I'm out of here, heading back to the newsroom to download photos I just shot at the Tacoma Home & Garden Show and to finish up editing tomorrow's paper.

You should come check out the show this weekend, there is lots to do and see here. Trust me. Just scroll down and check out the stuff I found during an hour of wandering about.

Details:

Tacoma Home & Garden Show

When: Now through Sunday (click the website for hours)
Cost: $7 for seniors; $9 for adults
Parking: $8
Discounts: Get a $2 off coupon HERE.

Spring is nearly here (I'm not making that up, check your calendars). Wandering around the exhibition hall at the Tacoma Home Show, held through Sunday at the Tacoma Dome, I stopped to check out the flowers. Well, actually, there weren't many flowers, but there were lots of bulbs.

Here are the booths I stopped by:

Connell's Dahlias
B&D Lilies
MAK Lilies & Perennials
Vanveen Bulbs

Also, tucked into a corner of the exhibition hall is the Gardener's Market. I saw a display of hebes that has my name written all over it. You can bet I'll be buying some at the show this weekend.

I really really (really?) want to build a water treatment in my back yard. Or rather, I want someone to build it for me. Or maybe I'll do it. I haven't decided yet.

I stopped by The Pond Store booth, located just near the entrance to the exhibition hall, for inspiration. The display is just gorgeous.... not hugely large, but not tiny small. Just the right size and scope for my smallish backyard.

Did you know that the Pond Store sponsors a Moonlight Pond Tour? It's at Mark The Pond Guy's personal residence. It's held the first Saturday of every month, except January and February. Hey, he'll even feed you barbecue if you show up. Click here for details.

I stopped by the Vintage Hardware booth a few minutes ago. It's the company we wrote about a few weeks ago in the Home&Garden section.

I told Mary Lux, who was working the booth, that I was looking for cool stuff. She began making her way to the booth for Stellarvision, a Redmond-based company that will paint glow-in-the-dark constellations in just about any room in your house. "It's like being in a planetarium," said Mary as she guided me down aisle 1500, near the northwest exit.

Walt DeRosia, of Tacoma, ushered us into a small booth and shut down the lights. Let's just say it was an experience of starry goodness. The stars, handpainted onto walls and ceilings using an acrylic-based paint, looked just like the sky looks at night when you drive up through South Prairie into Carbonado. Stunning.

Said DeRosia, "We can put them on any surface." Even popcorn ceilings? Yup, even popcorn ceilings.

The interesting nugget is that they can paint the stars the way they were positioned on any particular night -- including the day you were born or any favorite holiday. "One lady last year had us paint her divorce date," said DeRosia. I laughed for at least a minute.

They're offering a deal during the show. A 10 by 12 room, normally priced at $396, is $296 during the show.

When it comes to yard art, I'm not a fan of chainsaw art. Sure, I can appreciate how it's made and the artistry of the whole deal, but it's just not my thing. It's what you usually find at home shows. Not this home show. What is my thing is more along the lines of what metal sculptor Dan Klennert has displayed at the Tacoma Home show, at the back of the Dome near the SK Landscaping display.

I think what caught my eye was the huge horse, probably something like 10 feet tall. I immediately wanted to climb onto it, but ultimately resisted. My fellow GetGrowing blogger Craig Sailor would be proud of me if he were here.... or he would have prodded me until I got up on the thing. He likes to see me get into trouble. It makes him feel like a superior editor.

By the way, this sculpture would look supremely cool in my front yard. Do you think my homeowners association would say anything?

Check it out.. back of the Dome. Giant rusty metal sculpture of a horse, and a few other sculptures. Can't miss it.

Let's just say we are huge fans of Sue Goetz, owner of the Creative Gardener in Gig Harbor. Sue wrote a series for us last summer called "Fix My Yard." She offered great advice for people with gardens almost as tragically bad as mine.

Sue's speaking about reinventing your garden right now in the Green Theater. Ummm, yeah, you think I should be in there? Uh huh. Yeah probably. But no, I'm out here blogging like a fiend to feed you readers valuable information about the show.

Sue will appear at the show through the weekend. Her seminars are:

FRIDAY: 3 p.m., "No Fear Garden Design"
SATURDAY: 3 p.m., "Color in the Garden"

Also appearing this weekend are Ed Hume (Friday at 2 p.m.) and Ciscoe Morris and Meeghan Black (2 p.m. Saturday).

Oh! Linda Chalker Scott, the WSU professor, will be here this weekend too. She'll talk at noon Friday and Saturday. We'll also have a feature about Linda later this month in the Saturday Home&Garden section.

So I'm sitting here at the Home Show, squirreled away at the News Tribune booth, centrally located in the middle corridor between the exhibition hall and the Dome. Jonathan, our super fabulous paper hawker, is here trying to get people to subscribe to the paper. Why don't you come down here and sign yourself up? You know you love us. By the way, Craig and Kits bailed, so you'll just have to deal with my magnificent posts. I know you're super excited about that.

So I'm off to explore the cool stuff around the show. I did a quick drive-by and saw all kinds of cool stuff, including that GYNORMOUS sand sculpture that was in today's paper. It looks wicked cool. Hey, do you think I used the word cool enough in this paragraph?

Stuff that will help you navigate the show:

PARKING: Bring cash. It's $8. Gulp. I know. But it will save you from walking in this driving rain. There are cheaper places to park near the Best Western (private lots) and you could always cruise for street parking. I was too lazy and too cold to surf for a cheaper spot.

NOTEBOOK: Bring one. You'll want to take notes.

PROGRAM: Grab one, along with a bag at the entrance.

CAMERA: I've got mine and will start posting photos shortly. Yay! I know everyone loves being subjected to my mediocre photography skills.

Get down here!

Now is your chance to accost Craig and I in public. We'll be blogging live from the Tacoma Home Show starting around 2 this afternoon. Come on, you know you want to come tell us how terrible we are at this blog thing. After all, we haven't posted anything for weeks. Our excuse is that our gardens look TERRIBLE. Truly terrible and awful. But the show will get us thinking about all the projects we'll be starting next month.

ALERT!ALERT!ALERT! We'll have a super high profile News Tribune staffer blogging with us. Our community columnist Kathleen Merryman -- known as Kits to all of us who love and appreciate her -- will blog with us at the home show. Now, we know you want to come and meet her. Everyone does.

Come check us out. Please. We might be bored. We want you to entertain us with your garden stories. Bring pictures of your roses. We'll look at them and admire your work. Come on, you know you want us to lavish praise on your beautiful flowers.