Karen Stefonick admitted that a bit of sadness washed over her while she watched workers tear down her garden on Monday at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

“You know it will not be seen that way again … one time only,” said the owner of Bothell’s Karen Stefonick Design about her Founder’s Cup-winning creation, “A Wrinkle in Time — Gardens Not Yet Discovered.”

It is the second year in a row that judges have put Stefonick and Snohomish’s B. Bissell General Contractor LLC in the spotlight with the Best in Show award for their display garden at the five-day Northwest Flower and Garden Show.

“It’s amazing — it’s never been done,” Stefonick said of notching consecutive wins in the show that’s been presented since 1989. “Last year, we thought it was as good as it gets. We said, ‘Yep, we got our shot at it, now someone else will get it.’”

In pre-event judging Feb. 22, “A Wrinkle in Time” rose above the 23 other display gardens at the show, titled “Once Upon a Time … Spectacular Gardens with Stories to Tell.”

“A Wrinkle in Time,” a 1962 novel by science-fiction author Madeleine L’Engle, served as an inspiration for the garden. The focal point is a “crystal ball” that appears to float in the center of a reflecting pond. The acrylic ball is two feet in diameter and British artist Allison Armour made it for Stefonick and sent it her way.

About 15 Bissell workers began assembling the garden Feb. 19 and they were finished about 3 1/2 days later. The Bissell team built the large concrete columns in its warehouse and transported them, along with all the other features, to the convention center. It took a crane to place the roof on top of it all.

And then it was in the judges’ hands, who noted that Stefonick’s “restraint” was key in that she didn’t overdo anything; each element stands on its own and they work well together, the designer said of the judges’ feedback.

So how does Stefonick come up with her design ideas?

“It’s really interesting, you get inspiration from all sorts of places,” she said. “(For instance), the cut-out back wall — I got the idea when I was at a Thai restaurant, where they were using them as room dividers.”

All the hard work paid off when show time came around and some 60,000 to 80,000 people attended the second largest show of its kind in the United States behind the Philadelphia, Penn., event, Stefonick said.

“People said it was so calming and relaxing to be at that particular garden,” she said of “A Wrinkle in Time.”

Stefonick, who has participated in the show since 2002, got the garden bug by working in the yard with her mom as a kid. As an adult, she worked in the software industry and as an interior designer before getting into landscape design.

“When I had a home in Seattle, I’d be landscaping, and before you know it, everyone in the neighborhood wanted me to do theirs, too,” she said with a laugh.

That passion for design spills over into the Northwest Flower and Garden Show realm.

“It’s kind of a rush for me. I really enjoy creating,” Stefonick said.

“I’m a little competitive. I like building something from scratch and watching it evolve.”