Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Blooms and spikes, an April visit to Cistus Nursery

Last Thursday marked the 8th Annual Pre-Hortlandia Plant Nerd Field Trip for my friends and I. Our core group remains almost the same, although sadly over the years we've had one of the original members drop away (life gets complicated), but there are four or five of us that have been at it more or less since the beginning, I feel lucky in that I've been on all eight of the outings.

This year's adventure was fairly low key, we revisited some of our old-standby nurseries (Garden Fever, Xera, Means, Joy Creek and Cistus) rather than travel across great distances to investigate new ones. Tomorrow I'll share my haul, but today I just wanted to share some moody photos I took at Cistus. The day started out rainy but ended up sunny, sunny skies with the filtered light of hoop-houses makes for photo magic. No specific ID's for most of these images, but I can at least name the Genus. We'll start with a few Echium...

This foliage reminds me of the epic E. rocket that bloomed in my garden several years ago (here).

Anigozanthos

Leucadendron

Banksia
Banksia bloom
Lewisia

Beschorneria
Tree fern of some sort...fuzzy!
Yucca faxoniana
One of these came home with me...
Agave bulbils
Didn't get any info on this darling little cactus.
Because I hustled out to the Opuntia-lands for some spike appreciation.

Anyone who thinks Opuntia are boring has no idea of the variations.

There's the man himself, Sean Hogan among the spikes...
Like all good things it was eventually time to walk away (from the cactus)...

This spiky vignette is what currently greats visitors to "the big top" (aka the nursery proper)...

And inside the big top...

Yucca rostrata (oh my!)...

Dykia

And it's time to leave...

Weather Diary, April 16: Hi 52, Low 42/ Precip .09"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden (dg). Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Labels: , , , , , ,

27 comments:

  1. chavlinessApril 17, 2018

    Very exotic from beginning to end. I think you'd love to put up a tent in that thorny palace and stay a while :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      That's a great idea! If only there were room for a tent...

      Delete
  2. AlisonApril 17, 2018

    I remember seeing that very same Yucca/Opuntia combo when I was there last weekend. I was hoping to find a wider selection of Dyckia, maybe a burgundy one, but no luck. I know they have them at Rare Plant Research, but I'm going to be away in Massachusetts this year when they have their big open day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownApril 17, 2018

      I think we have some in the back but they're not out yet. We're working on it! I can let you know what we have or message me about what you want and I can make sure we get them into production.

      Delete
    2. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      And I can keep an eye out at RPR!

      Delete
  3. Gerhard Bock (Succulents and More)April 17, 2018

    I want to be part of your group. You guys seem to have so much fun!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownApril 17, 2018

      It's a fun adventure and then we have a day of rest before the big sale and Saturday morning rush. You should come visit for it sometime!

      Delete
    2. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      Yep, get yourself up here for 2019!

      Delete
  4. Kris PetersonApril 17, 2018

    I'm always attracted to Opuntia but their glochids still have me backing away. I love that last Yucca-Opuntia combo. You can't beat a backlit Opuntia for drama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      I was so careful when we were in there looking around, yet I still managed to get a spine in my skin. Ouch.

      Delete
  5. Peter/OutlawApril 17, 2018

    It's always a pleasure to visit Cistus & you captured some of the many treasures there beautifully. Glad you had happy hopping.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eliza WatersApril 17, 2018

    You must have been in heaven~ they have some really great specimens.

    ReplyDelete
  7. www.ravenscourtgardens. comApril 17, 2018

    Such a fabulous collection of plants!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      And just think of all the ones I didn't take photos of!

      Delete
  8. LINDA from Each Little WorldApril 17, 2018

    You're right about the Opuntia variety. Though they made me nervous just thinking about those spikes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      That's why you buy a bunch of inexpensive tongs at the dollar store. Then you never have to actually touch them.

      Delete
  9. ksApril 17, 2018

    I could definitely see myself crashing the pre-Hortlandia plant nerd event in 2019.You may see me lurking along the driveway.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Evan BeanApril 17, 2018

    You took some beautiful photos! I love the Echium flowers backed by the glossy Angelica leaves. That darling little cactus is an Echinopsis chamaecereus and it's one of the few cacti I grow. I've been watching flower buds slowly swelling on mine in the greenhouse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      Thanks for the cactus ID! I hope you'll share a pic of the flowers when they burst.

      Delete
  11. Mark and GazApril 18, 2018

    Wow plant porn as always! Would love to be part of your group too just to echo Gerhard, if only distance is not an issue!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      Fly in for Hortlandia! Sean's new house has lots of room (or so I'm told).

      Delete
    2. AnonymousApril 18, 2018

      Great pics Loree.. What a fun day! (Sean)

      Delete
    3. danger gardenApril 18, 2018

      Wait, what? After years of threatening did you finally just comment on my blog Sean???!!!

      Delete
  12. Patricia CApril 20, 2018

    That Cistus Nursery, breathtaking ever dang time. Gorgeous job capturing it all. And that goes for the cute curator, too. What a shot.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)