Flower Geeks

Last weekend Mark and I went to the annual Flower and Garden Show in Seattle. We've never been to this event before, but since we got free tickets in the mail, we decided to give it a try. What we found was an entire world unto itself. It turns out that there are quite a number of hardcore flower geeks out there. Now many people might think this is obvious. There are millions of people out there who enjoy gardening, and who spend every weekend planting, mulching, weeding, or feeding. These people may have grubby pants and fingernails, but their yards are often spectacular. Some, or even many, of these people were at the garden show, but there was another kind there as well.

These are the people who don't just like flowers, they are obsessed with them. These are the people who say things like "I'm SO tired of zonal!” while looking at the geranium stand. These are the people who come, not just to get something unusual like a pitcher plant, but to get a certain variety of pitcher plant. These are the kind of people who actually get married in a garden display! I am not making this up. While we were there they were actually holding a real wedding in one of the big, room-sized displays. I cannot imagine what causes a person to choose a garden show for their wedding. Perhaps they met at the garden show? Perhaps they were paid to add authenticity? Perhaps they just love that convention center ambiance so much that it was the only choice? I really don't know.

Anyway, we had a pretty good time on the whole. Mark bought me a gold cast of a gingko leaf done as a coat pin. Of course, it was not actually alive, but at least it was still plant-related. I did not get to buy as many plants as I'd hoped because it turns out that what I wanted was way too mundane for this crowd. We did pick up a cute little sprout of dark red clematis and some very nice dahlia tubers, but I think I will have to just go to a regular nursery if I want lilacs, columbines, primroses, and other "boring" plants.