Visiting Bachman’s Galleria Flower Show
Many of us Minnesota gardeners grew up and grew old visiting the annual spring flower show at the downtown Minneapolis Dayton’s (then Marshall Fields and then Macy’s). Since its departure, we are always on the lookout for ways to fill the hole it left in our garden inspiration.
A visit to the Bachman’s underwater floral extravaganza “Into the Deep” at the Galleria in Edina, Minn., filled a little of that void for me. The show was a candy store—colorful floral confections everywhere. It was eye-candy and a fizzy drink for my winter weary soul. It was an amusement park of flowers and quite entertaining, but are these spring floral shows just entertainment? How much of it can I really apply to my plant life? It can seem like such a look-and-enjoy experience, and there is nothing wrong with that, but I’m always searching for ways to bring what the professional creatives do to my own backyard.
Plants and flowers are what redeem shopping malls to me. Most malls have pretty great horticulture anytime of the year and the Galleria certainly does. Commercial horticulture usually brings blankets of flowering plants (kalanchoes, primrose, and of course poinsettias in December) and collections of favorite houseplants. Typically, we find snake plants, peace lilies, and pothos ‘en masse, and a ficus or fiddle leaf fig as a focal point. In my opinion, a visit to the Galleria anytime of the year is worth it to get a green fix. My favorite green Galleria moment was a permanent container of many snake plants—so green and dramatic.
This year’s show was all about the sea. It was an underwater theme that seemed to appeal a lot to the kids—but the shows are always so well done they draw you into their more intimate moments and the theme doesn’t matter all the much. I did pull three ideas out that I can apply to my own gardens and containers and patio plantings. The show was eye-candy but definitely inspiring and educational eye-candy.
Great garden beds and containers are all about layers and textures. I find this true in interior design and the idea seems to rule garden and container design. Contrast is king. Mixing textures, heights and colors makes for a rich and visually interesting space or container that draws in the viewer and garden visitor.
In this vista (above) on the west end near Pottery Barn, a stunning, lacy-leafed Japanese maple holds court. It’s such a friendly texture and is surrounded by a spiky, magenta-red leafed tropical, a smaller and softer evergreen shrub, some lovely little pink begonias… and the list goes on. The eye goes everywhere but in a smooth and easy way. A large evergreen topiary anchors the back and sets the stage.
Carpet the edges of your beds (and containers) with mass planting of lush textures. I loved the hakone grass (below) and Irish moss. The variegated Tradescantia works in the ground and as a spiller in the containers. These low growers soften the edges of a pot and transitions a garden bed to the surrounding hardscape nicely.
Branches make great focal points. Galleria beds are peppered with painted branches (see below). I think they were mimicking coral, which worked well with their theme. I loved them for them interesting shapes and attention-getting colors. Whenever I need a a ta-da in my containers or even a garden bed, a birch branch is my go-to. They are so good and what is it? Maybe the brilliant white, the black accents and the way they evoke the North. This is my birch theory. They add a bright thriller that somehow anchors the bed.
I remember a garden profile I read once, somewhere, where a gardener had painted a dead tree a bright, brilliant cyan blue. The tree passed away a few weeks before the garden was to be a stop on a garden tour and it was all he could think to do. Taking the tree down would have left an obvious hole, so he worked with what he had. It was drama in the garden and in a way, the perfect melding of the human hand and Mother Nature in the garden. His branch, my birch branches, and the Galleria painted branches are easily crafted garden art that are expressive, cool, fun and fun to look at.
Eric Johnson is a longtime contributor to Northern Gardener® magazine and a lifelong gardener.