Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Bye Bye Bug (hello plant hauling capacity!)

I took this photo last week while removing my belongings from my '99 Volkswagen Beetle. We'd signed the paperwork the night before to trade it in, I'd owned this car for 13 years (longer than I've lived in Portland, or been married) silly to say, but it was a part of me. I planned to keep it as long as possible, but things had started happening which had me thinking the time had come to say good-bye.

Many a plant has come home in this car.

Even folded back the back seat didn't exactly disappear, and the sharp angle of the hatch meant anything tall had to lay on its side. Still I've managed to cram more into this car than most would believe possible.

I think the back seat held more plants than people...

But now I've joined the mini-SUV gang, with a big black 2012 hauling machine (Kia Sportage). It reflects the driveway garden quite nicely don't you think?

After taking possession I had to run the new rig through Department of Environmental Quality emissions testing. Headed home I heard the siren call of a nearby nursery....

I stopped! Of course I did, less than 24-hrs of ownership and the new car and I were already hitting a nursery...

Stokesia laevis

Don't know that I'd really enjoy its daisy-like blue flowers, but I like what they leave behind.

Marbotts is such a charming place, but I rarely visit this time of year. I usually find myself here in early spring, when I'm hungry for the next gardening season.

I've no idea what this is, there wasn't a label. If those flowers were orange it would have come home with me.

This is behavior I only usually see in Agaves!

Interesting Hebe comparison.

Hebe ochracea 'James Stirling' is a favorite, it's the Hebe that doesn't look like a Hebe.

This is the roundest, most dense, Tradescantia I've ever seen.

Just in a small 4" pot!

As I mentioned earlier I rarely visit this nursery in the high-summer. Shade cloth adds a new dimension.

As "summery" as things are I see winter is being considered, with these Poinsettia seedlings.

Something has been nibbling! I wonder where it will go when they catch it?

Olives!

Olea europaea

I love the dense striped display of varied species of plants, here Euphorbia...

Hungry?

The back-side of the nursery abuts train tracks.

I was leaning towards a Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca' as our Christmas tree, but maybe this Sciadopitys verticillata would be a good choice?

It's a beauty!

Aeonium tabuliforme

Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea' in the foreground with Mimosa tenuiflora at the bottom right.

Okay...time to fill up the new rig with plants!

Um, well. Okay...not so full...but it's a start! I see a nice trip to Cistus soon where I'll take advantage of what I can haul.

Daphne x burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight'

And I bought another Hebe ochracea 'James Stirling', I love this plant!

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

34 comments:

  1. I'll miss your Beetle. I'm glad I got a good photo of it earlier this summer next to your neighbor's blue hydrangeas. But I think you'll love your new compact SUV. It's the perfect plant-hauling machine.

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    1. I couldn't help but think of all the plants we can bring back from the Bay Area the next time we drive down! Last fall Andrew's Scion was packed to the roof. This easily triples the available space...

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    2. Are you planning another Bay Area trip soon? Would love to see you.

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    3. I'm working on getting Andrew interested in a springtime visit. Wish me luck!

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  2. WooHoo! New cars are always fun. I'm grinning here just thinking about all the plants you'll be hauling. I think that pink flowering plant is Campanula 'Pink Octopus.' I've read that it's an aggressive spreader, but I would go for that in heartbeat too if it came in orange.

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    1. Thanks for the pink flowering plant ID, why can't all the good pink flower plants also be available in orange!? (stamps foot and pouts).

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  3. Congrats on the new vehicle! Take note of the multiple layers of protection under the plants now -- in a few years you'll be throwing freshly dug bare-root plants right in there without a second thought. :)

    BTW, I just realized that if plant hauling capacity was the main measure of a car's worth, I should have never gotten rid of my '71 Mercury -- that thing had room!

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    1. Oh but take note of the VW trunk shot. See those awful rubber mats? After years of hauling plants, compost (in bags - that sometimes leak) and gravel (also in bags, that leak mud) the carpet underneath was still perfect.

