The 24th annual Northwest Flower and Garden Show, which continues through Sunday at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, is a great place to wander through to get inspiration for your garden.

After spending three days helping build a couple of the gardens, it is a delight to see them all in their full glory. The artistry and the ingenuity of the designers is reflected in the various elements of the garden. This year's musical theme, “A Floral Symphony,” is visible in both subtle and bold forms in all gardens at this year's show.

Kristy Ditmore, who owns Under the Arbor Landscape Design in Edmonds, has a display called “Kodachrome—Give Us Nice Bright Colors.” As you might guess, the theme is taken from the Paul Simon hit single. Ditmore's creation was a collaboration with McAuliffe's Valley Nursery and Falling Waters Garden.

Gardens like “April in Paris” (Wights Home & Garden in Lynnwood) and “Tales of Wonder” (Fancy Fronds) transport me to a romantic fantasyland, while “A Force of Nature” (Elandan Gardens) reminds me of the resilience of the natural world. The grandeur of the 600-year-old tree trunk (a combination of cedar, hemlock and silver fir) is simply breathtaking.

As you navigate through the show, take notes and photographs of the elements you like. Refer back to them when you build your own dream garden.

Contemporary design ideas

Permeable paving, garden sculpture made out of recycled materials and the beautiful repurposed pallet box are some of the elements that stand out in “Winter’s Come and Gone” by WSNLA and Native Root Designs. The secret behind the disappearing pondless water feature is the permeable patio with a small underground catchment system. Not only is it cost effective, it is clearly low maintenance and works well in small spaces.

A garden with a purpose is “Dinner Bell Rings” by Cascadian Edible Landscapes. A rustic farm table under a beautiful musical trellis is surrounded by fruits and vegetables growing in raised beds built using compost socks and tree rounds. Seems very sensible and down-to-earth to me.

Planters made out of tree rounds and logs catch my fancy in “Twistin’ the Night Away” by Dakara Landscape Design. I love the red colors of “Sienna Sunrise” that can brighten up any winter landscape. And how can I not mention the beauty of Contorted Filbert’s twisted stems and late-winter catkins?

A bird-lover’s paradise is “BirdSong” by The Arboretum Foundation and Seattle Audubon Society. The tech geek in me loves the QR codes on the signage. When scanned by your smart phone, it lets you listen to bird songs and sounds. Note the snag (a standing dead tree) in the garden—a critical bird habitat for many bird species. Use of native plants like red huckleberry, red osier dogwood, evergreen huckleberry and bunchberry in the garden is something that we can all do to make our gardens wildlife friendly.

Something for everyone

The container gardens are on display at the Skybridge. It’s a great place to get ideas on gardening in small spaces, especially on apartment balconies. I love the shocking orange containers in Cultivar LLC and Aw Pottery’s design—such a superb focal point in the garden. What a fun way to add the 2012 color of the year “Tangerine ” into the landscape.

The Marketplace is brimming with plants for sale. Gardening books, botanical art, garden boots and tools—all so enticing. There is an impressive lineup of seminars as well.

Don’t forget to stop by the Great Plant Picks booth. It's a wonderful resource for plant lovers of the maritime Pacific Northwest. All attendees can pick up free “Made in the Shade” posters there.

Families with young children will especially love the PlayGarden. It offers hands-on garden activities around-the-clock and features well-know musicians like Casper Babypants and Nancy Stewart on their Sprout stage. Kids under 12 get a free entry to the show, which makes this event just the thing to do on a cloudy winter day.

Lara Elizabeth Vyas is the owner and designer of Natural Greenscapes in Kenmore, a landscape design consulting firm that provides garden design and garden coaching services.

Edmonds Patch Editor Brian Soergel contributed to this story.