Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Wells Medina Nursery

I managed to work in a visit to Wells Medina Nursery during my recent Seattle (area) roadtrip. It had been years, many years (20?) since I'd been here. That was back when I lived in Seattle and frequently made trips to the Smith and Hawken store over in Bellevue, Wells Medina was a stop on the way.

Since it was a snowy/sleety/rainy (seriously cold) Friday afternoon at rush hour I had the place to myself. Not so bad really...

Cordyline australis 'Renegade' — if this one were hardier it would have definitely came home with me. It's a bad time to acquire new plants that need to be babied over winter.

These are fun...

And they've certainly got my wheels turning, thinking of how to add an application like this to my garden. Of course the wood would be replaced by metal.

I would never think to combine Acorus gramineus 'Ogon' (Golden Variegated Sweet Flag) with a purple ornamental cabbage but I love the look of it.

Another fabulous idea/planting...

And another great combo.

They had several very healthy Sarracenia.

So healthy and so well priced that one came home with me.

I meant to ask about this strange container, there were a couple of others just like it. Is that green stuff real? I dunno.

Wow, that's a fabulous old tree "stump" (driftwood root structure?)...I'm sure they must do fun things with it in the summertime.

And the same goes for the hanging log. It must have been planted up somehow? Like maybe a floating fern "table"?

They certainly do get creative with their displays around here...

Ya gotta love a nursery that's this well stocked in November.

The frog and his Agaves certainly do get around.

Nice centerpiece...

Magnolia macrophylla in every size! From two gallon (maybe those are five?) on up to twenty (again, guessing)...

Nice of the wind to knock one over so I could show you those silver undersides to the leaves.

I do love the green cone-flowers, in nurseries and other people's gardens.

I'm sure there's an interesting story here...

Saxifraga!

Including that one I'd previously only found only at Sky Nursery.

The one with the confusing Zone 10 hardiness rating.

I grabbed two of them because I can officially go on record as saying no, this is not a Zone 10 plant. My previously purchased plants did not miss a beat over last winter's 14F temperatures with repeated snow and ice cover.

They have lost their lovely squishy rosette form though. Probably because they were a little too shaded over the summer under a heavy canopy of Syneilesis aconitifolia (shredded umbrella plant, now cut back). I had planted them in too much sun (scorched leaves) and moved them here last autumn. I'm definitely going to find a location that's "just right" for my new plants.

Weather Diary, Nov 20: Hi 56, Low 43/ Precip .95"

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

17 comments:

  1. Peter and I were wondering what might be going on at Wells Medina during our recent excursion to Molbak's. Looks like they were still pretty well stocked. I think I got my own bigleaf Magnolia there.

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    1. I don't think I've ever seen such a collection of bigleaf Magnolias, they've cornered the market.

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  2. I like all types of Saxifraga; I wonder how many people put it back when they read it is for zone 10. I know I would, I rarely challenge zone boundaries. The hanging shelves are lovely.

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    1. I was relatively certain that Zone 10 was wrong. I'm glad I took the chance!

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  3. What is noticeable to me about that nursery (besides the great displays) are the beautiful trees surrounding the place. Lovely.

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    1. It is right in the middle of a lovely old (wealthy) neighborhood. Beautiful sitting.

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  4. Thanks for the visit to Wells Medina! Alison and I had it on our list to visit while we were on the east side and neither of us have been there in the fall. We ran out of time so your post is very welcome. I wonder what they do in December?

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    1. When I was there the inside was all torn up, transitioning to Holiday decor. It was looking promising!

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  5. Good prices. I would have been all over those Saxifragas and the Sarracenias.

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  6. Another nice independent nursery, the kind that are vanishing here. Enjoy.

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    1. This one has been around for ages and ages. It will be a sad day when they go.

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    2. I'm pleasantly astonished to see the nursery still there. They deserve to go on and on; I'm assuming they have some unusual real estate situation to survive so long.

      Your cold, damp, and deserted shots couldn't be more of a contrast with my one visit 20+ years ago: On a bright, hot August day, it was *jammed*. Good to see it still packed with plants.

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  7. You have no end of fabulous nurseries in the PNW! I've had my eye out for a large sculptural tree trunk/driftwood piece like that to add some height in my bromeliad area. I wish the Little Prince of Oregon would strike a distribution deal with a garden center (or 2) down this way - Sperling in Calabasas used to carry their plants but that nursery is long gone now.

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    1. I'll mentioned your request to my contacts there at LP. They might want to talk with you about locations.

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  8. There’s lots of items there you can pick inspiration from. Can just imagine you with a flat metal hanging disc now with potted plants displayed on top!

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    1. Yes, me too! And I've got all winter to dream it up!

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