Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Finding Joe’s big brother…


I potted up and photographed Joe on Friday afternoon. On Saturday I pulled into Cornell Farm Nursery and came face to face with the only other Agave ‘Joe Hoak’ that I’ve ever seen in Oregon, hell only the third one I’ve ever seen in person!

There it was, just hanging out with the rest of the gang as though they belonged here (and I guess they did, really).

Oh Joe Sr. You’re big, you’re beautiful…and you’re expensive!

Joe Jr isn’t nearly you’re size but I’m okay with that.

One of Joe Sr’s friends, Agave parrasana ‘Fireball’ love the variegation and the red spikes.

Agave medio-picta ‘Alba’ lovely...

Aloe distans, I thought mine was growing tall as a reaction to indoor lighting (even though it's close to the grow-lights in the basement), good to know this is normal.

Aloe marlothii

Sedum ‘Cherry Truffle’

Sedum ‘Chocolate Drop’

Ah, ‘Blue Glow’…

That’s a nice salad for lunch!

This seemed to be the “it” plant of the spring. The one which would be hard to find and everyone would want.

Alstroemeria ‘Rock & Roll’, the market is already flooded. Not that I think that’s a bad thing. It’s a gorgeous plant, everyone who wants one should have one.

Then there’s this.

I see it and I am drawn to that foliage. So fabulous!

But the blooms, always the blooms (Rhododendron linearifolium), still I do consider the purchase.

This one stopped me in my tracks, my blood pressure rising.

But worry not, it’s the “well behaved” alternative.

There were a pair of luscious acacias. This one Acacia cultriformis…

And this, Acacia boormanii.

Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia 'Bright Star', how do they make them look so beautiful?

Elegia capensis, *swoon*…

And yes when I spotted this, the third Leucadendron ‘Ebony’ I’ve seen here in Portland I did feel just a little smug, knowing I may have had the first. (the second is/was at Cistus. I know, pride is not pretty)

One of the things I love about this nursery is they put together great color stories. I was attracted to a couple of plants in this display that I would never have looked twice at, had they not been surrounded by orange.

Lust! Grevillea 'Long John'

And honesty I was on information overload by now and didn’t get the name of either one of these Leucadendron…

I am just so happy to see these plants here HERE in Portland, hallelujah!

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

27 comments:

  1. Whoa! That Joe Hoak Sr. is expensive. That price tag gave me quite a shock. The red Alstroemeria with the variegated foliage, yep, I want one! The It plant here this spring seems to be Digiplexis, it's everywhere and everyone seems to want one. I bought two when I was at Molbak's, but I think they might just be expensive (and maybe over-hyped) annuals. Those are the pinkest Bright Stars I've ever seen, I want to know the secret to getting them to look like that.

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    1. Me too! (a shock) I walked up to it expecting to read $95 or so. Ah well, some lucky dog is going to end up with it!

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  2. Your nursery visits are always a source of inspiration and ideas, especially of what to look our for next. Rhododendron linearifolium, gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks guys, I feel the same about yours. Of course mixed with jealousy since some of the fabulous plants you buy can't be had here at any price.

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  3. Oh my goodness, danger! that nursery looks like a treasure trove of great plant picks. I too wonder the secrets of the beautiful yucca 'bright star.' Amazing! It is my dream to walk into a nursery up here and find luecadendron. I've been suggesting it to one of the local growers.

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    1. Cistus is the only other place I've seen a leucadendron for sale here, of course not including cut flowers which are everywhere!

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  4. What a great nursery! Joe Sr. is a looker but probably best enjoyed at the nursery at that price. I haven't seen Alsoromeria 'Rock and Roll' here but like Alison, I want one too. I'll bet the sale will be full of them! Elegia capensis is gorgeous and I had a very large one years ago that lived through three winters before the first PKW took it.

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    1. Besides here I've seen Alsoromeria 'Rock and Roll' at Portland Nursery on Stark. Should you guys not find one at the sale perhaps a stop there will be in order.

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  5. A nice nursery with a great range of delectable plants but pricey! $212! The variegated red-flowered Alstroemeria is everywhere here too, like the Digiplexis.

