful place to spend a few hours and daydream while the weather is still chilly outside.

Hicks Nurseries can be found at:
100 Jericho Turnpike, Westbury, NY 11590
www.hicksnurseries.com

The flower show is from March 7-23. Check it out!

Trains, Gardens and Hostas

Last month I visited an open house for the Long Island Garden Railway Society in Huntington, NY. My mom's cousin, together with her husband, have created a beautiful oasis in their small yard with running water, a pond, over 50 varieties of Hostas and other beautiful landscape plants. But the main centerpiece is the working railroad track throughout the back yard.

My son and nephew (age 4 and 3, respectively) were fascinated with the trains and especially loved watching them go in and out of the tunnels!

Though the yard was small, I was impressed with the variety of plants and the combinations of color and texture. Their front yard is enclosed by a white fence and instead of planting the garden along the house, they planted it along the fence. In doing this, they made this front yard seem like a small room, inviting to the visitor to wander or admire the garden from either the yard or the house. 

Along the side of the house, they made great use of the natural slope of the lawn by putting in a water feature. Part babbling brook and part waterfall, it flowed down into a small fish pond at the base of the slope.

I think garden statues and structures can be attractive if done correctly. I love it when they are almost hidden among a plant or a shrub. As if they were put there by the garden gnomes and fairies themselves. Can you spot the little fairy sitting on the curb in the photo below?

And did I mention the 50 varieties of Hostas?? This one had leaves that were bigger than my daughter's whole body! This big one looks like Hosta 'Sum and Substance'.

 

To find out more information about the Long Island Garden Railway Society, check out their website at: http://www.ligrs.com/

Private Gardens of Seattle

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Garden Bloggers Fling in Seattle, WA. Although many garden bloggers have been meeting in various cities for the past four years, this was my first time attending. It was wonderful to put faces to the blogs I read and to meet garden bloggers from all over the country - some blog for fun, some for professional reasons, some are garden book writers, some are photographers and some have jobs completely unrelated to gardening. But the common thread was the love of gardening, horticulture and landscape design.

Each of the four days was carefully planned by the Fling organizers so that we were able to see both private and public gardens in the Seattle area. I am excited to share with you my photos of the trip, but for the sake of space, I will divide the blog posts into sections. So be sure to come back to read it all!

Here are some of my personal favorites from the private gardens we visited:

Garden #1: Tucker Garden
Shelagh Tucker spent years working to turn her front yard into a xeriscape (a style of landscape design requiring little or no irrigation or other maintenance designed specifically to cope with dry conditions and for water conservation). The sun was shining down on her front yard, decorated with steps, stones and drought tolerant plants. 

In contrast, her backyard was lush with plants, grass and trees. My two favorites were a Dahlia and Clematis combination in a small courtyard:

And the pond:

Garden #2: Birrell Garden
Shelagh's next door neighbors, Suzette & Jim Birrell, had an equally impressive garden. A contrast to the xeriscape, Suzette's front yard was lush and overflowing with flowers, shrubs and trees. Every nook and cranny was planted with something beautiful. 

The backyard was curved, which gave the small space a comfortable feel. She had an impressive vegetable garden with peas, chard, cabbage, beets and artichokes - just to name a few! 

Although we were treated to blue skies on the day of our visit, the owners say the shed was painted bright blue after "the bluest skies you've ever seen" in Seattle. It must be lovely to look at that color on the gray and rainy days, I'm sure!
 

Garden #3: Epping Garden
The garden of Michelle and Christopher Epping is a past winner of the Pacific Northwest Gardens Competition (3rd place in 2007). Their home is located in Newcastle, just outside of Seattle, and sits on top of a hill. We were again treated with clear, sunny skies and from the house, we could see the Seattle skyline, Olympic Mountains and Lake Washington.

Their garden had many layers and paths winding all around the garden. Here are some of my favorite things from this garden:

Garden #4: Lane Garden
Nearly every inch of Denise Lane's one acre garden in Medina, WA was landscaped with plants, paths and unique garden accents. 
We enjoyed lunch on the the stone patio that was recently transformed from a pickle-ball court. The patio now features an outdoor kitchen, gas fire tables and multiple seating areas.

Her gardens had both sunny perennial beds and shady woodlands. I especially loved the beautiful displays of Calla Lilies and Astillbe:

The beautiful glass fiddleheads were created by glassblower Barbara Sanderson.

But my favorite was the "Ruins." Flowers dripped from the pillars above, and below, the water cascaded into the pond over a large stone leaf:

Have a look at this photo below. Can you spot me?

She had 3 long mirrors placed at the back of one flower bed. They provided an interesting perspective!

Garden #5: Edwards Forkner Garden
Lorene Edwards Forkner's garden was filled with eclectic garden accents, many of which she is highlighting in her upcoming book "Handmade Garden Projects: Step-by-Step Instructions for Creative Garden Features, Containers, Lighting and More".

Some of my favorite creations in her garden were these:

Rusted mailbox nestled among the Sisyrinchium striatum

Topiaries living in an old wagon

A terrarium inside an industrial sized light feature

Vintage travel trailer as a place to relax or entertain

Inside the travel trailer

Garden #6: Farley Garden
The last private garden we toured was the home of Kate Farley, a landscape designer, who specializes in garden structure. 
I was impressed with the tunnel she created in the front yard from her shrubs.

The potting shed in the backyard was furnished with vintage tools and found objects:

Walking around to the back of the house I was amazed at the show of color from the sunny bed filled with purple Delphinium, pale Phlox, magenta Poppies and orange Astromeria, set off by two purple trellis:

Nestled in the shade, an old tree house surrounds a tree trunk and is now covered in climbing rose branches:

Stay tuned for more from my Garden Blogger's Fling to Seattle - next I'll highlight some of the public gardens we visited!