Monday, September 29, 2014

Back from the Bay, with treasures…

Andrew and I just wrapped up a nice, week-long, trip to California. The best part? We drove! You know what that means…I bought plants. Our first stop was a visit to Gerhard’s wonderful garden in Davis, CA (yes, there will be a post, I took a lot of photos). I also left with plants, Gerhard’s a generous guy...

This Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor' is one Gerhard divided from his main plant and had tucked into a holding area (above photo from his garden). Now it's mine. What a beauty!

These two pups also came from Gerhard, on the left Agave havardiana (which will be fine here in the ground) and on the right a pup from his Agave 'Joe Hoak'. Initially I passed when he offered the baby Joe, after all I already have two and I didn't want to be greedy, but then when I saw the mama plant, well I changed my mind. His plant is so silver, I realize it might be due to the light of Davis vs. Portland but it just looks so different than my others, I had to take one!

Another gifted pup Agave ‘Sharkskin’ this one fell out of it's container in transit so it's temporarily sharing a pot while it gets a few roots.

Once we arrived in the Bay Area our home base was in Berkeley, with a Saturday morning trip into San Francisco and a few brief wanders into Oakland or Richmond. High on my list of must-see destinations was The Dry Garden, a nursery in Oakland. That's where I found the top plant on my list of things I hoped to bring home: Sonchus canariensis...

I had one of these that I loved, and lost to root-rot last fall. It was my fault for not noticing the container wasn't properly draining. I will do better with this one.

This was an exciting find at Flora Grubb, Agave xylonacantha. I was pretty sure I'd never seen it and the reaction of all the employees ("isn't that great, we just got that in, never have had that one before") confirmed it was something special.

This one is a bit of a head scratcher. Labeled as Furcraea gigantea 'Striata' it certainly doesn't fit with any of the photos I find online, bought at a quick foray into a big-box store (curiosity ya know).

Lupinus albifrons “Silver Bush Lupine” (the small leaves) and Lupinus sericatus “Cobb Mountain Lupine” (the big ones). When I stopped in Berkeley Horticultural Nursery I discovered all California natives were on sale and that included the L. albifrons, which I love so I grabbed a couple. The L. sericatus was a find at Annie's Annuals. Both are very very silver...

Also from Annie's: Lessertia montana “Mountain Cancer Bush” which I fell in love with in Heather's garden.

Greenovia aurea ‘Gran Canaria Form’...

And Echium fastuosum round out my Annie's purchases.

I've long lusted after Salvia apiana but never found a plant I thought measured up to what I see in photos. This one is gorgeous...(also from The Dry Garden)...hopefully it will stay that way.

When in the Bay Area one must buy a Leucadendron, it's a rule. L. 'Safari Sunset'...

Here's what Andrew was doing while I was investigating nurseries and gardens, his book haul:

Plus one more too big for the stack...

But this is a garden blog so we should end with an image of the plant haul! (and a disclaimer...a few of these (the Caesalpinia gilliesii, verbascum and Eryngium paniculatum for example) were not purchases from this adventure). Looks like somebody better get busy planting!

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

35 comments:

  1. I came home with quite a haul of plants this past weekend, during a Kitsap nursery adventure. I need to get a post together. Sounds like you both had fun in San Francisco.

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    1. Ah yes, I was recently thinking fond thoughts about out Kitsap adventure last year!

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  2. Funny, I also purchased a Fucrea at a big box... apparently woody lilies (like a. desmettiana) aren't popular with the big box crowd?

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    1. There were a couple of other great deals there too, none of them hardy for me so I stuck to the more unusual. So does yours look like mine?

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  3. Yay, you got your lupine! Wonderful. And jealous, that sounds like a fab trip.

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    1. That makes 3 of the small leaf (I already have one in the garden which is doing fantastic, I'm just not sure how it's going to handle winter) and the one (new ad exciting!) big leaf.

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  4. Woohoo, a plant shopping trip and what a gorgeous haul! So any of your purchases ID love to have too.

    And yes, Gerhard's a generous guy indeed ;)

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    1. I was a little nervous when it came time to pack up the (very) small car but I'd thought ahead and brought a box for the little guys so they all fit!

