Tuesday, April 22, 2014

An annual outing with my fellow plant lovers...(part 2)

Yesterday I shared the first half our outing, with stops at Xera and Secret Garden Growers. After grabbing lunch we headed to Grassy Knoll Exotic Plants, a nursery I'd only just learned about thanks to a visit from a blog reader in California, thanks Max! GK Exotics is a mail order nursery but the owner, Elizabeth, was kind enough to allow our group to visit, and while she was out of town no less! Her husband Nathan (plants are not his thing) was a trooper and dealt quite well with 3 car-loads interupting his peaceful afternoon.

GK Exotics specializes in passion flowers, like this beauty.

Even the foliage is fabulous.

I'm sorry but how can you not laugh at a plant like that? Reminds me of my "big hair" days.

Lush and lovely Grevillea x gaudichaudii

I really wanted to buy one of these, but instead chose to be content with my single plant, purchased last fall from The Desert Northwest. It's good to know of someone else out there growing it...in case I do decide to take the plunge (perhaps I'm feeling the sting of last winter?).

Leucospermum grandiflorum, which Elizabeth grew from seed...

Looks like a successful mail-order business!

Not one, not two but three fabulous Aloe polyphylla...

Not only were there beautiful plants but there were goats! Just the thing to take Heather's mind off the puppy we had to leave behind earlier in the day.

This one's got guts too, it tried to eat the Passiflora 'Sunburst' I'd just purchased moments before. Silly goat!

Onward! Our last nursery stop of the day was Bosky Dell Natives. Do you notice anything unusual in the photo below? Under the water spigot? Poor opuntia had to go into hiding.

Swoon...

I suppose this was once planted with sedums and such, not so much anymore. I would love the opportunity to cart it home and plant it up.

Not sure if this was part of the home on the premises, an out-building, or just what. This whole nursery was a bit of a mystery...

See what I mean?

Where else are you going to see a shopping cart with a tree growing out of it?

And I didn't make any purchases here, but that's okay. I'd done all right earlier in the day.

I'm still not jumping on the trillium bandwagon...

So that's a wrap on our day! After four nursery visits (and a lot of traffic on the way back into Portland) we're back where we first met up that morning, the garden (and house) of Sean Hogan.

I spy a couple of new Yucca rostrata...

And perhaps a Nolina microcarpa? I'd accuse him of being a copycat (since I just bought one) but then we all know who's the copycat don't we?

I can't remember the name of this camellia but it's gorgeous. I were looking to plant one in my garden this would be the one...

Thanks for coming along on our fun-filled day!

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

34 comments:

  1. My poor Veratrum californicum that I bought at Hortlandia is looking very pitiful, the leaves are all droopy and saggy. I hope it survives. Those all look so pristine and healthy!

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    1. Oh no! Why do you think it's droopy? Did you get it planted right away?

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  2. I do love Bosky Dell....they are creative in their decor! If you ever meet the owner, ask her to take you around back to her private pond she built (she built the whole place and restored the stream running through her property, too), it is full of a threatened native frog...very cool. A wacko place but wacko with love.

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    1. Oh gosh yes, very creative. You can tell someone has spent a lot of time making their vision happen, it would make a great movie set!

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  3. Corn lily, that's a new term for me, quite like it! And that mysterious looking building and tent sort of reminds me of the sort displays you see at Chelsea, lol! Can't wait to see Sean Hogan's place in the flesh.

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    1. The whole place (Bosky Dell) definitely had a look going and I love that you mentioned Chelsea! One of the features that I didn't photograph was they'd built a wooden surround for the porta-potty, so it wasn't a bight plastic eye-sore but rather a wooden building which fit into the overall scheme.

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  4. Both of these nurseries look pretty wonderful for different reasons. I love the wacky mystery of the second place. Mr. Hogan's garden is some kind of wonderful in both your pictures and in person! I'm also fond of that camellia and will inquire about it at Cistus! Your devoted readers would LOVE to see a picture of you during your big hair days. I also had big hair in the 80's. You show me yours and I'll show you mine.

