Wednesday was the first day of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show and Hubby and I had tickets. I drove us up to Seattle that morning and promptly got us caught in the Seahawks parade traffic. Just exiting the freeway took a ridiculously long time. By the time we'd gotten downtown, all of the parking garages were full. All of them. Vacant parking spaces had ceased to exist ... and probably hadn't existed for hours. Without anyplace to leave our car, there was just no way we were going to get to see the garden show that day. Hours of unplanned-for travel time had already been subtracted from the total amount of time we would've been able to spend at the show. The first of the seminars I'd wanted to attend had already started. The show was going on without us! And here we were, barely moving but unable to stop.
Nuts.
Eventually, I found myself turning a blind corner onto ... a northbound ramp to the freeway! Freedom regained, Plan B was suddenly born. To the University Village we would go. To drink tea and eat gourmet cupcakes and peruse the shops until we got bored. Our tickets were still good for any one day of the garden show. We could go tomorrow! Everything was going to be just fine.
... And while we were at the U Village, we saw what goodies Ravenna Gardens has to offer in the wintertime. We pored over the heucheras and the hellebores and the ferns and the false cypresses. We flipped through the books on hiking and vegetable growing and backyard chicken raising. We admired the fancy gardening tools and the artful glass containers and the expensive potting sheds. Ah, what luxury!
Then we snapped pictures of a few of the container plantings around the Village before we headed back home to sleep. See? It was like our own little garden show ... just not the garden show.
 |
| Ferns 'n' stuff. A warm-looking combo in the bright sun of a freezing winter afternoon. |
 |
| Evidence that heuchera can be a great filler and spiller in a container. Bit of a purple theme here. |
 |
| Christmas camellia, ivy and black mondo grass. Great contrast. |
 |
| Hellebores aaaaand ... not sure if those are dogwoods or japanese maples. Brilliant neon winter bark, anyway. |
Then off home and to bed we went, plans for the morrow planted firmly in our minds. Goodnight, Seattle! We'll be seeing you again very soon.
You poor things- thank goodness you aren't too far to just go back the next day. Tim and I wanted so much to be at that very parade but we knew we'd never make it up in time to snag a parking spot unless we left at 3am- which is NOT an option! But UVillage is a good use of your time! Beautiful plantings there- especially against that blue sky. Hope the real flower show was wonderful!
ReplyDelete