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  5. Looks like a great trip...books and plants...my kind of people! I love the silver bush lupine and the salvia...such lovely shades of gray! I will have to check out the nurseries you mentioned we are flying into Oakland over Thanksgiving...actually staying in the wine country but I am sure we can see some of them. Does the rule on the Leucadendron apply if you are flying...might be able to fit a small one in my carry on : )

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  6. How cool that you got to see Gerhard's garden in person and how lucky to have driven to California and visited all of those great nurseries! You got some great plants! Someday I hope to visit the bay area again with a vehicle.

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    1. We're lucky in that we've got a couple hour head start on you (distance-wise) but it's still totally doable and you should!

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    2. Peter, you are ALWAYS welcome to stay at our place!

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    3. Thank you for the kind offer, Gerhard! Just seeing your garden in person would be a treat!

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  7. Now then, if he's bought all those books it's only fair that you came home with a plant or several. Great haul!

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    1. I forgot to mention I got a few books too didn't I?

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  8. When I saw the first photo (without reading the text), I thought, wow, that bamboo looks a lot like the Alphonse Karr in our backyard. Duh!

    Based on your plant haul alone, you had a very successful trip.

    Annie's Annuals has an impressive selection of lupines, don't they? But then, they have an impressive selection of MANY things. I also got a Lessertia montana on my last Annie's trip. I hope it'll tolerate our summer heat. I want it to flower!!

    I'm glad Andrew came home with a haul of his own :-).

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    1. How funny about the photo, it is beautiful bamboo!

      Yesterday Andrew went and bought a metal library cart at our local office furniture liquidators, he needed an over flow area to house the books that wouldn't fit in the file cabinet he was keeping them in. Mind you this is just for the unread books. We are well matched in our obsessions.

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    2. P.S....THANKS again for the fabulous plants!

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    3. I was glad to be able to reciprocate a tiny bit :-).

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  9. Just as I was beginning to wonder, you showed us Andrew's haul. Equal opportunity marriages are the best. Eager to see Gerhard's garden. And that Sonchus canariensis...wow!

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    1. It works out quiet well as cities with great gardens/nurseries tend to have good used book stores too.

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  10. What a lovely selection of purchases!

    Where are you going to put them all though?

    The silver Lupin look fab. I remember your previous posts about them.

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    1. That's a great question! A few, most of the not-hardy ones, will go in containers. The others will be planted out in the spring, for the most part. After I see what makes it through the winter.

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  11. You certainly made good use of your week-long trip. It's been a long time since I've made a trek up SF way - I must put that on my list. Happy planting!

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    1. Yes you should, there are a lot of great gardens, nurseries, museums, etc, etc....

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  12. Whew, great haul! And that Agave xylonacantha is beautiful.

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  13. Great haul!!! your new Sonchus canariensis is beautiful!

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    1. It's suffering a bit of leaf drop from the travels but I think it will pull through fine.

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  14. That sonchus spends summer dormant here and looks so scrawny that I have to admit I didn't bother to revive it with water after winter. Then I think I want one again when I see yours! I've killed the lessertia twice and I think I'll stop there. I hope you get yours to flower. And I did bump into the big-box furcraea when we were in the Bay Area a couple wks ago, in the town of Dublin south of SF. Tempted me too!

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    1. The sonchus goes dormant here in the summer too, in fact my first summer I thought I'd killed it. I do love the bright happy new growth that follows. Twice the killer? Yikes. I will take solace in the fact Heather (who lives in my same climate) has had great success with her lessertia, even over last winter which was HORRID. Tempted by the big-box furcraea but you resisted, why?

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  15. You got some great plants. Books and plants--that must have been one fun trip.

    F. gigantea is a synonym for F. foetida, so maybe that's it?

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    1. Thanks for helping out with the name, at least there are some photos of the F. foetida that aren't variegated so it's looking a lot better!

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  16. I love the Dry Garden! I've picked up some really wonderful plants there.

    Also that Agave xylonacantha is really a jaw-dropper.

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