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Last night was likely the last Arbor Eden Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Seattle Arboretum Foundation, thrown as the opening event for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. And, as usual, it was fantastic.

WSNLA Show Garden, Photo Courtesy Chris Smith

For the first (and likely last) time, Bob and I “did” the event right. We got there early and perused the auction tables while sipping wine and chatting with industry friends. We bid on a few things that we couldn’t really afford (and didn’t end up winning anyway). And, when the annoucement came that the show gardens and dinner area had opened, we went straight for the food. In every past year, we’ve arrived a little late and gotten to the food too late. This year, we were literally the first in line (or at least first in one of many lines). We filled our plates and found an actual sit-down table on the north side of the “Under the Arbor Landscape Design” show garden. We had views of Rebecca Cole’s garden, Creative Gardener’s Garden, Pam Richard’s Garden, and the Washington Park Arboretum Garden — as well as peek-a-boo views of many others. The food was great, though a bit salty — I’m kinda puffy from it today. Still, we enjoyed a nice meal amid some lovely gardens. After we wrapped up our meal, we had hours left to leisurely tour through the gardens.

One of the great parts of touring the show gardens during the Gala is that you can actually enter many of the gardens. You can’t do that during the show. This is theater, and the shows are often precariously constructed. Because traffic is light, many designers invite gala folk to walk into the gardens themselves. And, sadly, this year the traffic seemed lighter than prior years. Was it? I really don’t know, but given how many of my friends and collegues couldn’t swallow the $100+ price tag, I wouldn’t be surprised if the economy bit into the fundraiser this year.

So, some highlights from the show ( Sorry, no photos. I didn’t feel like hauling my camera around the show.):

• Can you find the blue fescue that was painted? Yep, one of the designers actually painted their blue grasses, and it’s well, vibrant, but is it pretty?
• Rebecca Cole’s rusty metal planters. Super cool!
• Tropical paradise in the Fancy Fronds/Aw Pottery garden. Fancy Fronds is always one of my favs. This year their garden is really sort of divided into thirds. My favorite is the west and soutwest portions. I just wanted to put on a sarong and meditate by the reflecting pool.
• WSNLA’s sweet country retreat. I was ready to pull off my winter boots and tip-toe through the stream from cabin/shed to patio with a bit pitcher of lemonade. It really took me back to my NorCal country childhood.
• Active Landscape’s peek-a-boo view framing a bonsai vignette and the strange environment box curiousity. I’ll let you see it to “get it”.
• The deck surround waterfeature and rills in Under the Arbor
• The bubbling square stone in Le Jardin
• And, the show stopper — Shapiro Ryan Design’s fantastic use of space, form and function. Swaths of unrealistic plant material painted the landscape with texture, form and color. Recycled boards made up  pathways leading to stone stairways into the garden. A meditation room with just enough decking invited me to meditate and then enjoy an outdoor yoga practice. And the moongate/moon window view into/out of the garden framed the picture from one view. Truly, this is a showstopper!

There were many other treats at the show, but I’ll stop there and leave some surprises for you.

And a word about the prizes. First, the judging was harsh this year. Plus, for some odd reason, none of the special prizes like the Founders Award and the Sunset Magazine awards, were displayed at the gala this year. So, I can’t speak to those, but I can express some thoughts on the medals.

Having designed and built at this garden show and having attended regularly for many years, I can tell you that the judging is purely subjective. Some years the judges are harsh; other years they seem to go easy. Regardless, I’ve come to realize that the “medals” mean next to nothing. They can really discourage a designer who put his/her heart and soul into the project, which is what can be the most upsetting in a year with fantastic gardens and very few silver and gold medals. So, let me put out my own subjective judgement — ignore the medals (as do most of the attendees) and judge for yourself. Just because some guy/gal has experience writing books or designing gardens or seeking out rare plants all over the world doesn’t mean s/he has the right to tell you what makes the best or most beautiful garden. Decide for yourself. Choose a designer or elements that fit you and toss the judge’s judgements to the curb. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Hope to see you at the show. I’ll be standing in front of the WSNLA garden from 3-5pm on Friday!