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    1. Exclusivity comes with a price, doesn't it?

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  6. So you don't want the Joe H. I was saving for you? I was just going to email you to see if your weather is improved enough to send it.

    That's it. I'm going to take a lovely picture of it and make a blog post entitled "Loree didn't want this".

    I see at least 6 offsets on Joe Sr. there, so that might be some of the $$$.

    I think the 'Bright Star' pink is cold stress. Mine was pink on arrival, but once settled in the pink has not returned. Also ugly after blooming--it loses its sublime symmetry. :(

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    1. As you know (since I emailed you seconds after reading this) of course I still want Joey! My heart has room for another, especially one from you Hoov!

      If indeed the pink is cold stress how come mine (in the ground) has (and had) no pink this year? It spent time at 12F...I doubt nursery plants did.

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  7. Actually I was more intrigued with Aloe marlothii. And 'Blue Glo' is a looker too. Maybe you can find a little brother for Joe for a much better price. Did they have any small (affordable) specimens? Is Elegia (love that name) hardy? I have to admit my bias where that supposed, "Well behaved" Bishop's Weed is concerned. Granted it's a totally different genus but still. I have my doubts. What I need to ask you Loree, dear, is this. If you're loving 'Long John' Grevillea with it's pink flowers, why are you resisting Rhododendron linearafolium with its relatively short bloom time? Just wondering. :) Mine, I must say took a hit this past winter. It's alive but looking sad. I'm sure it will recover but I doubt it will bloom.

    Don't you just love this time of year?

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    1. No other (smaller) specimens, I think they're testing the waters a little before jumping in full force.

      I love your question about the pinks! Here's my convoluted answer...I swoon over the grevillea flower for it's freakish shape and spend no time considering where in my garden I could plant one, because I can't! (not being hardy). The R. linearafolium on the other hand is a plant I would love to have in my garden, but just can't come up with a spot where the pink wouldn't drive me crazy. It could go in the front garden, where there are a few pinks (and much less orange) but that's mostly a full sun situation and it wouldn't be happy there. Perhaps I just need to try harder to find a spot out there, maybe in the shadow of the fatsia (ya, don't ask why it's in the sun) and pineapple guava...

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  8. I'm amazed by all the agave and yucca options you have. Joe is a beauty. The xerophyte show is coming up soon so maybe they'll have something new.

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    1. I was just talking with a friend the other day about how much the availability of these plants has grown around here. It is much easier to find them now, thank goodness!

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  9. Yikes, sticker shock. My 5 gallon Joe Hoak was $25.

    So many beautiful plants, so little money and room.

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    1. Ha! Just think of the profit you could make if you bring up a car load in July...

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    2. Oh yes Gerhard, I'm sure that lots of people would happily pay $50.00 for a 5 gallon Joe Hoak and there are probably a few other lovelies that you could pick up for a song there and sell here for a tidy profit. I happen to know of at least a couple of gardens on the fling tour that have lovely agaves growing in them. You could set up shop in front of the hotel when the bus returns!

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  10. I enjoy so much all this pictures of awesome plants in a nursery! I wish they had so much variety here. Beautiful!

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    1. It was a very good visit! And to think, I didn't buy a thing...

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  11. I was there to purchase a Rhododendron pachysanthum for R's birthday and fell hard for that warty aloe and several other things you show here. They do have a talent for artful displays.

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    1. "fell hard"...meaning you purchased?

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    2. 'fraid not...but it's haunting my memory.

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  12. The Acacia boormanii I bought last year is deader than a doornail. I don't think I will be replacing it it with another.

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    1. Ya and at that size they're an investment. Usually smaller ones pop up at Portland Nursery or even the HPSO sale, then it can be fun to experiment.

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  13. Holyyyyy Joe Sr. is expensive! I would not have been able to pass up that A. parrasana 'Fireball'. I am struggling for adjectives... but it's so small and GUTSY! Those spines are heavenly. One day I will find A. blue glow here... or maybe I'll have to grow it myself. Either way, I've gone too long without.

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