Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The 2012 Yard, Garden and Patio Show, chapter 2

I really intended to write only a single post on the YGP, but it’s become two days worth simply because once again I am so enthralled by the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s botanical display and wanted to share it.

Here in the midst of the show, where most other booths are trying to sell you something, you can stop and admire cut branches of plants brought in from HPSO member gardens (the ones I’ve pictured are all from Sean Hogan, Cistus Nursery; Roger Gossler, Gossler Farms Nursery; and the garden of Bruce Wakefield). It’s like walking though a small (highly curated) botanical garden.

Every year I am reminded of plants I’ve been meaning to include in my garden, like Mahonia gracilipes…
And discover new ones to admire, like Cunninghamia lanceolata ‘Glauca’...
And they don’t just do this at the YGP Show! If you come to the Spring (on April 7th & 8th this year) and Fall HPSO plant sales they have displays there too. Here’s more of what caught my eye…Berberis replicata
Callistemon viridiflorus (Green Bottlebrush)

Daphniphyllum humile
Magnolia maudiae

Nothopanax delavayi

Osmanthus sasaba

Argyrocytisus battandieri (Pineapple Broom)

Rhododendron roxieanum var. oreonastes, Greer

Schefflera delavayi
Stachyurus salicifolia (Willow-Leaf Stachyurus)
Now for what I bought at the show this year: I was a very good girl…only four 4” plants! (crazy huh?) Mahonia fortunei ‘Dan Hinkley’ from Xera Plants…(yes I have two other Mahonia fortunei, the 'Curlyque' variety from Cistus…so this one is different, I “needed” it)…
Wire Vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris)…nobody seems to agree on how hardy this plant is, I guess I’ll find out for myself!
Sedum nussbaumeriannum, this one’s not hardy…but with color like that, who cares!
And finally my little "freak of nature" plant. Such an oddity…Edgeworthia blooming…with leaves!
You never see that, usually the blooms happen in late winter/early spring followed by the leaves. Some sort of greenhouse witch-craft was at work here…hopefully not causing any permanent damage to the plant. I’ve wanted an orange flowering Edgeworthia since I first saw one last year, this is E. chrysantha ‘Akebono’…
So are you impressed with my restraint? Well there’s a reason…I’m going to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show in March!!!!! Yippee! It’s my first time there and I can’t wait to see how it compares to the Seattle and Portland Shows…plus…there’s gonna be shopping!!! Of course I’ll be taking you all along with me, I can’t wait!

31 comments:

  1. I'm not familiar with many of the plants you mentioned in this post. Time to look them up! I do have three or four wire vines, and they have done beautifully.

    When are you go to the SF Flower & Garden Show? I'm planning on going on Wednesday, March 21. Maybe we'll run into each other there!

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    1. I'm not sure what day we'll be there but I know it won't be Wednesday. I'm tagging a long with a friend so we'll pretty much be doing things on her schedule, I'm just excited to be going!

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  2. I'm jealous of that Sedum nussbaumeriannum. I will have to find one too. I heard through the grapevine you were going to SF (Digs!) in March. I will also be in Calif. in March and plan on visiting Flora Grubb, Annie's Annuals, and hopefully Succulent Gardens in Castroville. Dragging the family along with me of course!

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    1. I wish I knew what the name of the booth was that I got the Sedum at (in the Green Market), I can tell you that Marbott's nursery on Columbia in NE Portland had them last time I was there (I think theirs were $9 and the ones at the show were $6). Wow...interesting to hear that the grapevine knows I'm going to SF! Although it sounds like you might have heard it from my travel partner, wasn't she nice to invite me!? She mentioned all those wonderful nurseries as places we should hit while we're there...but since we only have 2 or 3 days I doubt will make them all. Then again if anyone can it's JJ, I just hope I can keep up with her!

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  3. I looked carefully over the fascinating "alternative" rhododendrons: I'd love to persuade the Mulch Man to replace the screaming magenta "Ahna Krushke" rhodies we have with something with more unusual.

    And yes, i'm amazed at your restraint, but what you got looks pretty great. The Edgeworthia is a lovely orange and I was seduced by the Mahonia fortuneii "Dan Hinkley" and picked one up for myself.

