Classic Nursery

La Palabra Pintada

Classic's 2006 NW Flower & Garden show display, "La Palabra Pintada" (The painted word) was a collaboration with New York Times best selling author/artist Nick Bantock (Griffin & Sabine, The Artful Dodger) and inspired by his book, The Windflower (Chronicle, Fall 2006). The latest Classic effort blended unusual flora and old world imagery. ( Click to see www.nickbantock.com) Like past Classic gardens, "The Millennium Railway", "Mirabilia" and "Portage to the Pacific", La Palabra Pintada was built in the Classic handcrafted style from stone, water and elements of the fantastic. Here, the mythologies of Nick Bantock mix with the architecture of The Alhambra, Moroccan and Asian motifs and lessons in the origins of natural dyes and spices. For the 2006 theme, we created a mythical old-world courtyard in flagstone and tile with a formal fountain. An Alhambra-inspired faux "ruin" features colorful backdrop paintings and special garden-art prints by Nick Bantock and hundred year old Turkish pots. If you went to the show, you'll never forget the three very large centuries-old Spanish amphoras, the palm trees and an unbelievably beautiful, two ton piece of marbleized jade. Found elements included exquisite and ancient stone carvings from Asian and India and a beautifully delicate stone Ganesha corner brace from 300 years ago.

The special palette selection of tropicallissimo plants was carefully chosen and provided from Monrovia in high contrast colors and textures. Show attendees were fascinated by the large red bananas, sago palms, bird of paradise, flax, variegated ginger, hardy gardenias and citrus in bloom. We offered show-goers a limited edition Nick Bantock color postcard of a bird of paradise motif. We procured and arranged three unique vignettes to display the origins of dyes and color found in nature. Cochineal, saffron and indigo were arranged in their natural form with fabrics imbued with these natural colors. These areas were accented with marvelous elements, including a 400-year-old Indian Rani keystone, World War 1 era "charm shirt" from Mali and a magical protective amulet vest inscribed with ancient text from the Koran. The research for this garden drew upon these many themes and visual styles, taking almost two years of research to produce. As always, our gardens vary greatly from each biennial Garden Show display effort, as we learn new techniques and find materials from once unfamiliar sources. We hope to carry these inspirations forward into our daily creative work. A particular inspiration is the idea of "duende", a creativity borne in the soul and from the earth. This concept, originally popularized in the writings of Federico Garcia Lorca, became a catchphrase for this garden, winner of the Gold medal at the 2006 Northwest Flower & Garden Show.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to the many helpful and generous suppliers and consultants, including Monrovia plants, Mutual Materials, Tom Jahns, Carolyn Pinkard, Trixie Auburn, Earthues, Peter Norris Home & Garden, AW Pottery, Rhodes Architectural Stone, Chronicle Books and the busy horticultural worker bees from Lake Washington Technical College.