Monday, June 30, 2014

And the winner of the title of the very last plant to emerge for the season is…

Sometime early this month, or honestly maybe late last month, I noticed leaves appearing in a spot that had been occupied by an Aloe striatula. Winter had killed the plant parts above ground so I’d snipped them off, not thinking about the fact I left the roots in place (they were in an area too awkward to dig). It's safe to say I was thrilled to see an Aloe return after our horrid winter cold, success!

I would have been happy if it had ended there but whaddya know? The Cordyline 'Cha Cha' is making a return appearance as well. I expect that from the regular old green cordylines but not this one, hooray!

Then just a couple of weeks ago I stared to see green tips emerging from where my (usually) evergreen Disporum cantoniense 'Green Giant' had been. Could it be? Cut back by the cold and then smashed further into the soil by the fence builders I’d given this one up for deader than dead. Nope, it makes a triumphant return! Life is good.

Earlier in the season I realized the emerging tips of Alstroemeria isabellana were doing battle with some sort of hungry creature, once aware I protected them with copper rings (assuming it was a slug?). Finally the shaggy foliage spikes developed intact.

Sadly there were no bloom spikes but I figured that was the price to pay for a nasty winter, I was happy enough that the plant itself lived. Then this happened…

Yay! The flowers are the reason for this plant so I couldn’t be more thrilled...

I am curious though, are all these random roaming stems (flower and foliage) from the original plant? Or did some of the seeds which POPPED out last summer result in new plants? Nah, I suppose that’s too much to hope for. And they wouldn't be this big.

So, all that happy success and guess what, just last week I discovered something else. The Acanthus sennii lives!

June 25th and there are finally signs of life. Lordy, that took a while! I’d left that little wishbone stick in place to remind myself there might be something showing up. But I’d long sense given up any hope.

The last week of June, who'da thought it? The winner is… Acanthus sennii.

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

Friday, June 27, 2014

Sempervivum 'Red Rubin' is my favorite plant in the garden; this week…

Well at least I think it's S. ‘Red Rubin’…I am rather bad at keeping track of my sempervivum.

But see they're doing this crazy thing where they've moved down between the cement blocks next to our driveway. I did not plant these here!

In fact I've been scheming (for a couple of years, where does time go?) to get rid of those blocks and do something like this, only with galvanized pipe (photo courtesy of Floradora Gardens)...

But these just look so darn good I might have to leave them.

There are also some common green "houseleeks"...

Which have moved down between the blocks.

These plants are so carefree, what's not to love?

This river has develeoped mostly on it's own, after I planted a few years ago...

The stats for Sempervivum 'Red Rubin' (which are pretty much the same for all the semps)...
  • succulent, hardy in USDA Zones 4-9
  • drought tolerant and happy in sun to part sun conditions
  • wants good drainage
  • blooms pink (as do most sempervivum)
  • the mother plant dies after blooming but usually is surrounded by baby plants (the chicks in "hens and chicks, it's common name) which live on and fill in the gap
  • slow spreader to 4-6" tall, 12" wide

In case you're feeling a little "Déjà vu-y" I have posted about my love for this group of plants in the past: here when it was an earlier fav, and here when I shared a wonderful book I discovered called "Plant Jewels of the High Country." So now it's your turn! What's caught your eye in your garden this week?

For you locals here's a little info about another exciting garden tour happening tomorrow, Saturday June 28th. It's a joint effort of the HPSO and the Garden Conservancy program. Six gardens in North and NE Portland (seems we're the hot-spot for garden tours!) under the theme "Within the City Limits: Minimum Space - Maximum Results"...a list of gardens, driving directions, and other details (like how to get tickets - each garden requires a ticket which are $5 ea) can be found on the HPSO website. Oh the riches we have here in Portland...

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

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Spotty!

In my earlier post on the ANLD tour I mentioned our lunch stop at Garden Fever Nursery. They recently completed construction of a deck on which they showcase their collection of garden furniture and accessories. As we entered my eyes were focused up, on the deck.

But then I saw spotty…

A little back story is required. On one of my first birthdays after we were married Andrew gifted me a spotted planter much like the one above. I was thrilled, at the time it was quite a splurge for us and I’ve always treasured it. Fast forward to this spring and when I was moving that same planter…it tipped forward, off the hand-truck, and onto our cement patio. Smashed. I was heartbroken.

I picked up all the pieces with the idea I would glue it back together, and then visited Garden Fever to see if they had a replacement in stock. They did not, but recorded my info and just a couple of weeks later I got a lovely email from Lori Volmer, co-owner of GF. She was letting me know they’d received exactly the size and finish of planter I was after, and that it was the spottiest version of that finish she’d ever seen. She held it for me for a few days, in case I still wanted it. In the mean time I’d spent a bundle on plants and acquired a few other large containers, I’d gotten over my loss and decided to pass. In fact I’d even given the broken pieces to Alison, who used them creatively in her garden.