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    1. That Mahonia was a deal wasn't it!? I too wish for "alternative" rhododendrons...but more along the lines of wishing the former home owners had been more forward thinking in what they planted. Now that I've got their screaming magenta cast-offs I really do like the fact that they are established and would hate to start over.

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  4. Some gorgeous foliage plants there Loree, and it has easily beefed up my plant wishlist! It's interesting to see how the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon have put up their display at the show, it is almost identical to how the HPS do their displays at shows here. Standardised on all chapters of the world perhaps? Even if not it is the best way to display various foliage plants growing in members gardens.

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    1. Oh that is interesting to know! Maybe it's just a case of great minds thinking alike?

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  5. Hey, I actually have heard of one of these plants for a change -- and even grow it! The rest are almost completely unknown to me (except I've heard of Mahonia). Are they all z8+ plants, or are some more cold-hardy?

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    1. Alan I'd be willing to bet there are several that are more cold hardy, what are you a 5?

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  6. I didn't know the pineapple broom has a new name! What gorgeous plants -- I'd so love to attend that April HPSO plant sale. And I was actually thinking of skipping the SF show this year -- no way, now I know you'll be attending!

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    1. I didn't know it had an old name so I guess we're even!

      Might I see you at the show?? Oh that would be fabulous! I guess I better ask my friend what day she thinks were going to be there.

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  7. Wow! What an amazing selection of plants. Aside of the Mahonia and Muehlenbeckia axillaris, I am not familiar with most. Here in the great white north, the Muehlenbeckia is used in our annual containers. It has always looked like a wonderful groundcover to me, but I have never had the nerve to try and over winter it [being Z5 and all!] You did very well with you restraint..... is there a class you attended in order to keep it under control? I only ask because already this early in the season , mine seems destined for sure failure!

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    1. The class went something like this...

      1. Sit down and add up all the bills
      2. Look at what money comes in every month
      3. Realize there isn't much difference between the two numbers

      I wouldn't recommend doing this, it puts a real damper on things.

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  8. Yep, impressive restraint, and 4" pots are so small they don't really count. I have that Sedum, it's a good one.

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    1. And so your blog (and all of it's wonderful pictures) must be why that Sedum seemed so familiar to me! And I like that theory that 4" pots don't count...

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  9. Your house color really shows the plants off to their b est advantage...especially the Edgeworthia. I was in SF for their show and it was very different than ours...but it was years ago. Can't wait for your report.

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    1. ...and that wasn't an accident, yes...it's true the house color was chosen for how well it played with the garden. I have a feeling SF will do things a little different, I can't wait to report!

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  10. Orange flowered Edgeworthia is my new holy grail.

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    1. Have you seen it in real-life? It's so amazing!

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  11. Muehlenbeckia axillaris is totally hardy -- and a wee bit weedy -- for me here in Z5 Michigan, so I don't think you need to worry about it there in your all-but tropical clime.

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    1. So why do I occasionally find a listing saying it's only hardy to zone 9? Craziness!

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    2. Very cool...what I find in some Arizona and California sources, is that their zone or temperature ratings for some plants are when that plant goes dormant, loses top growth or flowers and dies to the roots. They sometimes forget where there is winter, that kind of thing happens! (Mexican Evening Primrose, etc)

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  12. Those are some great plants! I want all of them!! I love the double white stripes on that Cunninghamia lanceolata.

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    1. Isn't it amazing! And there was one for sale there too...but the fact that it gets to be 16-70 ft tall (what's with that range?) had a negative effect on my buying it.

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  13. I was going to thank you for whetting my appetite for SF next month..but I guess you whet yours too ! Tip from me, do your Succulent Gardens shopping early, you can't get near the place mid-day.

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    1. That's a good tip! I'm kind of worried I'll fall in love with too many things...

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  14. The Muhlenbeckia and those various Mahonia are my favorites. But I am a sucker for bones and good foliage...flowers optional and fleeting in the desert! And I am very close to attending the SF Flower and Garden Show, so I might meet Danger herself!!!

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    1. I wonder if we came face to face would we recognize each other?

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  15. I would have never guessed that was a Rhodie...crazy! Can't wait to see your report on the SF show :-)

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    1. Why do I find myself drawn to the Rhododendrons with either tiny leaves or huge ones?

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