Northwest Flower & Garden Festival - Taste of Spring

Welcome to my first “Taste Garden” post. It’s an idea I’ve been exploring for a while, and when I realized one of my favorite events, The Northwest Flower and Garden Festival, was just around the corner, I knew it was the right time to roll out this new culinary garden series.

In 2017 I converted my backyard into an edible garden, and it’s been one of the most positive and rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. Goodbye grass, hello containers and mounded beds teeming with fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables.

That was also the first year I attended the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival, a popular five-day event located in Seattle’s Washington State Convention Center.

I was drawn to the show’s theme: “Taste of Spring” which the official show guide described as “celebrating food, embracing trends in organic and urban gardening, sustainability, culinary experiences, and outdoor living.” Right up my alley!

Now it’s that time of year again, and as the winter hellebores peak and the spring bulbs begin to bloom, my thoughts turn to gardening, and my imagination begins to kick into high gear.

I’m headed back to the festival this week to gather new ideas and inspiration, and I look forward to sharing those highlights with you in an upcoming post.

In the meantime, I’ve selected a few images from that first garden festival. Here’s the 2017 Northwest Garden Festival’s Taste of Spring.

City Living – Taste of Spring

The City Living display impressed me from the start. In this showcase of ten outdoor living vignettes, each designer is given a 6’ x 12’ space to work with on the convention hall’s skybridge overlooking Pike Place Market and the Seattle Waterfront.

This year’s “Taste of Spring” theme was creatively integrated throughout the exhibit, and I came away with a myriad of ideas for my own back patio. Stunning color combinations, clever art installations, hanging herb gardens, unique containers, pollinator hotels, and more – so much talent on display!

Here are a few of my favorites…

Ma Petite Gardens

‘Food for Thought’ by Rocky Bay Creations

‘La Dolce Vita’ by Sky Nursery

‘Tasty Garden to Table’ by Country Garden Antiques

Nature’s Tapestry Landscape

Viero Studio Design

Display Gardens – Taste of Spring

Each year the festival showcases over 20 display gardens. Top nurseries and landscape designers from around the Pacific Northwest spend months creating their visions, and then have less than 72 hours to transform the empty convention center into a work of art.

As I wandered through the gardens, I was in awe of how the teams interpreted and brought this year’s theme to life.

A bug’s eye view with a compost café. A Japanese picnic beneath flowering cherry trees. An Italian villa surrounded by grape, fig, olive, and lemon trees. A Neapolitan pizzeria. A romantic dinner in the mountains located at the foot of a bubbling waterfall. A fanciful tea party. A rustic “pub shed” and cocktail garden. A garden wedding banquet set in a sea of flowering orchids. A 1960’s “mod” cocktail party. A Victory Garden celebrating fresh fruit and vegetables.

Here’s a little peek at their work…

‘Bugs Abode’ by Fancy Fronds Nursery

‘Savoring Spring’ by Washington Park Arboretum

‘Villa Primavera’ by Rich Landscaping, Inc.

‘Pizzeria – Decumani’ by Adam Gorski Landscapes, Inc.

‘An Evening in the Mountains’ by Choice Landscapes, LLC

‘Mochiwa Mochiya’ by Jefferson Sustainable Landscaping

‘Afternoon Tea with Mrs. Pumphrey’ by Susan Browne Landscape Design & Fancy Plants Gardens

‘Garden on Tap’ by Plantswoman Design, Inc.

‘Orchid Garden Wedding Banquet’ by Northwest Orchid Society

‘Mid-Mod-Mad…It’s Cocktail Hour’ by Father Nature Landscapes, Inc.

‘A Victory Garden’ by Dakara Landscape Design

Special Features and Events

And there’s even more…

The festival offers an extensive array of seminars that are free with your ticket purchase. I enjoyed listening to esteemed local restaurateurs Tom Douglas and Jackie Cross discuss their Prosser farm, and I also attended classes on growing edibles in containers, designing a bee-friendly garden, food pickling and fermentation, and kitchen garden design.

There are special events and exhibits offered throughout the show, including “Container Wars’ and ‘Garden Wars’ – where local celebrities and industry professionals battle it out in a friendly competition, a mouthwatering Bouquet of Cakes exhibit, and the Great Plant Picks exhibit where you can view plants specifically recommended for our Northwest maritime climate.

The Marketplace, with over 350 exhibitors, is a shopping paradise with everything a gardener could possibly want – unusual plants, beautiful nursery displays, and more. There’s also an eclectic collection of arts and crafts, a Tasting Corner with artisan food producers, and a Vintage Market packed full of antiques.

Here’s a small sampling of what’s on offer.