A week of nursery visits, starting in La Pine, OR

Looking through my photo files I realized that I hadn’t yet shared a couple of nursery visits I made in early July, when I traveled south to Eugene and Mosaic Gardens. Add to those a couple other stops when I was in Seattle, and then a couple more in Central Oregon and just like that I’ve got a week’s worth of plant shopping to post about! Maybe you’ll discover a new nursery you must visit? A new plant you must have? Or just enjoy tagging along. First up we’ll visit L&S Gardens and Little River Nursery, both in La Pine, Oregon (population just over 10,000). I didn’t expect to find a nursery in this small town, let alone two of them. The timing of our visit was after the peak selling season, so we weren’t seeing either nursery at their plant filled best…still there was plenty to enjoy. L&S has a definite theme and carries it through the entire place. What personality! I liked the blooms on this Long Hair Sedge… And it seemed odd to see Papyrus (Proven Winners, Baby Tut) out in this part of the state (not quite desert but darn close). In addition to the plants (which all look very healthy), they also sell antique containers. I could imagine having a lot of fun planting up this one! ($50) And have planted up several of them to help inspire ideas. This field of sunken black plastic containers is a mystery…and I haven’t seen this many wheelbarrows since we visited my in-laws in Nashville! As we left I noticed this group hanging out, clustered in the shade. I can’t blame them it was a warm afternoon, approaching 90 degrees. At Little River Nursery they grow most of their plants from seed, and don’t rush them to put on a flush of growth to quickly be saleable. This way the plants are able to grow and adapt to the harsh weather conditions in this part of Oregon. Andrew discovered a small toad. This turned out to be one of several that would come out to great us as we strolled through the greenhouse. The owner (whose name I’ve forgotten!) said she has to watch out for them as she mows the lawn, and mentioned that with the frogs come the snakes. Luckily we didn’t see any of them.

Lots of succulents… More shots from around the nursery... There were several fun details to discover. Like these old vice grips being used to keep papers from blowing away… And this antique gate at the cash/wrap area. Evidently it had been purchased years ago, waiting for just the right place to finally be used. Love the bright flowers! As we were leaving a big truck pulled up with a special delivery, a bull was being borrowed to keep their cow "company" for a bit. They seemed excited to be reunited, here’s cute evidence of an earlier meeting…