Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Visiting Little Prince of Oregon Nursery

Last weekend I had one of those "how lucky am I/only in Oregon" moments. For years Little Prince of Oregon Nursery as been my go-to source for sedum and sempervivum. Last Sunday I, along with 11 garden blogging friends, got to visit their wholesale and growing headquarters.

Tamara, who blogs at Chickadee Gardens, visited the nursery last fall. That tour was so much fun that she and Mark Leichty, Business Development Mgr at LPO, organized a tour for the whole crazy blogging group. Our visit took place on the warmest, sunniest, day of the year thus far, and we were welcomed by a lovely spread of snacks and beverages. The folks at LPO knew that hungry bloggers are bad bloggers.

Is there any thing more exciting than a bunch of greenhouses, ones that you get to wander through?

Little Price of Oregon has been selling tillandsias for awhile now. In fact if you came to the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland last July, the tillandsia you received at the catered dinner came from LPO, they were also Fling sponsors.

So many shapes and colors...

I bet if you ask the average Portland gardener about LPO they'd tell you the same thing I did: they're the sedum and sempervivum folks, and they'd probably mention ground-covers too. Well it turns out they're that, and so much more -  their website lists over 838 different plants - and they're beginning to expand into the tender succulent market...

Here's a tray of tiny Agave schidigera 'Black Widow'...

You'll spot the Little Prince Frog everywhere around the nursery, sadly I didn't spot any real frogs...

Sempervivum 'Hausmanii'

With a fine fur they kind of seem to glow.

Sempervivum arachnoideum 'Spumanti'

Greenhouse after greenhouse (160,000 sq ft worth) everything was immaculate. And remember, this is a wholesale nursery, not open to the public, yet they look this good!

LPO began operations in 1997, they deliver to retail garden centers, other wholesale nurseries, and the landscape trade in Oregon, Washington and California. Oh and they're a plant lust nursery too! In the past I've had the opportunity to chat with both owner Ketch de Kanter and Ryan Seely, Sales Manager. Talk about a nice group of people!

Oh how I would love a dozen or so of these mixed sedum trays.

Looking at all those open doors and wondering what I would find inside, well it made me giddy!

Of course the sunshine helped too. It was nearly 70 degrees outside and had to be close to 80 inside. Hello summer!

Thousands of ferns...

Woodwardia unigemmata

Onoclea sensibilis

As I wandered around, tempted by all the treasures, I was kicking myself that I hadn't asked Mark which greenhouse held their agave collection, so I could cut right to the really important stuff! Well as I checked out the ferns (above) several of my blogging companions came in to tell me I was close, and pointed out the arid greenhouse, at last, thank you! Yucca dismetiana 'Blue Boy'...

Agave 'Mateo'

Agave 'Burnt Burgundy', showing some interesting variegation.

Just look at all those spikes!

This happy, smiling, face belongs to Jenni, who blogs at The Rainy Day Gardener. Up until last fall she'd never owned an agave. Emboldened by her success with that first pup she's jumping in strong. Look at that fabulous haul...you go girl!

More sempervivum, S. 'Ruby Hearts'...

Truth be told this is my favorite stage for most lilies, sure some of the flowers are lovely but like this, they're just so darn fabulous.  Lilium 'Tiny Skyline'

Abutilon 'Nuabtang' Lucky Lantern

Sedum hybrid 'Sunsparkler Firecracker'

When it comes to sedum, more is always better.

Isn't that a great set-up? I want! You could move along in your greenhouse tidying up your plants. Potting things, all right there at working height and the shelves would just move down the row with you.

Okay, our fabulous 3 hour visit is coming to a close. Just a few more photos. Below, on the left, is Mark - our host for the afternoon. On the right, and modeling one of the Little Prince frog hats we were all given, is Delen Kitchen. Delen is a blogger and the new Membership Coordinator at The Oregon Garden.

There's Amy, who blogs at The World's Best Gardening Blog (she's super modest that one). I'm not sure if she's checking out her own purchases or shopping from someone else's tray.

Here's my haul! That tall spiky thing on the upper right is a Dasylirion quadrangulatum, and you can see I "needed" an Agave 'Mateo'...

I grabbed a couple of Onoclea sensibilis. Ever since seeing them in this garden I've been meaning to include a few in my own garden. I also got a Phyllitis scolopendrium (Hart's Tongue Fern), you can never have too many cool ferns.

Two Agave 'Silver Surfer' also came home with me. Why? Because they are beautiful here. I couldn't resist the abutilon, the sign/label said A. 'Nuabtang' Lucky Lantern Tangerine, I hope that's what it is (the flowers are yellow, not tangerine) because the 12" x 12" size is perfect for where I want to plant it.

Couldn't resist grabbing a couple Sempervivum 'Hausmanii'.

And lookie there, an Epimedium 'Amber Queen'...(it's kind of spiky).

And of course, this beautiful Agave striata just jumped into my flat, what's a gardener to do?

One more thing, I bought a tillandsia: T. xerographica, the one on the left. Can you believe the size of that thing? I used to think the one on the right (which is bigger than my hand) was pretty darn huge, this new one is mammoth.

