Lawn & Garden Show

We went back to Nashville yesterday for the Lawn and Garden Show.  Fortunately, there was much more to see there than there was at the Home Show.  It was spread over 4 buildings.  The first had several complete gardens and outdoor living areas set up.  There was also a side room with several floral arrangements on display.  The other 3 buildings were full of booths with outdoor related products.

We saw this and I thought it might be neat if we could turn one of our boulders into a fire pit.

I thought this outdoor tv wall was neat and something we could probably make ourselves.

I’m planning on having a swing like this somewhere on the back porch.  Given the costs of the ones I like, I’ll probably end up building it myself . . .

There were a lot of gorgeous orchids there.  I never have luck getting them to bloom again, so I’ve given up on buying them.  I’ll stick with my roses.

There were some birds there including baby chicks and ducks, a falcon and this cute owl.  They never look real to me for some reason.  I think it’s the eyes and the way they move.

Another water feature. . .

I love these water falls and would like to find somewhere to put one around our new house, either in the landscaping or around the future pool.

I almost took my big camera, but didn’t want to deal with it.  I wish I had as soon as we got there because I could have gotten a lot of neat pictures.

I tend to prefer plants with interest over plain green shrubs, like this red bush – Loropetalum.

Also thought this Japanese Paper Plant was really neat.

Here it is behind a bench made of pavers.  We saw a lot of neat ideas for pavers there and may try to do some in the back yard and around the driveway.

I’d love to put this in the middle of our circle driveway (with something besides the big white planter and palm tree).

Here is a bar made with pavers.

I also liked the built-ins behind the bar.  It and the pergola were made of cedar and the smell was really strong.

This pot of plants is definitely the style I prefer.

We talked about doing something like this along the driveway.  Mom mentioned doing it along the road.  

Here are more orchids in the floral gallery room.

 

We then went past all the vendor booths.  I thought these birdhouses were really cute.  I have a bunch of scrap wood in the garage and I’m tempted to make my own.

 Since we were nearby, we ran to the mall so I could go to Restoration Hardware.  I was hoping to see a couple vanities I have picked out, but they didn’t have either of them in the store (although they did have several others, but none I liked better.)  David could have decorated our whole house with stuff from there though – big distressed leather couches, their aviator desk and chairs, etc.  I think it would be neat to do the office in that style.  I had seen this light on their website and didn’t care for it, but they had it there and it was pretty neat.  Might be an option for the foyer (I think I’ve seen cheaper knock-offs of it too).  We also went into Z Gallerie and I saw a bunch I could have put in the new house.   A smaller version of this sofa or chairs might work in the piano room.  Imagine a sparkling chandelier hanging above them.

Tomorrow, we’re going to the local Home Show.  It looks to be as big as it has been every year.  We will probably actually stop and talk to more booths this year since we are actually in market, finally.