Last weekend we went to the Portland Yard, Garden and Patio Show. This was a convention center of displays and vendors that had anything to do with gardening (and some not – there was a booth selling just socks!!??). Some companies brought in a phenominal amount of plants and stones to create their display areas. But, in the end, it was a little disappointing. Everyone was selling something. Even the designers seems to want to build walls and stone walkways. In some sense, it wasn’t very gardeny. It seems artificial. The only real garden people (and they seemed happy about it) were the booths selling bulbs and plants – they were selling the beauty and fun of gardening. Most of the other companies were selling the details of gardening.