Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Never heard of it, see it, want it, own it...in five days...

On October 27th my friend, and fellow blogger, Amy Campion posted a photo of a plant with dark, dramatic, flowers on the Plant Idents Facebook group. It was quickly identified as Lardizabala biternata, I was smitten and asked where she'd found it...turns out it was only blocks away from me, at McMenamins Kennedy School. Of course I was over there to see it for myself later that same day...

Seeing the plant only made me want it more. The word "rare" was used in the Plant Idents post, that's a challenge of course. Less than 24-hrs later I had located one and placed a hold on it. The location? Cistus Nursery...

So on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon I found myself at Cistus. Not such a bad thing. Of course one must casually circle it's prey, before pouncing. So I did a slow walkabout the nursery...

Metapanax delavayi, heavy with seeds.

And such a fabulous color.

I am hopelessly drawn to every Loquat I see. A primal urge to take it home with me...

My what large leaves you have!

Speaking of large leaves, baby Magnolia macrophylla! This is about the same size ours was when we took it home from Cistus.

Even a rainy day in November feels summery when your standing next to a palm like this.

Thus far I'm managing to resist the urge to collect Cyclamen (C. hederifolium).

C. hederifolium - silver shades

Love Astelia, all of them.

I remember something Jim, a former Cistus employee, said to me one day about how difficult it was to keep tags in the containers of spiky plants. People take them out to read, but then don't want to risk the pain of putting them back. Looks like someone has come up with a fun solution...

Tag flags!

Let's not forget safety.

This old guy's been beat up a time or three, but still manages to look regal.

Spikes! Everywhere you look.

Well except when you look up. When you were a kid you ever do that project where you place fall leaves between wax paper and melt the wax?

I'd forgotten about this!

First spotted when Peter and I visited in August.

This time I was gifted a couple of the tiny bulbils to take home, guess I should try and get a name for what it is that I'm attempting to grow. (*update...it's a  Furcraea*)

Finally, in the parking lot, check this out....Aesculus californica, California buckeye or California horse-chestnut...

Fabulous!

Since I've been in a chestnut drought this year (all my usual sources are dried up) I picked up a few of these to take home as well.

But back to why I was there in the first place...I got it! My Lardizabala biternata...

Here's an interesting "twist"...the tag describes the flowers as white. I found this in other listings online as well.

So if those little guys in the center are the flowers, what are the black parts called? And why aren't they mentioned since they're such a part of the appeal?

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

23 comments:

  1. you did good! Anna's post yesterday had me scouring the webs for that Cupressus glabra sulfurea, so I'm no stranger to such impulses...

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  2. Aaah, thanks for the distraction. Congratulations on your successful hunt! Now I want to go to Cistus. Now.

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    1. Go! I also got a huge (2-gallon) Abutilon for only $6 in the tough-love sale offerings.

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  3. haha, i like drawing out the plant hunt by circling before pouncing too. Nothing beats a spur of the moment trip to Cistus on a weekday!

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    1. Agreed! Even on a rainy day. Wait, maybe especially on a rain day.

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  4. "Of course one must casually circle it's prey, before pouncing."

    Ha! You gave me a good laugh with that. It's so true, too!

    Since that label has a specific collection number on it, I wonder if you ended up with a light-flowered form. I did find one picture on Flickr of a lighter form. The white structure in the middle is the anthers on the male flower. The dark parts are the petals. Hope it's just a weird description and you get the dark flowers you want!

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    1. Damn, I was a little worried there might be a catch like that. I searched the interwebs high and low but couldn't find a white-flower photo. I did find lots of descriptions that mentioned white flowers but showed one that looked like this. Thanks for the info.

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  5. Can't believe you are resisting those cyclamen!

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    1. I know...it's probably only a matter of time...

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  6. Did you smell the flowers? They have kind of a funky odor. Very cool plant, though. Glad you got one!

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    1. I did, but I got nothing. My orange Passiflora smells like dirty socks. I have to really stick my nose in there to get it where as Andrew can smell it from several feet.

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  7. It's always a good time to visit Cistus! Glad you got your cool new plant! You'll start collecting cyclamen soon as the various patterns and colors on their leaves become quite addictive.

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    1. But those flowers...why do they have to have those flowers?

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  8. If you do end up with a white-flowered version, you can always find a dark-flowered one in the future and intermingle them. Oooh, I can envision it already...

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  9. You would make a good detective.

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  10. Fun! And so many beautiful Agave ovatifolias, cork-tipped and not.

    Surprising thing about California Buckeye, the pollen is poisonous to European honeybees. (Native bees have no problem.)

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  11. well, you can circle they prey as long as other shoppers aren't hovering about pretending to be disinterested !

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  12. I can't believe you're still resisting the Cyclamen too. They have such fabulous leaves. Now I really want to go to Cistus too. That's a pretty cool plant, I hope you get the dark flowers you're hoping for.

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  13. As I read the label you need two for fruit, so you have an excuse to keep hunting for a black flowered form if it doesn't bloom as expected. I wish large leaf magnolias could live inside my house. Sigh.

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