Ideas From Flower Show Displays

This post was written after a visit to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle. Spring flower shows have an assortment of display gardens and vendors, and all are a chance to forget what winter has delivered and welcome the return of the growing season. While every flower show has its own character and regional flavor, the displays offer many opportunities to get our creative juices flowing. Flower show gardens are not realistic, of course. They are usually crammed with far more plants than you’d actually put in a landscape, for one thing. Since these events are usually in the spring the display gardens are also filled with only spring flowering plants. In our own landscapes we would like to have plants that bloom in all seasons of the year, so that we can be surrounded by as many flowers as possible. The displays we see at a flower show are also a bit more dramatic than we want in our front or backyards; they are stage sets, not landscapes. But we can take ideas and inspiration from these displays nevertheless.

What are some take-away tips you could gain from this dramatic display?

1. Notice the use of different colors and textures of green shrubbery. Even when these plants are similar in height, having a variety of shades of green, and a variety of textures, makes this landscape interesting.
2. Dwarf iris are used here to simulate a stream. Something similar could be designed in a private landscape using a combination of rocks and the long-flowering annual Scaevola. Note that the “stream” varies in width just as a natural body of water does, and it meanders back and forth instead of flowing in a straight line. If you’re designing a dry stream bed or a simulated planting, make the lines flow naturally.
3. Rocks or other solid objects are the perfect contrast for the fine textures of plants. Use rocks, a birdbath, garden ornaments or benches to provide focal points and a place for the eye to rest.

Here are just a few ideas that the Maker’s Garden sparks:

If you have a covered porch, consider putting a hutch or shelf unit there for holding pots, ornaments and a display of plants.

Create a garden area for writing and making crafts or art. There is nothing like nature for getting the creative juices going.

See the bundles herbs hanging from the line? Don’t they look sweet? You can do the same using herbs from your garden, or you could put up a line where bunches of plants could be hung just for ornament.

There are dozens of ideas to be harvested at flower shows; go with a notepad and camera.