Monday, April 2, 2012

Plant Sale! And Portland’s Lan Su Classical Chinese Garden...

Last Saturday was the Spring Plant Sale at our wonderful Chinese Garden. Members could shop for an hour and half before the public, a treat indeed! Luckily I realized earlier in the week that my membership had expired so I beat feet down to the garden to renew. Since it was a dry afternoon (somewhat rare right now in Portland) I took a walk through the garden to see what was looking good…

This is the first Loquat bloom I’ve ever seen. Not much to write home about eh?
The Clematis (armandii I believe?) on the other hand…gorgeous!
The emerging Podophyllum pleianthum (Chinese Mayapple) is so glossy it looked fake.

This is the first Spring without my Camellia, I don’t miss it at all. Removing it was the right decision…especially when I can enjoy better looking ones all over town.
Chaenomeles japonica 'Atsuya Hamada' (Flowering Quince)

The beautiful Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Red Dragon’
And the “standard” Edgeworthia chrysantha ('Nanjing Gold' perhaps?)
While we really don’t “need” and more Bamboo I certainly would enjoy having some striped canes in my garden.

I have no idea what it is but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the beautiful yellow flowers.

And I’m no fan of the Daphne but WOW…it was scenting the entire garden the day of my visit.

Fast forward to last Saturday morning at the sale and now it is anything but dry...
Luckily us Portlanders don’t let a little (lot) of rain get in our way when there is plant shopping to be done!
Things I looked at and considered buying…Rhododendron stenopetalum 'Linearifolium' (Spider Azalea). Yes it’s an Azalea and yet I still lust after it. If it wasn’t for its annoying pink flowers I might actually buy one.

Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Sasaba'

Rhododendron makinoi, yes another Rhododendron. I like the leaves…

Syneilesis aconitifolia
I was tempted to buy more since I love this plant so, but really…I don’t “need” any more.

So what did I buy? Finally a Mahonia gracilipes…

And a second Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby'…

I think I’ll transplant the one I have to the front garden and put this one in the back garden.

This year the sale had a noticeable decline in number of vendors, and I was concerned.
Hopefully it is just a result of scheduling conflicts since this coming weekend is the big Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s Spring Plant Sale (this year dubbed “Hortlandia”), the not-to-be-missed plant sale of the season. I'm extra excited this year because The Desert Northwest from Sequim, WA, will be there for the first time! Could be dangerous ($)!...

21 comments:

  1. Another awesome sale I missed. I don't mind driving a bit, but Portland is 10 hrs away :-).

    So many cool plants that I've never seen down here. I would have been all over that Syneilesis aconitifolia! I just saw my first edgeworthia at a nursery down here but it didn't look that great.

    Gerhard

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    1. You should plan to drive up next Spring for the HPSO Sale...it is fabulous!

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  2. Good call on the mahonia and the Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby'. I think the kind of gnarly look of the sophora is fantastic!!! as far as plant personalities go, its pretty legit in my books.

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    1. Glad to hear you approve! I love both the gnarly stems and the little leaves of the Sophora.

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  3. Oh dear...I know that feeling. I don't know how many times I've been tempted to buy something I already have "enough" of, just because I love it so much! I would NEVER have guessed that was an Azalea...how fascinating. Reminds me of a Polygonatum I saw recently on Far Reaches website...kind of blew me away.
    http://www.farreachesfarm.com/Polygonatum-verticillatum-Rubrum-p/p0692.htm

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    1. Today I was regretting not getting the Syneilesis...I think I've been spoiled by cheap prices the last two years and this year it was $10!

      Uhmmmm...will you be purchasing a special delivery of said Polygonatum at the sale this weekend?

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  4. That Chinese Garden is absoloutely beautiful. So many plants there I would love to have.

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    1. And the amazing thing is that every single time I visit I see something new!

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  5. There I am in that last pic of the sale in the green raingear: I remember that lady to my right in the gray raincoat nearly mowing me down with her cart. That's a lovely little haul, Loree! I don't know how I missed the Syneilesis, as I was on the lookout for more myself. I also didn't see the Mahonia gracilipes, though I wasn't in that particular market. Guess I have to blame the blinkering effect of peering out from my hood for missing these. Onward to Hortlandia!

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    1. Oh that lady looks scary! Kind of like the Grim Reaper, glad you avoided her. The Syneilesis was in the Dancing Oaks booth and I'm sure they weren't out as there was extra stock under the table. I bet they have it at "Hortlandia" this weekend!

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  6. Woohay! Loree manages to bag herself a Mahonia gracilipes :)

    Whilst I like spikies and Yuccas a lot I also like the type of planting you have photographed above because most of it grows well in my Scottish climate.

    I have a soft spot for Rhododendron, well, let's say I have a soft spot for their leaves and overall shape and form. The flowers don't do very much for me. I have been on the lookout for a Rhododendron makinoi for a while, but I still have not tracked one down, but a couple of years ago I bought a Rhododendron graziella and it is similar in most ways to the makinoi.

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    1. I am really having a tough time not buying one of these fabulous Rhododendrons...be it a big leaf or a tiny leaf, there are so many cool ones! Glad you found a "place holder" for the one you are really hunting for.

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  7. I love that Sophora, I loved seeing them all over New Zealand. I think your mystery yellow plant is Kerria japonica.

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  8. lol. Why the hatred of pink flowers? I recently realized I have... no pink in my garden. Not on purpose, but it's one of those things where you look in your closet to discover that you have a lot of red (or black or white or beige or yellow) clothes rather unintentionally.

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    1. Being a fan of orange in the garden I try and avoid pink...plus I am just not a pink lover. You would be very hard pressed to find any pink in my closet...there is one t-shirt which is kinda sorta but that's it.

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  9. Great looking photos Loree, and great haul too! Well done on getting a Mahonia gracilipes, it's a gorgeous plant. And the foliage of Rhododendron stenopetalum 'Linearifolium'is superb, I wouldn't mind having one even with its pink flowers.

    I noticed the attention to planting detail in the Chinese garden, with the Phyllostachys culms emerging from the the leaves of another, shorter growing leafy bamboo Indocalamus.

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    1. The planting in that garden is first rate...when you visit Portland we'll have to go! (hehe)

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  10. I think the yellow mystery flowers is a single flowered form of Kerria japonica, the double is most common, but I like the single better. Loquat is a December bloomer around here, and yes the blooms are not much to look at, but December is good and the fragrance is wonderful. I hope you enjoy your new finds.

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  11. I love the Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby' too -- what fantastic branch angles! I should get to a plant sale this year... still too early for them here, even though it feels like it's already too late.

    "Yellow Groove" bamboo is really common in this part of the country. Beautiful, but there are lots more choices if you want stripes. Glad to see you thinking about bamboo. :-)

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  12. Great pictures of the Portland Chinese Gardens! I've never been (yet!!) so it was wonderful to see it through your lens :) I'm hoping to make it to Hortlandia this weekend, I'm quite excited. Cheers, Jenni

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