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Country Garden Antiques at the 2009 Northwest Flower & Garden Show. Courtesy photo.

The Northwest Flower & Garden Show returns next month with a big line-up of display gardens, internationally known speakers, hundreds of exhibitors and activities for the entire family.

Regarded as one of the major shows of its kind in the country, the event has always been a bright spot for Northwest flower and garden devotees.

This year, the show is under new ownership. Northwest-based O’Loughlin Trade Shows, Inc. purchased it last June from founder Duane Kelly.

"Beauty and Functionality" is the theme of this regional tradition, which debuted in 1989.

Work by top garden creators will be on display to be judged by a world-class panel that includes Fergus Garrett, Andrea Cochran and Roger Swain.

All three will also present seminars during the five-day run of the show. There will be ideas and inspiration for every type of garden and gardener, with exhibits, "how-to" seminars and demonstrations geared for garden spaces large and small.

Top speakers with newly published books will share their expertise on a variety of topics.

The list includes such notables as nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, radio and T.V. personality Charlie Nardozzi, award-winning garden photojournalist Debra Lee Baldwin, nationally syndicated columnist, author and host of several television shows Joe Lamp’l, local garden designer and consultant Irene Mills, and award-winning garden designer and artist Keeyla Meadows.

The show’s "Marketplace" will feature over 350 nurseries and other exhibitors spotlighting products and services related to gardening and outdoor living.

Other attractions include Dream Turf Park, 2000 square feet of life-like synthetic grass (the perfect place to picnic) and Sproutopia, an area where kids can engage in hands-on activities. Back by popular demand will be the Container Garden Exhibition, Orchids, Great Plant Picks, Funky Junk (a unique garden display created from recycled or found objects by high school horticulture students), the Floral Competition, Children’s Gardens and an Ikebana exhibit.

The display gardens, which are truly the heart and soul of the show, present an opportunity for Northwest designers to strut their stuff.

Among them is Mill Creek resident Jessica Bloom’s "Celebrating a Family’s Garden – Working Together on an Urban Homestead."

Bloom, who is owner of Northwest Bloom, collaborated with Seattle Tilth to create the garden. This marks the third year she has been in the show.

"It’s a great event for Northwest gardeners," remarks Bloom. "It has so much to offer and it’s always fun to see the creativity on display."

The local woman enjoys participating in the show because she views it as a chance to work outside the box of her typical projects.

"It allows me more creative freedom," she adds.

Bloom is especially excited about this year’s garden, as it is the first time she is partnering with someone else for the project.

Seattle Tilth is a well-known nonprofit gardening and urban ecology organization dedicated to educating people to garden organically and conserve natural resources.

Bloom explains that the focus of "Celebrating a Family’s Garden" is on making the land as functional and as sustainable as possible.

She says, "We want to show people that it’s not difficult to learn how to use your land to live off of.

"You can grow food, have animals and use recycled materials to make it low-impact."

In describing the garden, Bloom mentions that the 1,200-square-foot space is an island, which means it is visible from all sides.

She notes that initially this presented a design challenge, as she needed to ensure that every angle was eye-catching to the viewer.

In the center, is a barn with solar panels. Up front is the eating area with a patio and Cob Oven.

Nearby is the food growing area, with veggies and herbs. And on the north side is an edible forest containing such plants and shrubs as huckleberries, Oregon grapes, an Asian pear tree and other food providing perennials.

In the back of the garden are the animals.

"Seattle Tilth is providing a few goats and some chickens," comments Bloom. "And we’re going to have a chicken tractor, which is a portable housing structure for the chickens."

She adds that there will also be two rain catching cisterns and permeable pavement to emphasize use of rain wise techniques.

"It’s an urban farm, which speaks to the concept of family," she explains. "I wanted to get a child’s input so my 8-year-old son, Noah, has been helping with the design process. One of his ideas was to use an old log from a tree we removed and turn it into a balance beam for kids to play on."

Representatives from Seattle Tilth will be on hand as a resource and will demonstrate some do-it-yourself projects, as well as inform the public about their series of on-going classes and workshops that they offer throughout the year.

"It’s all coming together," says Bloom of the garden. "It’s definitely a lot of work and we haven’t had as much prep time as in the past, but it will all be worthwhile when it’s done. I think it’s going to be very special and unique."