Friday, June 28, 2019

The Japanese Garden lanterns, at Lotusland

The lecture portion of the 2019 Bromeliad Summit took place at Lotusland. The attendees met up in the parking lot and walked the long the main drive to what was Ganna Walksa's private residence, back in the day. Since the Japanese Garden was—at that time—undergoing a major renovation, they'd lined up all the stone lanterns along the drive.

It made quite the statement seeing them all here, like this. A very different experience from discovering them tucked into the foliage around the Japanese Garden.

I have to admit I appreciated them in a way I wouldn't normally. Now that the renovation is finished I'm sure they're tucked back inside the garden.

Weather Diary, June 27: Hi 65, Low 54/ Precip .11"

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

apotspot pots, in my garden

While I was off touring gardens as part of the 2019 Garden Bloggers Fling in Colorado, I got a message from Claire Bandfield of apotspot. She had set aside a few of her hand-cast stone pots if I wanted them (of course!), it turns out she's moving and taking advantage of the opportunity to lighten her load a bit. I beat feet on up to her place in Camas, WA just as soon as I returned. Those two petite pots were part of my haul...

If you read Tuesday's blog post (here) you know the handmade pots we saw during the Fling really made an impression on me, as did the many (many!) sempervivum we saw.

So of course I filled these two pots with a mix of sempervivum.

And a little moss, just because...

I've also resolved to buy at least two 4" pots every time I grocery shop for the rest of the summer (yes, our local Fred Meyer "everything store" chain carries Little Prince of Oregon plants, so there are always nice sempervivum to chose from), this week I got three, since I have some catching up to do. Big patches of houseleeks are in my future!

Since the back garden is full of glazed and colorful containers, as well as lots of metal, the front garden seemed like the best place for these, with their rough stone finish. I think they look right at home cozied up to the vintage pebble and cement pot I inherited from a neighbor.

Oh and speaking of, check out this moth cleverly disguised against the side of the large pot.

Closer...

And from the side. I won't lie, those strange protuberances at the bottom kinda made me feel like Dracula was watching me the entire time I snapped these photos.

Moving to the back patio, I guess was wrong to say all the patio containers are colorful or metal. I do have a collection of concrete and resin pots full of sarracenia and Dionaea muscipula.

These two are new additions from Claire, she made them by putting two glass shades (from light fixtures) together and casting in that shape.

Right after picking up the pots I stopped at Portland Nursery to grab a couple Alternanthera  'Purple Prince' and spotted the small nepenthes. Seemed like a match made in heaven...

Of course I realized after planting them that there maybe some substance in the make-up of the pots that disagrees with these sensitive plants. I guess we'll see...

The smaller of the two containers will stand upright but feels a little iffy, so I placed it on its side.

Although hard to see in this image it's tilted up just enough to keep some moisture in the planting hole. I am curious to see if the pitchers reorient themselves with gravity.

There's another new apotspot container here, on the far right side.

It's very special because Claire named it the Lila pot, yes like our sweet departed dog, Lila.

If I remember right this is the prototype, the first pot made from the mold. I love that it's got a mottled finish, just like Lila's grey/white/black coloring.

I chose to plant this dark Oxalis triangularis in my Lila pot because this plant reminds me of our little girl. I never really appreciated it until I saw it planted all over Austin last May, during the 2018 GB Fling. We said goodbye to Lila right before leaving for Austin so the two are forever intertwined in my memories. My friend Ann recently gave me this plant and by putting it in a pot hopefully I'll be able to over-winter it. We shall see...

One more photo of the whole gang...

And one more pot to share! Although this one is really more of a vase shape.

I haven't tested it to see if it's water-tight, but I suspect it is.

Currently I'm picturing a nice bit of moss, maybe with a couple of tiny saxifrage tucked in the top. I'll have fun deciding exactly what's right for this one, especially since the others came together so quickly...

Weather Diary, June 26: Hi 77, Low 56/ Precip .10"

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Wednesday Vignette: ?

The day before we left for Denver (for the GB Fling) I took the yard waste and recyclables out to the curb and was astonished by the perfect question mark the Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' bloom spike had formed...

I'd watched it twisting with the sun as it grew taller, but this was just so perfect. So unnatural, yet perfectly natural. Aren't plants the best? No really ??????

Weather Diary, June 25: Hi 75, Low 55/ Precip 0

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Janice and Richard DeVore’s garden, from the 2019 Garden Bloggers Fling

It was Friday afternoon before we visited the first private garden as part of the 2019 Garden Bloggers Fling. By then I was getting a little twitchy. I hadn't been in my garden for over 48 hours. I was in serious need of a little garden time...thankfully I got it.

Janice and Robert moved into their Ft. Collins, CO, home, and garden, in 1986. From our Fling brochure: "the back yard was a gigantic 3/4-acre wasteland of dead grass and an Aspen tree. Richard decided it was too much of a challenge for me and fenced off a smallish portion nearest the house to garden. We had the rest of the yard designated a Wild Life Refuge. After one season of this I (Jan) bought a smallish, flat, stainless-steel shovel and started digging up sod on the other side of the fence. Basically, my garden evolved, year after year, foot by foot, by how much sod I took out and made berms with, until, VOILA! Except for the rock work, I created the whole thing myself."

This private little patio was just off the side of the house, in the front garden. I'm not sure we were actually supposed to tuck into this part of the garden, but you know me. I've got to explore.

After working your way along the side of the house you enter the back garden and this shade-house is one of the first things you see.

Along with plenty of interestingly shaped hypertufa (or something similar) containers.

I swear we saw blooming Echinocereus triglochidiatus in every garden we visited. I almost stopped gasping at the sight of them, almost.

Looking backwards at the gate through which we entered the back garden. Oh, and more pots...

More pots...

The shade-house was almost empty save for a few containers and these interesting hanging pots.

There's some inspiration to be had here.

Moving on...

There's the shade-house again, and look! A balcony from which to view the garden...

Making our way to the balcony now. There were so many peonies in the Colorado gardens and this one was no exception. This one photo representis at least seven or so other plants in the garden.

There were a few potted plants near the base of the stairs to the balcony, this striped cactus was particularly handsome.

More potted treasures along the lattice house wall.

There were several bonsai-esque skeletons in the garden.

The view from above...

And now we're back down on the ground, admiring a few of the many sempervivum in the garden.

Initially my eyes were focused on the containers, but then I spotted that powder-blue, dreamy, conifer.

I'm rather conifer ignorant, but I think this may be an Abies concolor?

It was glowing, lit from within...

Look at that cute little pot full of semperivivum, and of course the big verbascum (I think that's what it is?).

Another verbascum and that dark euphorbia I lust after but never find in a nursery.

Another pot of sempervivum! Do you see why I said they were the "it" plant of this Fling? The pots are also really growing on me. I have no desire to tackle the art of hypertufa, but I'm really warming to the look.

More pots of similar style...

And a rock garden...

Or should that be a crevice garden? I'm not sure.

This garden was an interesting mix. The pines towering above, along with the needles and cones on the ground below, had me mentally back in Spokane, Washington, where I grew up. The places we visited in Colorado definitely had an Eastern Washington feel to them, many of the plants would be perfectly happy there as well. Both Denver and Spokane are USDA Zone 5, with a few parts squeaking in at 6. Interestingly the average annual rainfall in both places is similar too, Denver 15.5" and Spokane 16.5", of course most of Spokane's precipitation falls in the winter months and summer is very dry, the opposite of Denver. This photo could have been taken in either place.

Okay, that's it for this garden...

Weather Diary, June 24: Hi 72, Low 51/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.