![Garden show 2014 purple shed northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-purple-shed.jpg)
Any of you who read my Northwest Notes blog with any regularity know how much I enjoy using the Hipstamatic app with my iPhone4.
Every year I look forward to the Northwest Flower & Garden Show with the proverbial bated breath, as much for a much-needed reminder of spring and the rebirth it promises, as the opportunity to experiment with my Hipstamatic app.
Above is a photo of a well-tricked-out greenhouse photographed using one (random) Hipstamatic lens combination. . below the very same shot with another randomly chosen option!
![Garden show 2014 purple shed northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-purple-shed-green.jpg)
Held at the Washington State Convention Center, this year’s show featured 23 display gardens, more than 120 seminars by gardening luminaries, and a Marketplace with more than 350 exhibitors. After several very pleasurable hours of walking around all the display gardens and shops, we were both starved and pooped!![Garden show 2014 red asian bridge northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-red-asian-bridge.jpg)
The theme of this year’s Flower & Garden Show was “Art in Bloom,” and the large and impressive garden displays never failed to deliver.
Asian was a big theme throughout, as evidenced by the vibrant red Asian bridge above. . .and gorgeous Asian entry gate below.
![Garden show 2014 asian door northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-asian-door.jpg)
![Garden show 2014 massive asian display northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Garden-show-2014-massive-asian-display.jpg)
Another Asian-inspired garden display replete with oodles of glass art. The scale was massive!
![Garden show 2014 zombies northwest wining and dining downtowns seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-zombies.jpg)
A bit of humor with an “In Case of Zombies” display.
![Garden show 2014 green white art glass northwest wining and dining downtowns seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-green-white-art-glass.jpg)
Stunning art glass designed for the garden by Jesse Kelly, glass artist and designer.
![Garden show 2014 green round art glass northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-green-round-art-glass.jpg)
Another vibrant display from Jesse Kelly.
![Garden show 2014 glass gecko two northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Garden-show-2014-glass-gecko-two.jpg)
More glass art, but a bit less apparent. Can you spot the gecko amidst the rocks in the stream?
![Garden show 2014 temple bell northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-temple-bell.jpg)
One of the display gardens that particularly caught my eye, an “Asian contemporary meditation garden” used “flowing space, natural elements, and sculptural structures to create an environmental-art experience,” according to the F&G Show program. It was designed by Mian Iftikhar Ahmed of Treeline Designz and featured an array of prayer wheels created by Chris Moench of Axis of Hope. . .
![Garden show 2014 buddha statute northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Garden-show-2014-buddha-statute.jpg)
centered by a giant buddha handcrafted from a single stone! This garden really was “an oasis of solitude allowing you to focus on the journey, not the destination.”
![Garden show 2014 you & i sign northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-you-i-sign.jpg)
And while the grammar might be wrong (it should read “You & Me,” not “You & I”), the sentiment could not be lost just a week before Valentine’s Day.
![Garden show 2014 asparagus northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-asparagus.jpg)
There were playful asparagus spears peering above the soil. . .
![Garden show 2014 yellow flowers northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-yellow-flowers.jpg)
More beautiful flowers of every possible type than you could believe. . .
![Garden show 2014 Phalaenopsis orchids northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Garden-show-2014-phaenopserus-orchids.jpg)
Including lascivious live orchids in the “50 Shades of Orchids” display. . .
![Garden show 2014 glass art spheres northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-glass-art-spheres.jpg)
And glass globes in a gurgling basin.
![Garden show 2014 exotic bird northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-exotic-bird.jpg)
An exotic bird guarded a geometric pile of eggs (note the bird feeder on the pole in the background!). . .
![Garden show 2014 giant metal chickens northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-giant-metal-chickens.jpg)
While a flock of metal chickens clamored for a new home.
![Garden show 2014 seahawks diorama northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-seahawks-diorama.jpg)
Even our very own Seattle Seahawks were represented in an adorable living miniature garden by Two Green Thumbs.
![Garden show 2014 pussy willows northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-pussy-willows.jpg)
I loved the interplay of textures and colors captured in this shot of some of the live flowers that were for sale. . .
![Garden show 2014 sunflowers in round basin northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-sunflowers-in-round-basin.jpg)
And the country-French feel of seven simple sunflowers in a terra-cotta basin.
![Garden show 2014 cabinets northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-cabinets.jpg)
A cabinet full of gardening books and supplies. . .
![Garden show 2014 art supplies northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-art-supplies.jpg)
A table top designed for nature enthusiasts and sketch artists. . .
![Garden show 2014 art supplies two northwest wining and dining downtown seattle website link](http://www.northwestwininganddining.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/garden-show-2014-art-supplies-two.jpg)
And finally full circle with inspiration from the “Art in Bloom” theme just waiting to be captured.