What a fun day! Thank you Mark, and everyone at Little Prince of Oregon, for the wonderful day in paradise. Thank you Tamara for wrangling the group and getting us all together for the adventure. How lucky I am!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

43 comments:

  1. What a great day! I hope there is another one, so I can join in next time. You got some great plants! Is that your first Epimedium? When I lived back east I had that fern growing in my lawn (not deliberately, it came out of the protected wetlands behind us).

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    1. As I'm sure you've read we're all going on about the things we wish we'd bought, so if they'll have us I do suspect we'll go back. Hopefully you can join us! It's actually my third epimedium. Reading that I didn't like them and didn't understand all the fuss Sean Hogan gifted me my first, a super spiny Epimedium wushanense (http://www.thedangergarden.com/2013/04/never-say-never-my-favorite-plant-in.html). I'm sticking to the spiny ones though!

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  2. Soo many goodies! And so lucky to have a get together and be able to visit this place as a group of plant lovers! I think it was at Tamara's blog that I read about a visit to this place before and it's nice to see this place again via yours. Such a huge place full of treasures!!

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    1. Maybe if you guys come back to Portland we can go on a tour...

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  3. What a nice outing! You brought home a tray of contrasts there, from dangerously spiky to soft and ferny. :)

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    1. Ya I was laughing at my "leather and lace" assortment.

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  4. I really really wanted the Agave striata, but I kept getting distracted by all the other plants I really wanted. What a lovely rendition of the experience. It was fabulous. Nothing like getting exhausted from plant shopping.

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    1. Sun, friends and plants. I was still so happy at bed time I couldn't sleep.

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  5. You're wishing you'd grabbed the Mangave 'Blood Spot', and I'm wishing I'd grabbed the Tillandsia xerographica. Clearly, a return visit is in short order!

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  6. I am always impressed by your laser-like focus. Everything was so appealing that I was all over the place...but happily so.

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    1. Oh don't let this post fool you, I was plenty crazy. I lost a flat of plants at one point, thankfully Charlie found it for me.

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  7. What a fantastic nursery--and what a great haul! How could you resist that variegated Agave 'Burnt Burgundy' though?

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    1. One word, and it's an ugly one...budget. Oh heck, and stupidity. That one too.

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  8. What a great outing. I picked up a coupe LPO agave at one of my favorite "local" nurseries (about 90 minutes from home), which reminds me that I've got to get out there again soon...

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    1. "90" minutes...wow! Hope it's a good one.

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  9. Be still my heart....what a fabulous place! So much variety and beauty...it must have been hard to choose. I must look up that abutilon. I look forward to seeing these in their new home. What lucky plants they are coming home to your garden : )

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    1. It was hard to chose! The prices were great so I had sort of a "I'll take it all!" mentality. Even great prices start to add up though.

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  10. Great day, great host, great recap, Loree. I do hope we can go back soon. I'm breaking ground now on a new border and I'll be ready to fill it up soon!

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    1. I kind of envy all your new gardening space, then again I am thrilled to have some established things, finally.

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  11. Looks like you had a grand outing with the gang and you certainly brought home some terrific plants! Sorry I couldn't come this time but, like Alison, I hope it happens again someday!

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    1. Hope you can make the journey down in the future Peter.

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  12. Great post Loree! You got so many lovely pics of the day. What fun we had and clearly..we need to go back...with bigger budgets.

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    1. Oh what damage I could do with a bigger budget!

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  13. Why oh why did my husband have to be getting on a plane THAT day!? I can't wait to tag along next time!

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    1. It would have been great to get to meet you.

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  14. I have looked over the inventory on LPO's website and yeah. They've got a butt-load of cool things. I'm glad you all had fun.

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    1. You really need to make the trip up Grace, really.

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  15. That place is immaculate! Fantastic haul you have there. I've always wondered how tillandsias are propagated, is it from seed or pups, do you know? I like that Agave 'Burnt Burgundy' with the variegation a lot.

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    1. You know, I don't know! Maybe both? They aren't yet propagating tillandsias at the nursery, but ordering them in from South America.

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  16. Great trip!! So many tillandsias!! the one you bought must be stunning. I can see this is a great nursery!

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    1. It really is. Heather is getting married soon and she was carrying hers around like a bridal bouquet, it would be perfect!

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  17. Great post Loree, you are quick with your posts, a true professional! So glad it all went well, fell into place (weather, timing, etc.) and yes, Mark and LPO are top-notch all the way. Love supporting local! We'll definitely plan another trip especially for those bloggers who did not have a chance to go this round, so Mark - if you're reading :) Wink wink...What a great selection you chose, Loree. I am shadowing you next time we're out on a plant excursion together. Thank you all!

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    1. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Wouldn't it have been fun to all compare our purchases before we actually purchased. We would have been there another hour at least as people ran back to grab things they'd missed.

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  18. Well, they clearly know how to give bloggers the royal treatment: food AND hats! I love that yellow abutilon you bought. Blogger outings are so much fun.

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    1. Indeed, on both accounts. I am so happy to be part of a great group of PNW bloggers. It would be so much different to be in an area where I was a lone blogger.

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  19. I am so, so jealous! What a fun day!

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  20. The variegated 'Burnt Burgundy' is calling my name. I can hear it from here. Sigh.

    A mini-Fling. What fun!

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    1. You like a road trip, right? I'm sure if you drove all the way up they'd let you buy it. Seriously though there's talk of returning someday. If by some strange chance it's still there I'll snag it for you. At least there it would have a long and happy life in the ground.

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