"Resonating with Sounds of Nature" Display Garden by Sublime Garden Design, 2012
Like many of my fellow Seattleites and garden nuts, I spent a couple days at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show last week. During this time, I tried to pick up on the garden zeitgeist for the year, but this year it was difficult to detect. Unlike last year, when vertical gardens were all the rage, this year there were hardly any to be seen. There was still an emphasis on edible gardens, as evident in the seminar titles. And a plethora of Hellebores. But overall, this year felt like it was struggling to find definition, and find a cause. Nevertheless, there were some impressive gardens. I always like to predict who the People’s Choice Award will go to, and this year it was a tie (in my head) between the garden featured above, and the one entitled “Rock & Roll Meets Heavy Metal” (I base it on what I think the general public is attracted to on a gut level). So I was delighted to discover that one of my own predictions did win the People’s Choice Award, the garden by Sublime Garden Design. One of the reasons I personally liked this project was because it dealt with the theme of the garden show-“A Floral Symphony”- in a very elegant way. Whereas other display gardens featured a live pianist, a guitarist, a banjo on a seat, this garden used delicate drops of water to make sculptural drums resonate below. It was a lot less literal of an interpretation of the theme of music, which I commend.
Using Drops of Water from above to Make Drums Resonate
I also think the winding stone path leading to a dimly lit pergola with a glass fire feature provided an element of mystery. Not sure if this was also part of its appeal, but one bystander commented that it was “Survivor” themed, which hadn’t crossed my mind. It was probably due to the outdoor furniture with a tribal looking carved motif. Overall, I’m happy this garden was recognized by the people, even though they might have liked it for other reasons than my own.
~ Erin
Another View of the Garden by Sublime Garden Design
