Attending the Northwest Flower & Garden Show has become a beloved annual tradition in our family. This year, it took place during the last weekend in February, and we scheduled our late-afternoon Saturday visit around a lecture my dear friend and gardening and home-design expert Debra Prinzing was presenting.

Entitled, Channel Your Inner Floral Designer: Four Seasons of Beautiful Bouquets, Debra spent her alloted hour showing us inspired and inspiring floral arrangements she had photographed for her latest book, “Slow Flowers: Four Seasons of Locally Grown Bouquets from the Garden, Meadow, and Farm.”

Here are some of the photos I snapped as we made our way around the impressive and expansive, award-winning gardens on the main floor, as well as the numerous vendor booths and two of our personal favorites–the Ikebana and Orchid Society displays.

I love the way food is the focus in these gorgeous metal and acrylic vases. I took home a long, tall version, and can’t wait to start experimenting with new floral arrangements!

How serene and calming is this gorgeous yellow-orchid and dark-wood bonsai?!?! How does the flower get water, I wonder?

Gotta love these rose and celadon Cymbidium orchids!

This baby photographed blue, but it was really a deep purple color.

One of the main reasons I like to go to the Flower & Garden Show is to make use of one of my favorite iPhone apps, Hipstamatic. This shot above, Spiky White Orchids, seems so lace-y and dream-like, thanks to Hipstamatic.

The theme of this year’s show was Hollywood, and we were drawn to this homage to The Hobbit in one of the major gardens. This and all the remaining shots were taken with the Hipstamatic app.

I love the sheer whimsy of  Teddy Bear Tea Party.

This is Green Slippers.

As a writer, I just couldn’t resist this shot. I remember the Smith-Corona my mother gave me right before I left for college. It served me well writing many a term paper, as well as short stories and poems. Thanks for encouraging my creativity, Mom!