“Windsong Garden”– A Place of Repose in the City

The opportunity to create a small patio-style garden at the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle was not to be missed! With a team of collaborators I was able to realize my dream of a quiet space in the city’s most frequented building– the Washington State Convention Center, which overlies Interstate 5 in the heart of downtown Seattle. Spanning eight lanes of freeway and a city street, this huge event location hosts the largest flower and garden show in the country (west of Philadelphia) for five days every winter.
Truckloads of dirt and huge boulders arrive, then masses of flowering plants, shrubs and trees are placed, bringing springtime to the visitors. Our contribution was a tiny space with plantings, a pocket-sized tea house, and a bench of prized bonsai.
The public appreciated the juxtaposition of private and public spaces, with a city skyline for backdrop, and a tea ceremony staged to begin for privileged visitors to this imagined garden on an intimate scale.