This year's show in my opinion was awful. First and foremost I wasn't hit by that big overpowering burst of pollen the moment I entered the doors. Honestly in years past this was a huge problem. Cars featured at the show for you to win often had so much pollen coating them they emphasized every little finger print and flaw. So this year apparently they didn't bother using Hyacinths to their fullest potential. Or maybe someone changed the filter in the AC unit? Anyhow.
This year's theme was "Springtime in Paris," Now there are two major flaws with this title. The first being Springtime. So all you people expecting Grape Vines, Poppies, Lush Herb Gardens, boy are you wrong! The second being the word Paris, as in the city. So apparently this year's "Flower Show" consisted of Bulbs and Orchids, and for some reason Ferns.
All things considered, this year's theme could have easily been "The Moon Landing" and the exhibits would have made just as much sense.
Okay so right when you walk in you're greeted with this Eiffel Tower looking theme, that supposidly has web cams on it. Okay I'm getting it so far. We're supposed to be in France.
Umm... so behind that is a Marry-Go-Round. And they lost me.
Oh here we go. This is really French, kind of a mix between new and the old. Though I have to say these are the most annoying bug zappers ever invented.
The centerpiece here is fantastic though. They get big points from me. My understanding is modern day France arose from the Roman Empire. So they got me with architecture with this one.
And we successfully end our French Theme here with this exhibit that actually had nothing to do with the main entrance way exhibits. Just about everything here is edible and herbs are what I think of when I think of the French.
Really what this show was lacking was a supermarket with fresh food in it. Seriously there are more note worthy greens in my local Walmart Food Section than in some of these exhibits.
To add to the French theme there were cooking demonstrations and wine tastings but these were events that only took place on certain days.
So how French was everything else? I'll let you be the judge.
Really nice I could see this as a wedding setting.
It's a sale boat, and a table with an unfinished chess game on it.
Blind fold the children and hand them baseball bats?
What's French about this? My neighbor has most of these plants.
I actually like this one.
However, it's like I'm looking at Siegfried and Roy's bed room. They just make the tigers jump through the gay hoops before going to bed.
Realistically I could see these pink ring flower planters suspended in a stair tower. So there could be a practical use for these. It's just hard not to joke about them in a bedroom setting.
Someone went a little nuts building bird houses.
This year's Koi Pond was fantastic! It was a lot more creative than the past three years. And I liked that they had the living wall gardens mimicking the trees. I really liked this one.
Another theme seemed to be the over use of copper in everything. This house display has a copper gutter system. If someone installed that in my neighborhood the scrap metal guys would ransack the house over night.
There were almost to many Orchids everywhere. I don't understand the appeal. Last year these were all over the South America and Africa exhibits.
A few Featured Plants that I really liked.
Fritillaria meleagris. These really caught my eye, and as it turns out they're native to the west coast.
I am not even certain of what this is. It looks a lot like a member of the pea family, and I know we have native plants that look just like this, but the flowers are yellow.
These lilies were actually orange and black. The black though reflects as a magenta.
I believe this is a False Indigo. Not certain what one yet.
Amsonia sp. Not the Daffodils, the spunky blue stuff in the middle.
Mist Flower. A Eupatorium I recall. Not something I would ever consider blooming in spring time. I've always known it as a late summer bloomer.
Pitcher Plant.
So my prediction for next year's theme is A Funeral.
