The 2009 (and maybe last) Northwest Flower and Garden show starts Wednesday at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle Wednesday.

Today, I went up for the media preview as garden designers and their crews were frantically putting on the final touches.

I'll let my photos do the talking. The show runs through Sunday (Feb. 22). Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (closing at 6 p.m. Sunday).

"Shall We Dance . . . in the Garden" is designed by Judith I. Jones and Vanca Lumsden and credated by Aw Pottery,
Fancy Fronds, and ABLE.

This is just one small slice of a large garden based on
the musical, "The King and I". There's a Thai inspired garden pavilion and a pair of elephants and lots of tropical plants.

"Welcome to your weekend" was designed by Karen Stefonick of Le Jardin Landscape Design. I was taken by this garden and Stefonick's use of nothing but green - in all it's infinite shades. It was very soothing for the eyes.

This was one of three vignettes designed by Octavia Chambliss. The trio are examples for people who have small spaces, like condo dwellers. And all three used their economy of space extremely well. They had plenty of accoutrements, were artfully arranged but still felt open.

"Entry to Cascadia" uses plants native to Cascadia - The Pacific Northwest. A simple basalt stone circle is surrounded by flowering shrubs, ground covers, and woodland plants. It's a great reminder how our native flora can produce a beautiful garden without the help of any ornamentals.

"I love it" by John Faccone of NW Majestic Landscape & Living Inc. was one of my favorites because of its elegant, serene simplicity. Faccone is an artist: every angle, color, plant grouping was perfectly composed. The V-shaped reflecting pond was the centerpiece to this setting.

Gig Harbor's Sue Goetz's garden, "L'eau sage," made me want to buy a ticket to Provence. Her Mediterranean garden is drought tolerant (which is a more succinct way of saying you don't have to water your garden in the summer, drought or not.) Tons (literally) of golden-hued gravel compliment green and purple accents.

"Sky's the limit" by Rebecca Cole was the most intriguing garden of the show. Designed to be on the rooftop of a high rise building, this space would make you forget you weren't in a verdant ground level space. The most intriguing aspect was this structure, topped by grass and solar panels. A wall, as shown, was alive with a quilt of plants. This was Cole's first visit to Seattle and she brought a little of her New York City home with her.

This Bali-themed garden was the final stop before the commercial exhibits and it surely was a relaxing bit of zen heaven.

I'm waking up the slumbering Get Growing blog with sad news: The 2009 Northwest Flower & Garden Show might be the last. The show organizers have been unable to find a buyer for their business and have decided to shut it down after next month's show.

I'll be there on media day, Feb. 17, to report on what may be the final show.

Here's the press release with the full details:

SEATTLE – For more than two decades the Northwest Flower & Garden Show has inspired millions of individuals and families to embrace gardening with its dramatic display gardens and extensive seminar programs. In 2009, the event will make one last spectacular run before closing its doors forever.

“My wife Alice and I have decided that this year’s event will be our last as organizers and we are pulling out all of the stops to make it the best on record. We’ve enjoyed every minute of the past 21 years but are ready to pursue some other passions,” said Duane Kelly, chairman of Salmon Bay Events, the company that founded and owns the event.

Salmon Bay Events also owns and produces the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. The Northwest and San Francisco Flower & Garden Shows are the second- and third-largest flower shows, respectively, in the country; the largest is in Philadelphia. They have earned an international reputation for the quality of the display gardens, seminars, and commercial exhibits.

“We had hoped to sell the shows to buyers that are committed to maintaining their level of quality,” Kelly said. “However, to date, we have been unsuccessful.” Without a buyer emerging he will be closing the business following the 2009 shows.

The last Northwest Flower & Garden Show will be held Feb. 18-22 at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle. The flower show was the first major event ever produced at the Convention Center. Over a million-and-a-half people have attended the show since its inception. Annual attendance ranges between 60,000 and 80,000.

Kelly invites gardeners from throughout the Pacific Northwest to visit the 2009 show and celebrate over two decades of flower show magic. He wishes to thank the tens of thousands of people in the nursery and landscape industry, the gardening media, and the horticultural community who have supported the Northwest show over the last 21 years.

The theme of this year’s shows is “Sustainable Spaces. Beautiful Places.” The 26 display gardens will be first-rate – many offering inspiring ideas about sustainability in gardens. Sustainability will also be the focus of many of the 120 free seminars presented by speakers from around the world. For details and tickets visit the show’s website at www.gardenshow.com.

