Thursday, February 18, 2010

The YG&P Show, shopping!

Every year one of the most interesting displays at the show is the one by the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. It consists of tables and tables of vases with foliage cuttings showcasing plants that provide winter interest. It was at this booth last year that I first learned there were hardy Callistemons that would grow in my garden, some of my favorites this year included…

Osmanthus sasabaNothopanax delavayi
Aspidistra elatior 'Variegata' (why did I buy the plain old green Cast Iron plant when I could have had this?)
Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red'
Callistemon viridiflora, maybe there is another Callistemon in my future….
Euphorbia rigida, I can’t believe I don’t have this Euphorbia!
Eriobotrya japonica
And of course there are many nurseries that have booths at the show. One that I’ve only visited at the show is Bauman Farms, someday I’ll make it to their nursery but it’s just so far away! This barn wall with cracks filled with Moss and Sempervivium formed the back of their booth, isn’t it creative?
Several years in a row they’ve had a great selection of little agaves and other succulents at great prices. This year was no exception. I loved the Agave “silver surfer” on the right. But since I wasn’t sure about its hardiness and I already have a few blue agaves I passed it by.
Not so with this Agave Shira ito no Ohi, I’ve loved it in the Plant Delights catalogue for $20 so with a price tag of $6.95 this one became mine!
While I was fondling the agaves (yes I have to touch them, all of them!) I overheard a couple admiring these beauties…(how could they not right?)…
They had no idea what they were and asked one of the sales people. I was very happy to hear her explain what they were, how to correctly pronounce agave, and to take special care to keep them dry in the winter. In the end they decided to pass, the male half of the couple didn’t want to buy a plant that he couldn’t just “plunk in the ground” … they walked away repeating the name “agave” like it was a tantalizing new word. I loved hearing someone discover agaves for the first time! I predict they will end up getting one eventually. You could see the fever in their eyes.

These fabulous blooming aloes were part of a display that wasn’t for sale. Good thing otherwise I might have had to buy them.
I am obsessed with Tree Ferns right now. This one was a beauty, as was the Cycad behind it.
After the last two Flax killing winters we’ve had here in Portland I was very surprised to see that a nursery would actually tag a Phormium like this…
“Phormiums will grow just about anywhere”
Really?
“Will tolerate extreme heat & cold”
Then why do all of mine look like hell?
“Little care for great color all year long”
Oh boy. Wrapping them against the cold is not ‘little care’!

There’s an area of the show set aside for plant vendors that don’t have a full booth at the show. A percentage of the sales in this area benefit the OSU Master Gardeners. This is where I did most of my buying.

At the Rare Plant Research booth was this Eucomus blub (if bulb is the right term?), isn’t it wild!? I wonder if all Eucomus eventually look like this? Seeing it made me want to go home and dig mine up to get a look.
They also had this marvelous Bromeliad display.
But what really caught my attention was this monster Furcraea (it’s about 2ft tall, 2ft wide). I’ve been mildly obsessed with Furcraea since our trip to California last fall. First seeing them at San Marcos Growers and then later at the LA County Museum of Art (they weren’t art, they were landscaping). I had to have this one!
Isn’t it gorgeous?
I’d been hoping to find more Saxifraga x Geum 'Dentata' and Xera plants had them. I grabbed two.
Another must have, a Dykia hybrid (Burgandy Ice), they say it’s hardy to Zone 7.
My heart sank when I saw this…
And this…
And another! Agave abuse! So sad.
My last two “must haves” were from the Cistus booth, it’s a little ridiculous to buy plants from a nursery that I can (and will) drive to sometime soon, but then again if I passed them up now and couldn’t get them later I would have regretted it. I’ve already shared images of both on Bloomday and Foliage Follow-up but I love them so much I just have to show them again! Yucca rigida…
And Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red'...after seeing it in the Hardy Plant Society display and dreaming of it for 2 nights I went back on Sunday and bought it.
While at the show I picked up a couple of flyers for upcoming sales, mark your calendars! The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon spring sale is April 17th and 18th and the Rare Plant Research open house is May 15th and 16th this year. I can't wait!

6 comments:

  1. Loree~~ I've sat here for, I don't know, 20 minutes, reading and delighting in your last two posts. It sounds like the seminars didn't disappoint. Have you been to Lucy H's garden? I've seen so many photos of it I feel like I have. Still, I should make visiting it an entry on my Bucket List.

    Is Bauman Farm in Woodburn? I love the barn & semps. I think that Phormium tag must have been meant for its New Zealand homeland. This false advertising hits a raw nerve considering all of mine are toast.

    Is the Furcraea reliably winter hardy? Maybe it would make a worthy substitute, er replacement for the fickle Phormium clan. This variegated is making my mouth water.

    I think my Eucomis might be a gonner too. What I wouldn't give to have that clump.

    And finally, I want all of the plants from the HPS table. Thank you for feeding my addiction. So much fun.

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  2. What treasures! At $6.95 for that agave, you should be arrested for stealing.

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  3. Oh here it comes - the regret for missing the show last weekend. I knew it would hit as soon as I saw what I passed up. But I cleaned up the garden last weekend instead, so I actually have a place to plant newcomers, so next time I see good plants, I'm ready!

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  4. Did you tow a little red wagon to carry home your booty? Or perhaps your ever-so-kind hubby came along to abet?
    E. rigida...I want one too!
    Bauman Farms was the one nursery that showed the spunk of years past in their display.

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  5. Wow, you did great! What an array. I'm amazed and second Ricki's question about how you got it all home!?! Spiky plants must be extra hard to tote around in that volume. That callisetmon is amazing - are those spent seeds from the previous growing season? I will have to look it up. Thanks for the virtually shopping tour! Funny about the agave newbies. I bet you're right, they will get one someday, then another, and another...

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  6. Grace, sadly the Furcraea is not hardy, not even close. Yes Bauman is the one in Woodburn, have you been? I haven't seen Lucy's garden, just lots of pictures. And don't give up on your Eucomis, I thought mine were last year but nope, didn't even phase them!

    Les, no! It's bargain hunting at it's best!

    Megan, did you plant the things you bought at Tsugawa last fall? I still have not.

    ricki, no, I just bought on 2 separate days...so it was easy to carry. Let me know if you find the E. rigida around town please!!!

    Karen, you're right...last years bloom pods (totally the wrong name but I don't know what to call them) on the Callistemon.

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