Flower and Garden Show

         I went to the Flower and Garden Show in Seattle with my in-laws yesterday. My father-in-law is a Master Gardener and is active in the local group here in Whatcom County. He asked me to go along in the bus they chartered and spend the day looking at flowers. It sounded like a fun time but there was one little thing. I don't really garden. It's not that I don't like to garden, it's just that a million other things occupy my time and I feel like I've no time left over to weed, plant, water, arrange and beautify the earth outside my door. BUT...I appreciate those that do. It's a wonderful hobby. I just don't think I have much of a green thumb. I feel intimidated over making a wrong choice and weeding a flower, or worse yet...watering a weed. But I went along with some hopes of being inspired.

     I sat with a nice lady in the back of the bus. It felt a little odd being so close to a stranger and she remarked that she imagined the seats would be further apart then they were. It was gong to be a long ride. It didn't take long though before she started chatting. The ice breaker was my chicken purse, of course....

  Where on earth did I get it, was it real rubber, and do I have chickens?

As always, my answers were, "My husband", "Yes", and "Sort of."

     Then the inevitable topic arose...gardening. I told her I couldn't recall having ever planted anything worth mentioning.

"Then why exactly are you on this bus?' she asked.

     I pointed to my in-laws sleeping peacefully in front of me. I explained I was invited. I told her I have five kids, so a day out alone would be nice, even if I was not inclined to mulch or fertilize. We then talked about her snow shoeing hobby, and that sounded like a blast to me. I made a mental note to check into it. I told her about my chickens, and showed her pictures of my kids and forgot to ask to see pictures of hers. When we got there I told her to have a ball and made my way into the Convention Center.


     I must say, it was quite impressive! Each display was beautiful. The theme for the show was, A Floral Symphony. It was hard to imagine the work involved in creating twenty five full scale yard displays. It takes well over a million dollars just to create it. I was amazed at the detail involved. I tried to remember to take some pictures so I could blog about it. I will show you all the pictures I took. HA.

    There were people there who were so serious about their photos, tripods and all.....and I leave with this?

     We had a nice lunch after looking at the displays then walked through the vendor area. I saw a display of miniature plants on a pallet. They were so cute! The lady working there told me those plants never grow any bigger and they are perfect to plant in glass ariums. Now THAT I could handle.

      Besides, I love miniature things, and a miniature garden sounded adorable. So I bought some flowers for Autumn and an air plant for Chase. I knew he would love it because it  looked like it was from outer space.


     At the end of the day we hauled our treasures back to the bus and thankfully sat down for the ride home. I was tired. But those ladies coming onto that bus were pretty hyped up. They must have had lots of coffee, because they were talking a mile a minute about all of the things they bought. My seat mate asked me what I purchased. I happily pulled out my two inch plant and told them I was going to plant it inside a glass ball!
Scott's mom cracked up across the aisle. Here I was, in the middle of a bunch of MASTER GARDENERS, and I was all proud of my scrappy little pot of flowers. I keep laughing every time I think of it.

Tomorrow I will post the kids creations.

I am telling you, it's gonna be EPIC.