Kelly anticipates that My Garden Spaces, an online community recently launched as a year-round adjunct to the flower shows, will continue beyond the shows.

The cost of admission, which includes entrance to gardening seminars, is: $20 for adults; $9 for students 25 and under with valid student I.D.; $4 for kids ages 6 – 17; and free for children under 5. The shows run from Wednesday through Sunday. Advance tickets are also available at a discounted price of $16 for adults. Tickets

On a golden pond, two ducks swim at The Edgewood Estate Sunday.

I was dubious about taking a Northwest Perennial Alliance garden tour last weekend. After all, my garden is not in the best of shape this time of year. But am I glad I went.

THE EDGEWOOD ESTATE

My first stop was at The Edgewood Estate, where owner Ilga Jansons graciously showed me around her garden. The five year old garden is being expanded and improved every year. She and husband Michael Dryfoos haven't filled every bit of their 32 acres but they've made quite a bit of headway.

Mums are a consistent theme in one part of the garden.

This restful spot is inside the vegetable garden.

=> Read more!

A Get Growing reader emailed me that he was the proud owner of two new trees. He got them after reading my post on fall color.

I thought I'd show you a few more autumn happenings in my garden.

This is beautyberry, aka Callicarpa. It has the most amazing (inedible) berries I've ever seen on a plant: metallic purple. It's incredible. I have two in my garden. They seem to like water more than my other shrubs do. The one I have planted in partial shade does much better than the one I have in full sun. The rest of the year it's rather inconspicuous but that changes comes fall.

This is sedum 'Autumn Joy.' There are several similar varieties on the market, all closely resembling each other. The leaves are grey-green and fleshy. It only grows about a foot high and makes a good front of the border choice when planted in a group.

I showed a branch of this tree, the stewartia pseudocamellia, in my last post. The tree has since turned a full crimson. It's spectacular. Can't reccommend this four-season tree enough.

This is a two-in-one. The foreground tree is a witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia). I have the red flowering variety 'Diane.' Right now the leaves are almost all bright yellow. These trees stay small and are the first to bloom (right after New Year's) with spidery red flowers. Looks fabulous when backlit.

In the background is a paperbark maple (Acer griseum). This is another great four-season tree. As you can see it has wonderful fall color. But it also its trademark flaky brown bark in winter and wonderful little green tri-tipped leaves in spring and summer.

Get out of the house this weekend and check out fall color whether it's in a nursery or just in the yards and forests of Puget Sound.

Author Lucy Hardiman will speak at Lakewold Gardens at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 on "Voluptuous Vignettes: The Art of Making Plant Combinations."

Hardiman is a garden designer and author in the Portland area.

In order to get a sense of her style check out a video of her winter garden here. (Skip the first two minutes of ads)

Members of the Northwest Perennial Alliance get in free but nonmembers pay only $5.

Lakewold Gardens is at 12317 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. in Lakewood.

This is the height of the fall color season in the Pacific Northwest. Though we can't match New England's display there's an appreciable amount of color in our region from both native and non-native shrubs and trees.

Trouble is, gas prices make leaf-peeping tours a bit hard to finance.

The answer: create your backyard kaleidoscope of colors. Not only is this a great time of year to plant (yes, shrubs and trees do fantastically when planted in fall and you don't have to worry about watering them) but you can see what your future garden residents look like wearing their yellows, oranges and reds.

Take a trip to your favorite nursery or visit a new one. You'll have the opportunity to see exactly what your new shrub or tree will look like every autumn.

One thing to keep in mind: you'll get better color results from plants in full sun.

Here's a few from my garden:

This is a branch of my Stewartia pseudocamillia tree. This remains one of my favorite small trees. It has lovely dogwood-like blossoms in spring, shiny green leaves in summer, an interesting form in winter and you can see the fall color for yourself.

This is the smoke tree (or bush) otherwise known as Cotinus coggygria. I have two 'Royal Purple' varieties in my yard. The summer foliage is indeed a dark purple but turns brick red in fall. There are also green leaved and golden leaved varieties out there though I'm not sure what their fall colors look like.

My last example is a less common tree but gaining in popularity in our area. It's a Parrotia persica also known as Persian Ironwood. I don't know if it has super strong wood but its original home must be Iran. It has a nice form and great fall color as you can see. In winter it has an interesting bark pattern similar to the the Psudocamillia.

There are countless other great varieties of fall color choices out there. Go find them and make your own leaf-peeper's paradise.