      '71 Mercury huh? Sounds like you'd need a full gas tank just to go around the block!

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  4. Looks like a nice car, and yes, the garden-mirror effect is lovely.

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  5. Ahww that bug is so cute! We'll miss as being part of your personality but out with the old and in with the exciting new which means more space for plants!! Still on the look out for Briggs Moonlight here. And that Sciadopitys is a beauty!

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    1. And more room for friends and their luggage when you pick them up at the airport!

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  6. I've been wondering what you bought. Kept meaning to do a walk by, but apparently got distracted by some other plant sightings. What a gorgeous post on Marbotts.

    As for cargo space: it's a good thing.

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    1. I still doubt I could have gotten those metal trellis home in this rig, in other words yours still rules for cargo space!

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  7. Aww, the yellow beetle will be missed. A most proper initiation for the shiny new vehicle. My first plant haul in my new car consisted of just one plant which flipped over on the console as I was loading it.

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    1. Oh no! I guess that was more easily cleaned than spilling a latte would have been.

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  8. That bug was so YOU, but now you will be more dangerous than ever. Pouting and stamping foot: that's what I do whenever R hints at trading in the 4-Runner. It is seriously old, but I have yet to push it to full capacity when loading plants.

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    1. Your 4-Runner is the perfect plant hauling machine!

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  9. Bye bye, bug (sniff): Although I'll miss seeing your trademark little yellow bug, I know you'll get lots of use out of the Kia's capacity. Yes, get a Sciadopitys verticillata as your Christmas tree - they're gorgeous! Thanks for the Marbott's tour. I love that place almost like Mr. Marbott was my (slightly irascible) grandfather.

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    1. Mr. Marbott wasn't there again this visit, I want to ask his son if he's okay but I also don't want to make him have to talk about it if he's not.

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  10. Congrats on the new rig, Loree! She's a beauty, and capacity is priceless. -Bridget

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    1. Thanks! Remember when I picked you and Mary up at the airport and you had to contort yourself around the bags in the backseat? Oh to have had this one then!

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  11. Excellent hauling capacity! I think car dealers should allow test drives that include nursery stops for plant addicts. I traded my 10 year-old sedan for a "European sportswagon" last year but didn't get as much plant room as I'd anticipated. I'm envious of all that head room you've got in the back.

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    1. "European sportswagon"....love that description!

      For some reason your comment about nursery stops on test drives reminded me of the time my boss was in town for a visit and had me drop her at the hotel after dinner and I kept her rental car overnight. I was without a car at the time and took advantage of it to do a nursery run, during the holiday season, which also included getting a Christmas tree. Oh what a mess I made of that car!

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  12. I used to swear I'd never own a minivan. Three kids later, it was sort of a necessity. It's kind of amazing how many plants you can cram into one of those suckers. Home Depot trips are fun, too. ;)

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    1. What a fine benefit to a mini-van! I have to admit to a moment of "I just bought a 4-door and I'm not even a mom" panic...

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  13. Love the reflection on the car of your garden i don't think my car gets that shiny anymore.

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    1. We'll see how long mine stays that shiny.It may have been a tricky "make it look new" wax job at the lot. I can't even remember the last time I waxed my car...and I don't plan to start now!

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  14. Woo! Congrats. I know what you mean about being attached to your car, but I'm sure that thinking about the mass of plants you'll now be able to fit will take some of the sting away.

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    1. Indeed. Along with not having to worry that I won't get home!

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  15. Very exciting! It's a beauty and the hauling capacity makes my head spin! Congratulations on your new plant mobile!

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    1. Imagine all the plants YOU could fit in there!

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  16. I loved your bright yellow fraulein, but this new rig, whoa, there's some potential for plant hauling. Nice to inaugurate it with that cool daphne and hebe, and so well behaved they seem to be in the new car!

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    1. They were good kids and stayed in one spot all the way home!

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