So by the time I was at Garden Fever last week all that was forgotten, water under the bridge. Until I saw spotty.

I went on with the ANLD tour, all the while thinking about him.

The next day I went back…he was still there. I told the fellow unloading a new pallet of containers that spotty was to be mine and then strolled the nursery taking a few pictures. Most years I’m at Garden Fever at least once a week, for some reason this year has been different, it was like I was visiting with an old friend. New growth on Rhododendron sinogrande...

Eupatorium capillifolium 'Elegant Feather' and for $2 less than I paid for it!

Perfect little pads...

This looks like my brothers picnic table after an agave pup harvest from his garden. So many A. scabra and A. franzosinii pups!

Here's spotty at home in my garden. I rationalized the purchase because it's less than a month until my birthday, and my parents usually give the gift of cash. I just spent it early!

Naturally when I went to take photos of spotty the light had changed and he was in the shadows, you'll just have to take my word for it that the coloration has a lovely mottled green/blue tone. The dark spots seemed to require a dark leaf, like those on Echeveria 'Black Prince' also from Garden Fever...

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

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

The 2014 ANLD Garden Tour...

Last week I took part in the pre-tour for the 2014 ANLD Garden Tour. This tour focuses on gardens designed by members of the Association of Northwest Landscape Designers, we visited 6 gardens mostly in North and Northeast Portland, with one in Southeast. This tour is an excellent opportunity for homeowners in need of professional landscape assistance to see what the member designers can do. This tour isn't a plant-centric event (although a couple of the gardens were obviously tended by plant lovers) but rather a chance to think about the bones of our gardens. Here's a quick look at what you'll see on the tour...

We started the day at the garden of David P. Best, designed by Barbara Hilty and Adriana Berry. Since the pre-tour was just getting underway we stood listening to announcements and thanks for quite awhile. I don't do well in an environment where I am forced to stand still for long periods and I feel trapped by the large number of people all around me. I coped by taking photos of the hardscape elements at my feet.

The varied intersections of metal, pavers, and soil was an interesting design element throughout this garden.

The second garden belonged to the Malones, recent transplants to Oregon, and was designed by Marina Wynton.

Remember, there is always an agave. This one has been left plenty of room to grow.

This take on the traditional bottle tree was created by Mike Suri, who was on hand to tell us a little about the design process. He also created a pair of gates, one visible in the first photo of this garden above.

Sometimes you've just got to work around things...

As we stood listening to the presentation in this garden I dreamed about growing Joe Pye Weed...

And having a fabulous garden shed with a green roof and doors like this...

The third garden of the day was one I've visited before, and for those of you joining us in Portland for the Garden Bloggers Fling one you'll be visiting too. The designer behind the Ernst/Dermer Garden, is Laura Crockett (who also had a hand in the Floramagoria garden).

This remains one of my favorite seating areas ever...

During the Fling those doors will be open and we'll be visiting the neighboring garden as well.

I got some great tips from plant-nut (and gardener/owner) Linda Ernst about overwintering astelia.

After a tasty lunch stop at Garden Fever Nursery we were back on the road. Garden number four belongs to Pat Moore who got design help from Bruce Hegna. Pat had a bit of a problem...

Propagation skills gone mad! He needed a way to corral his collection and make the garden livable, Mr. Hegna created raised beds to coral the plant collection and plenty of hardscape to make the garden workable. You can read more about the process here.

One of my favorite features of this garden was something I spotted as we were leaving. The planted, yet walk-able, hell-strip...

Here we are at the Meihoff Garden, designed by Donna Giguere. This home sits on a narrow street with bumper to bumper parking on both sides. One of the homeowners design requests was a parking space, which they got...

The wide hell-strip had the densest carpet of Leptinella squalida 'Platt's Black' that I've ever seen.

Amazing!

The glass spheres throughout the garden are the work of Zoe Bacon.

Leaving en-route to the final garden I spotted this license plate...

Here we are at the Williams Garden designed by Darcy Daniels (I visited Darcy's personal garden back in 2011). Darcy shared that one of the first questions she asks is whether or not the garage is actually used to park a car. If the answer is no then the driveway is claimed as garden space! These planters are on castors so they can be moved aside if need be...

When in place they create a private seating area just outside the home's side-door.

There were several fabulous plant combos in this garden.

That's Darcy under the shade pavilion addressing the group. I didn't think to ask if the designers would be on-hand the day of the actual tour, I bet they will be.

So did I whet your appetite? The tour is this Saturday, June 28 from 10 am to 4 pm. Tickets are $20 and available online as well as at Garden Fever, Xera Plants, both Portland Nursery locations, Cornell Farm and Dennis 7-Dees. Proceeds from the tour go to fund scholarships for design students. Click here to see my friend and fellow blogger Jane's take on the tour and here to see what Heather thought. Oh and Heather's giving away a set of tickets! (*late breaking news, Ricki at Sprig to Twig has a pair of tickets to giveaway too!*)

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