The following pictures are photos of our display garden at the
2012 Northwest Flower & Garden Show.
We took pictures during the preparation, the show and the take-down.
Our garden was a walk-through garden with a pergola in the center. Our goal was to open the space to the public and invite the people for not only a stroll, but to relax in the garden.
We want to thank our volunteer helpers:
students at Edmonds Community College; and at Lake Washington Technical College; our faithful friends and family members....
Thank you!

About the 2012 Garden:

Pictures At A Northwest Exhibition
Rhapsody In Green

Our garden was inspired by Mussorgsky’s music ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, written in 1874, musically ahead of its time.

Strolling through this backyard garden we saw native plants, their hardy ‘cousins’, and non-invasive edibles, that have roots in the past yet are at home in the modern landscape.

Most materials used were recycled, reused, repurposed or found objects.

Examples of runoff mitigation included a rain garden, wetland roof, cistern, and slope restoration. By using simple materials we hoped to inspire everyday gardeners to find extraordinary uses for ordinary things in creative and sustainable outdoor living spaces.

Sustainability is a word used often lately. Our display showed what it can mean in a residential outdoor garden setting: beautiful spaces requiring minimal maintenance, using low amounts of energy and water while creating no waste.  Healthy habitats are not just for wildlife, but are also for humans. We all need clean air, clean water and ultimately a clean Planet.

Our design team:

Zsofia Pasztor

Jill Nunemaker

Zsolt Pasztor

Matt Freed

Maria Freed

Don Normann

Dave Bennink

Traci Fontyn

Hanz Lammersdorf

Doug Walker

John Hunkele

Glenn Hemmen



More Information

Our garden won a Bronze Medal, the 425 Editor's Choice Award, and the Dahlia Award, which is for the most Achievable Garden displayed at the Show. It was filled with creative ideas, all simple, and doable for ordinary people of the not so ordinary Northwest.

Visitors entered between two large boulders. The stones were supplied by Marenakos Rock Center. They were locally harvested stones so they had reduced carbon footprint compared to many other rocks and provided local jobs to our local community.

The boardwalk meandered toward the pergola. The garden was filled with native plants and their 'cousins', some very special in fact! We had ferns, perennials, evergreens, trees, shrubs, bulbs of all sizes. Some were edible, some medicinal - all suitable for our climate and hardy in any NW garden.

Rain was caught on the green roof that covered sections of the pergola. The potting shed drained into a large capacity cistern with an overflow moving the water into a rain garden. All of the hardscaping was permeable: broken concrete path and salvaged wooden walkway.
The garden provided examples of elegant and sustainable gardening in several areas.

Our duck coop housed decoy ducks for the show, but it is a real duck coop. Duck eggs are better for us than chicken eggs. They contain more protein and more nutrition compared to the equivalent size chicken eggs. And ducks cannot scratch so they cause less damage in a garden than chickens all the while eating insects, weeds and slugs!

Please take your time to look at the pictures above showing structures and other design elements in our garden. Construction design drawings for some of these items are available for purchase on our 'Store' page.

If you are interested to find out more details about anything you see and like, do not hesitate to ask - we will be happy to help you with more information by answering your questions. 

Email us by filling out the information on our
'Contact Us' page 
OR just give us a call: 425-210-5541