This past weekend I made the 6 hour drive to Nashville with the family to visit the Nashville Antique & Garden Show. The show was one reason for going the others were to get out of Ohio for a bit and to explore Nashville. Here is a recap of the trip:
Nashville Antique & Garden Show
We just visited the show portion and did not make it to any of the speakers. I was disappointed in the show garden portion. There were really only four displays and some were better than others. The vendors with the garden antiques had some very interesting and unique items, but the majority of the show was focused on the antiques with some amazing items. We had a great time, but I would not go for the display gardens. 
These items were from Thistle. which was located right when you walked into the show. She had a great interpretation of some common items like the wire hay feeders and the sheets of aged zinc. She will also be at the Chicago Antique & Garden Fair so if you are attending look for her booth.
I did not catch the name of this vendor, but they had a great selection of weathered garden items. Note the lichens on the faux bois benches.
I also did not get the name on this vendor but had a great presentation of the zinc tubs and dolly pots. The over sized lanterns were also amazing.
This was the display garden designed by Page | Duke (forgot the installer). Each garden was a tribute to a fabric by Albert Hadley. It was a great design, but I wanted to meet the designers and installer teams.
This display garden was designed by Anne Daigh and was an amazing interpretation of the Hadley pattern inspiration.
This was an interesting paving example from the garden by Kathi Medlin Gilleland, Brian Gilleland and Alfredo Varela.
Cheekwood Botanical Gardens
Even though it is February, we took an afternoon to explore Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. The weather was perfect and from the house you could see far across the valleys. We had a great time and were even able to find some Hellebores blooming.
Landscape Design in Nashville
Question for anyone that lives in Nashville. While driving around Belle Meade and the surrounding area we were expecting to see some amazing landscapes with the grand homes. There were lots of large old boxwoods but very few perennial beds. The climate is perfect for perennials, but they just did not exist. We even drove down to Brentwood to the newer homes and no really amazing landscape designs. Are there any amazing gardens we were missing? We found these two below in Belle Meade, but they were the exception.
We had a wonderful time, we even extended our trip an extra day so we could see more. We had great food including Burger Up, popsicles from Las Paletas, and even tried HOT Chicken. We will be going back another time, either in the spring or fall.
Please plan to come to Atlanta for the Garden Tour for Connoisseurs on Mother’s Day weekend–every year. I have visited many cities in the south, and elsewhere, but I am convinced that Atlanta is one of the great cities for gardening in the south. I am lucky enough to work in fabulous gardens daily. Of course, Charleston and Savannah are fabulous and probably the best and oldest. My parents lived in Franklin, TN for a few years and although Nashville is supported by the music industry, it is still a young city, relatively speaking, and emphasis is not on the longevity that inspires classic garden design…ie. “old money”! That’s my perception.
I’m just sayin’!
Rusty, thank you so much for the invite….I can not believe I have not visited Atlanta from a gardening stand point…and the Mother’s Day tours sounds wonderful. I will agree with you that Charleston and Savannah are full of history and beautiful gardens. But Nashville on the other hand, I don’t know- I was just blown away by the lack of plant selection, designed landscapes, and garden ornaments- like good containers and structures. The thing is the zone should be quite easy to grow beautiful perennial gardens and have an interesting garden full of structure and texture. I would truly love to get my hand on some those gardens with so much potential- So anyone reading in Nashville, keep me in mind.