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    1. I can't for the life of me figure out how to work a big hair photo into a garden blog....ya, that's why I won'd be sharing. (not because the sight would be horrific)

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  5. I added Grassy Knoll to my resource list - I'm very impressed by anyone who can grow a Leucospermum from seed. The website shows some very nice Hoya too. Bosky Dell's nursery and nursery were also very interesting. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. Yay, glad you found this post helpful. A lot of what GK grows would be very happy in your environment.

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  6. Go on! Start buying some Trilliums! You know you want to, ha ha! What's holding you back?

    Those Veratrum look very healthy and good prices for the size of pots, they are very expensive to buy in this country. My Veratrum album "Lorna's Green Seedlings" is my best performing Veratrum this year and is just over a foot tall. The slugs and snails have put a couple of holes in it, but apart from that it looks well.

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    1. I actually don't (want to). I mean I appreciate their beauty but don't really have a need to see them in my garden.

      Those veratrum were very healthy...not a single bit of insect damage!

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  7. Love those buildings, and great plants. What a fantastic trip.

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    1. It certainly was, wish we could do it every week.

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  8. Fun to see the new places you checked out on this outing. Great plants too.

    Mr. Hogan has an impressive collection of plants with the yuccas and nolina looking quite good in your climate.

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    1. It was really nice to visit a group of new nurseries and see what they're all about.You'd think by now we'd have visited them all but there are still new ones for next year!

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  9. I'm not a huge fan of passion flowers, but that one with the two stripes and yellow spots on the leaves is so cool!

    That camellia looks a lot like 'Black Magic'. I included that cultivar in a post in March. Most of my photos are of less mature flowers which are much darker than the fully open blooms. http://www.practicalplantgeek.blogspot.com/2014/03/camellias-my-favorite-plant-in-someone.html

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    1. Yes! I think you're right about the 'Black Magic'...it is a beauty!

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  10. I love the funky charm of Bosky Dell. It feels like a rerun of Hippy days. That passion flower is electric. I can see it clambering over your new fence, but then I suppose many fab plants are vying for that honor.

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    1. Yes indeed, very hippy! Actually I tried the passion flower on the fence but it looked so small and insignificant. I moved it so it's against the back of the house, much better!

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  11. Glad to hear you made it to GK! Good pick on the 'Sunburst', and good willpower on leaving the Grevillea behind.
    Max P.

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  12. Oh, and it's too bad you missed Elizabeth, she has some great plant hunting stories.
    Max P.

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    1. And indeed she was off plant hunting (at a plant sale...) when we were there. I'm sure our paths will cross eventually. And thanks again for the recommendation!

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  13. Great stops! I wish I could stop by. I love the "bad hair day" plant. And that Camellia (well, all Camellias) is gorgeous!

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    1. That camellia is indeed, and there is another ('Night Rider' I believe) near by that is equally so.

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  14. Bosky Dell looks as eccentric as advertised! Looks like a great day of plant shopping :)

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    1. Have you made it there yet? To Bosky Dell?

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  15. I love reading your blog and can see the advantages to living in a warmer climate. I too love seeking out the 'unusual nurseries'!

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    1. I was just telling someone yesterday that I garden like I live in California. No matter where I am I'm sure I'll always want a warmer climate.

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  16. dear god, how I want to get back on the plant shopping bandwagon. I've got to figure out how to organize this giant yard. suggestions most welcome. another thrilling post, Loree.

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    1. Maybe if you just start buying you'll be forced to start planting and it will all flow from there? I don't know you did pretty amazing work last time by just jumping in and going for it. Will you be attending the swap this weekend?

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  17. Oh, I'm so envious, there are so many awesome plants, gardens and nurseries. I´m glad I can at least see them through your blog.

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  18. That looks like it was a lot of fun. Maybe I shouldn't stay home moving blocks around quite so much.

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