Northwest Flower & Garden show will continue to blossom

EVERY winter in Seattle, deep in the months of dreary Northwest gray, comes the first hint of hope and spring: The Northwest Flower & Garden Show. As the event reached its 21-year mark, the owner planned to sell or cancel the show beginning next winter.

Three cheers for a community asset that will continue next February because owner Duane Kelly held on during a nasty recession and found a buyer able to present an event of the same high quality. Next year's show is a go, and that is great for avid gardeners and lovers of greenery.

Kelly wants to pursue other interests but also found this year's show more daunting than ever to produce because sponsorships declined. In the end, the show turned a profit.

The garden event blossomed into a delightful part of Northwest culture, arriving in early to mid-February, just when it seems soggy winter will never end.

Even if spring doesn't really arrive soon, Northwesterners get to spend part of the weekend at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center dreaming of warmer days by planning outdoor gardens.

The show has been sold to a Portland company that manages other distinguished shows.

Seattle's garden show is the second-largest of its kind in the country, behind Philadelphia, and ahead of San Francisco, also owned by Kelly and now sold to another buyer.

The festival of flora draws thousands of Northwesterners who spend hours viewing plant and tree displays, listening to experts and collecting supplies.

Like the first buds of pink on early blooming cherry trees, the sale of the show is a sign of hope. Spring will come once again and everything will be all right.