From Garden Show Kid to Vendor: My Flower and Garden Show Story

I grew up at the NW Flower and Garden Show. My mom had a booth, and in middle school she even let me skip school to work the show during the week. On Sunday, my sister and I would sit for hours at the loading dock, doing our homework, waiting till 6pm when we could be first in line for one of the big carts to make load out easier.

Then, when I was in 8th grade, her booth moved, and we were placed next to Nature’s Creations beautiful natural jewelry. Dennis, the owner of Nature’s Creations, was in a tough spot. Half of his product got stuck in a snow storm, and he needed to leave during the middle of the first day to pickup the rest of his product from his hotel. So, he left an ambitious 8th grader running his booth for a couple hours, and I did a good enough job that I abandoned my mom’s booth and worked for him all weekend as his assistant. My mom may have let me skip some school…

One of the magical parts of being a vendor that stuck with me is seeing the gardens at 8am before all the attendees and you have a wide-open view of the display gardens. That floral smell in the middle of February!

Then, the first year Peter and I were married, Peter saw a billboard for the Flower and Garden Show and said, “That might be fun to go to.” Little did he know that I’d worked the show for years growing up.

So, we started going to the garden show every year. First one day, then two. We even made it into a staycation one year to attend more garden talks. And each year we would say hi to Dennis at Nature’s Creation (yup, he’s still here).

It was a full circle moment when two years ago we started vending with our honey and beekeeping company, Rainy Day Bees. But the best part is that multiple friends of ours have display gardens! It’s so fun to support them, whether helping with a little setup, or bringing them lunches and coffee (so much coffee).

This year is extra special because we are featuring four beehives in Relish Garden's display garden! Claire (head designer at Relish) has won the People's Choice Aware the last two years, and is creating a beautiful garden full of edible plants. We are partnering with HiveIQ to feature their insulated beehives and will even have a discount available at the show. Our display hives are custom painted by our very own beekeeper, Asha Lodema.

We’re back at the show this year, but we’ve moved to another section of the show floor, closer to the gardens. Come find us in booth 217!