“The show is a sensory overload of plants, water, art, color and fragrances—a pleasant overload, but a little daunting, nevertheless.” This was Val Easton’s succinct summation recently in the Seattle Times of the annual Northwest Flower & Garden Show. Easton, a contributing editor for Horticulture magazine and popular free-lance garden writer for the Seattle Times newspaper knows wherein she speaks.

Yes, overloaded senses—sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Well, maybe not literally the sense of taste, but figuratively speaking, I quickly began to taste the return of gardening after its long winter’s hiatus. And of course, I shouldn’t touch anything in the display gardens, but sometime I couldn’t help myself.

Entering the atrium after being whisked by escalator to the fourth level of the convention center, I was immediately overwhelmed by the scent of spring from the many beautiful hanging arrangements and large floral displays of the Florist Competition.

Smack in the middle of the atrium rose the first display garden—Minter Gardens’s quirky, fanciful entry, “Out On A Whim”. Imagine a giant, weirdly green octopus with arms akimbo surrounded by magnificent beds of flowers and greenery. Picture elf-like huts protruding from high up the trunk and bubbles floating from the treetop. That gave me a hint of the unexpected that lay ahead inside the South Hall with the other 26 display gardens.

But first the tour group I was with headed off to an exclusive lunch and seminar with John Russell, of Russell Watergardens and creator of this year’s “Howard’s Great Escape” display garden. In addition to showing us how to use plants effectively in and around a water garden, John’s slide presentation took us through the fascinating process of putting together a display garden.

After lunch, many of us made a beeline to visit Howard, the humungous koi, who has become somewhat of a cult creature following his previous show appearances. Howard and his fish friends seemed intent on escaping by leaping up the falls before the snoozing fisherman might wake. Have no fear—Howard escaped to return another year!

Vegetable gardening is my passion and “Welcome to the Garden of Eatin” presented by the Garden Writers Association was one of my favorites. A perfect vegetable garden designed by Rose Marie Nichols McGee of Nichols Garden Nursery featured several varieties of lettuce, beets, chard, leeks and artichokes, plus dwarf fruit trees of several kinds. Packets of carrot seed were handed out to encourage us to “Plant A Row For the Hungry”, which I plan to do.

I look forward each year to the fantastic display garden created by Elandan Gardens. They are masters in use of streams and pools, native plants and picturesque trees to create the illusion of timeless gardens. And “Our Garden is Going to the Dogs” did not disappoint. But the litter of Basset hound pups artfully fenced out of the serene woodland garden threatened to steal the whole show.

“Portage to the Pacific: A Garden Inspired by Lewis & Clark” was a magnet to history buffs. I could have spent hours gleaning information about the greatest expedition in American history in this unique garden. I came back time after time to savor the many facets of the garden—talk about overload!

But not every display garden captured my fancy; a few received only a cursorily glance. This is not to say those gardens weren’t exceptional—many show goers were obviously enthralled. The 2004 Northwest Flower and Garden Show had gardens to please every gardening taste.

And the rest of the show? People jammed the symposiums the day I attended, and surely every other day. Funky Junk, yes, but full of ideas for using in the garden what otherwise would be thrown away. The orchid display was delightful—and crowded. Small-scale gardens created by school children in the Children’s Gardens were charming, as always.

But not everything delighted me, and that was to be expected. I was greatly disappointed in the Container Garden Exhibition. Enormous urns and pots with outsized plants was not what I envisioned would be lining the skywalk. I could picture them lining mansion driveways, but not fitting into the typical American garden. On the other hand, they did have their devotees.

The new addition of Great Plant Picks is always interesting, but to those of us living on the dry side of the mountains the selections aren’t always relevant. Ikebana and the Garden Club Competition didn’t interest me greatly, but they were crowded with admirers.

The venues of the Commercial Exhibitors (euphemism for vendors) were jam-packed, despite the wider aisles adopted several years ago. Certainly there was something here for every gardener! I spent far too much time (and money) perusing the 300 plus booths. Art for the garden and art for the home was everywhere, but I limited my purchase to a small print of colorful anemones. Garden gadgets and gizmos galore, but I wasn’t buying. However, I did purchase a packet of ‘Cupani’s Original’ sweet pea seed that I was hoping to find—and far more dahlia tubers than I needed. There’s no doubt, vendors with their varied wares help make a garden show complete.

Far too soon it was time to board the bus for our return to Yakima. A bus full of contented but tired gardeners rested weary bodies during our 140 miles home. Was spending a day of our lives at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show worth it? You bet, and if you haven’t attended a garden show near you this year, I heartily recommend it!