Northwest Flower and Garden Show Recap

Just to start us off...Crops for Clunkers. We loved this garden. The chicken run was on the driver's side and the nesting box was accessable from the passenger side window. You can read more about this project at The Seattle Urban Farm Company.

The theme for the show this year was Sustainability. Seattle Tilth has been a pioneer in that realm for ages. And designer Jessica Bloom created a beautiful "Family's Little Farm in the City' complete with goats and chickens.

Two innovative planter systems: Coldframe and a raised bed from concrete and old bottles. Both will capture heat for your plants.

And a beautiful rain chain made from cut-off blue bottles.

We saw this wall structure throughout the gardens. Handsome and practical.

I have loved the JohnBob Cool Junk booth for years. We finally got to rub shoulders with these two at Farm Chicks last year and that makes me love their booth even more.

Beautiful vintage goods and great presentation.

This booth made us stop in our tracks. Each Rotoluxe planter is made of recycled plastic and made in the Pacific Northwest. Durable, attractive, lightweight and a great product. Visit their website for more information.

Fun container exhibit vignette by Sunnyside Nursery.

So now you can sit in your easy chair, puruse gardening magazines and dream of your garden possibilities. -- Lisa

PS...thanks to Beth for the great photos and a super duper presentation of Outdoor Entertaining Salvage Style. She rocked the room!

Friday Fun at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show

Here’s a sneak peek of a new creation for my upcoming seminar at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show.  I’ll be there Friday, 12:30 p.m. in the Hood Room.

I am really tickled with this idea for a Junk Bar – a picnic cooler for your beverage, a meat grinder holding your bar towel, a Christmas tree stand for your ice bucket and more!  There will be pretty pictures, lots of helpful info, and I hope plenty of chuckles.  Lisa will be there as my technical goddess.

We would love to see you!

Freshed Up Front Porch

We have a gigantic porch.  It is fairly well protected from the weather and it is a whole lot of fun to decorate!  It was dressed to the nines for the holidays.  Once that got all put away, it was time for a simpler look.  I had lots of red pieces before.  Here it is looking quite patriotic. Whites and creams are calling my name these days.  Between the Barn House boys and Rachel Ashwell’s new Shabby Chic look influencing me, I am embracing neutrals more and more.

The shorter white table moved from inside the house to the outside.  I’m happy with how its’ shape pops against the grey wall and cement landing.

The rocker and bench went from red painted finishes to off white.  In the next post, I’ll show my favorite new product for smudging up the finish just right.

And my porch’s new look has come in very handy as a backdrop for shooting pictures of outdoor entertaining pieces I am including in the presentation for the Flower and Garden Show.  I have tried taking pictures on our open deck and found the weather challenging, if not darn right uncooperative.  One morning was clear but the wood deck was doubling as a skating rink.  Today we woke up to find it covered in fir needles and debris from a wind storm.

So yippee, for that nice, covered porch! -- Beth

Flower & Garden Show Sneak Peek

I am very excited and honored to be speaking at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show on Friday, Feb. 5 at 12:30 p.m. in the Hood Room.  I’ll be showing pictures and talking about Outdoor Entertaining Salvage Style.  Today I made some serving pieces for a photo shoot on our deck.  The bowl parts are ceiling fixture glass shades – perfect for this project because the center hole is already made.  And they can be found at thrift stores in some kicky patterns.

For the bases, I had these wood basket things, that I painted with a thin coat of white.  Even though I made pilot holes before drilling, one got a big crack.  Oh well.

I used extra lamp parts to connect everything together.  Lamps are the best organ donors ever for these sorts of projects!  I used a small section of threaded rod, a lamp nut and a vintage finial.

This tool box works really well for organizing all those swell lamp pieces.

Now to wait for a few hours of simultaneous daylight and no rain for some picture taking outside.   Wish me luck on that part! -- Beth

Mark your 2010 Calendar

A nice and chubby envelope arrived recently from the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. The first piece of good news is the show has new owners, and will continue as one of the best flower and garden shows in our country. Next year’s dates are February 3-7. The second piece of good news is I will be speaking on Outdoor Entertaining Salvage Style on February 5 at 12:30 p.m. Last year I felt like I had received a promotion, as I was placed in one of the big seminar rooms. This upcoming assignment even has a terrific time. Lisa loves to joke that I have been the dinner show the last few years!

This photo is a preview of one of the outdoor entertaining areas I shot this summer. Lots of ooh la la! I’ll share a variety of decorating styles with lots of handy dandy tips and advice.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show Fabulousness

We had a blast at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show last Friday! Thank you to everyone who turned out to hear about Salvage Savvy in the Rainier Room.

It was such a fun group!

Lisa and I and our husbands got to the show early in the afternoon to visit the gardens and take a gander at all the vendors.

We got a big kick out of seeing "our" planter chair in front of this garden shed. The theme of this garden was Reclaim, Recreate, Rejuvenate designed by Lucinda McMahan of Lucinda Landscapes and Kerry Sexton-Smith of Walden Garden Services.

Pamela Richards' garden is always one of my favorites. These splendid maple trees are Acer circinatum 'Pacific Fire'.

We got a big kick out of this container garden display.

The following pictures are from our favorite garden, designed by Rebecca Cole. There was a constant line waiting to walk through her imaginative display, so I had to snap pictures on the fly.

Here is a wonderful sedum rug under the glass table.

Loved the bases of these benches and table.

Fantastic metal planter boxes.

These indoor/outdoor tiles were captivating. This pattern, Flower Power, designed by Rebecca, is available nationwide by Imagine Tile.

And the best green wall at the show!

Salvage Savvy

In the Pacific Northwest we are lucky to host the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Sadly, this may be its last year. But just as we are hopeful that the daffodils are going to bloom we are hopeful that the show will also reinvent itself and continue on. Seems to be a theme for 2009, huh?

Beth will be presenting a slideshow at the F&G Show on Friday, February 20 at 5:15 on Salvage Savvy! It is sure to be informative and entertaining! After that we will be signing our book at the University Bookstore booth.

Come on out and breathe in spring!