But we got there. We went before in 2013. It's a little crazy - lots of vendors selling garden related and not-so-related stuff. (Like rain gutters with screening to keep the leaves out, and hot tubs, hazel nut shells for garden paths. ) There was lots of candy and artsy stuff as well. But there were also lots of bulbs and tubers and potted plants for sale.
These metal and glass insects were the most dazzling things I saw for sale. I was always a bug freak as a kid and my time in Thailand was highlighted in part by the abundance of magnificent insects, including scarab beetles like the one above. I've included the picture below so you can get some sense of the sizes.
Our six year old enjoyed trying out the trampoline (all zipped up inside of a net). The other part (well, besides food and winning a small pot with sprouting daffodils) was the display gardens. These are gardens designed specifically for the show that compete for prizes. There were 21. It wasn't the gardens so much, but the scavenger hunt for kids. She got a list of all the gardens and she had to find the model airplane in each garden. A few were out in plain sight, others were a little trickier.
This one - the Herban Sanctuary - is described in the program
"Shalimar"
Meanwhile, we went from garden to garden looking for the hidden airplanes. Some, like the one on the left, were almost invisible. This one is a black airplane in a dark tree. It's in the middle of the picture, but I can't even see it anymore - even when I enlarge it. But the young one was persistent and found them all.
It's a clever way for the Show to keep kids interested while the parents and grandparents are taking in the gardens, though we got hijacked into helping find planes.
These two were from "Orchids in Balance."
"Imagining Ireland: Myth, Magic and Mystery" featured a rainbow of primroses which had a pot of gold at the end (the bright yellow just to the right of the leprechaun house on the left.) This one had the airplane flying out in the open on a steel frame. And one of the creator's relatives didn't like it particularly, so he made two more much fancier model planes to fly with it. And my plane collector was rewarded with a bit of gold from the end of the rainbow.
In San Francisco's Japanese Garden we were shown a 400 year old bonsai tree. Since San Francisco isn't nearly that old, and the Japanese garden is much younger, I asked. It had been begun in Japan long ago and brought over much later.
So when I saw this 520 year old Alaska Yellow Cedar, it didn't make sense. How would a Japanese gardener get such a tree 500 years ago? It turns out, the tree is that old, but it's only been 'in captivity' we were told for a much shorter time. It was a natural bonsai found in the wild. It was only after we left for home that I began thinking about people digging up 500 year old trees in the wild to display as bonsais. Are people really allowed to go into forests and mountains and dig up these ancient trees? Do they need permits? Are there limits on how many can be "captured"?
Our six year old enjoyed trying out the trampoline (all zipped up inside of a net). The other part (well, besides food and winning a small pot with sprouting daffodils) was the display gardens. These are gardens designed specifically for the show that compete for prizes. There were 21. It wasn't the gardens so much, but the scavenger hunt for kids. She got a list of all the gardens and she had to find the model airplane in each garden. A few were out in plain sight, others were a little trickier.
This one - the Herban Sanctuary - is described in the program
"You're stepping into the year 2050, with the urban center of Seattle serving as the 'sci-fi like' setting. But rays of hope and positivity abound: medicinal and edible plants are integrated into a planting scheme emphasizing native plant material And resident have fully embraced clean energy, with use of solar panels and cooker. A unique feature: a tent that serves as a central gathering place for inspiration and healing. . . "
"Now a UNESCO world heritage site, these splendid gardens were laid out as a Persian "paradise garden." [Now in Lahore, Pakistan] Constructed in `1641, they are representation of an earthly utopia where humans co-exist in perfect harmony with all elements of nature."
It's a clever way for the Show to keep kids interested while the parents and grandparents are taking in the gardens, though we got hijacked into helping find planes.
These two were from "Orchids in Balance."
"Imagining Ireland: Myth, Magic and Mystery" featured a rainbow of primroses which had a pot of gold at the end (the bright yellow just to the right of the leprechaun house on the left.) This one had the airplane flying out in the open on a steel frame. And one of the creator's relatives didn't like it particularly, so he made two more much fancier model planes to fly with it. And my plane collector was rewarded with a bit of gold from the end of the rainbow.
This dragon was part of "Mystic Garden" a beautiful Chinese style garden.
In San Francisco's Japanese Garden we were shown a 400 year old bonsai tree. Since San Francisco isn't nearly that old, and the Japanese garden is much younger, I asked. It had been begun in Japan long ago and brought over much later.
So when I saw this 520 year old Alaska Yellow Cedar, it didn't make sense. How would a Japanese gardener get such a tree 500 years ago? It turns out, the tree is that old, but it's only been 'in captivity' we were told for a much shorter time. It was a natural bonsai found in the wild. It was only after we left for home that I began thinking about people digging up 500 year old trees in the wild to display as bonsais. Are people really allowed to go into forests and mountains and dig up these ancient trees? Do they need permits? Are there limits on how many can be "captured"?
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