Monday, September 20, 2021

My plant haul from a long weekend up north...

It's time to start posting about my recent trip up to the Tacoma/Seattle area, and what better way to start than with plant shopping and what I brought home?! I drove up the afternoon of Thursday, September 9th. Andrew and I had dinner plans with Peter, the Outlaw Gardener but I arrived early enough to visit a couple of area nurseries, Watson's and Windmill. No photos and only one plant purchase to show for that. However, the next morning I paid a visit to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (RSBG) where they were all set-up for a members event that weekend. Lucky me, that meant LOTS of plants out for sale...


... including Sinopanax formosanus, for $175 (!!!). I DID NOT pay that much for my plant.

Dryopteris sieboldii, referred to on the tag as a "palm fern", I'm going to try to remember that, I like it.

Saxifraga cuneifolia, I do love saxifrage but this one didn't seem different enough from what I have to rationalize the purchase.

This beautify on the other hand, it's a new to me pyrrosia and rest assured we'll be revisiting it again...

Petrocosmea cryptica, I so wanted to bring this home.

They were $49, it stayed behind.

As a consolation I almost let myself buy this Briggsia speciosa (I think it was $32) but then I realized that was crazy. It wasn't nearly as cool as the Petrocosmea cryptica and my $ would be better spent on something that wasn't a runner-up.

They did have a Strobilanthes gossypinus ($26) but since I have one already and I didn't realize my friend Ann wanted one, it stayed behind.

There were a few rhododendrons I was enamored with, but I didn't buy any. This one is Rhododendron falconeri ssp. eximium...

This one was hard to leave behind, because I've admired those small leaves a lot over the years, Rhododendron williamsianum.

And this one! I wanted it simply because it was so un-rhododendron like. Meet, R. spinuliferum. I didn't buy it. It can get quite large. I probably should have bought it. 

One more photo of the possibilities, these are Curculigo sp (the long pleated leaves). I bought one years ago at Far Reaches Farm and it did quite well for years. I didn't miss is however until I saw these plants so that probably meant I didn't need it.

Here's what did eventually come home with me—after a 5 day adventure that took me to several private gardens, a handful of nurseries, the RSBG, Hersonswood and the Miller Garden.... 

First, I hear you! A palm? Was that in the plan? No. I didn't know I needed another palm, but when Maggie (a Facebook friend whose garden I got to visit) offered me one of these Trachycarpus Fortunei var Nainital—that she grew from seed!—well of course I said yes. I'd already swooned over a few she'd planted out in her garden (there will be photos) when she made the offer. I thought I was getting a small, start, maybe a foot high at the most. Then she brought out this!

According to online talk 'Nainital' differs from my other trachycarpus in that it has "much thicker trunks and extremely stiff fronds that feel like heavy cardboard kind of like a waggie.  They also have a whorled petiole, so they have an asymmetrical appearance"... 

Maggie was also the gifter of this Sinningia tubiflora (aka Hardy White Gloxinia). A drought-tolerant perennial with very fragrant white tubular flowers. It's the kind of thing I'd never go hunting for but I'm excited to see what it does in my garden. Also seed-grown by her, I got to see it blooming in her garden.

But wait, there's more! She also gave me a seed-grown (yes, by her) Agave montanta...

And another (yes, seed grown by her... can you tell I am impressed?) Agave, this A. ovatifolia 'Giant Form'. Online sources say: "a huge strain of Agave ovatifolia hybrids that grow near Mexico's famed Huasteca Canyon. We're now convinced that these are crosses of Agave ovatifolia and Agave gentryi, with possibly some Agave montana blood. Some clones are solitary, while others offset occasionally, but all have green foliage when young, that ages to blue-green" and "This rare form from a high altitude canyon in northeastern Mexico is distinctly larger than the regular Agave ovatifolia and has much more attractive, larger black spines. It also is even hardier to cold"...I am going to have to find a great spot for this one!

Another Facebook friend, Cotts, picked up this charming bromeliad for me at Christianson's Nursery. Don't you love it when friends know you well enough to buy you plants?

This was the one plant I picked up on my first afternoon's nursery stops, it's a Doryopteris cordata, or antenna fern. I'd never seen it before, but now that I look it up online I see Little Prince of Oregon and many other nurseries have it. It's a crazy little thing... 

The lower, lobbed fronds...

And the taller, fertile fronds. I'll be growing this one as a houseplant as it's only Zone 10 hardy.

So that hot pyrrosia a saw at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden? I bought two.

The tag reads: Pyrrosia sp. SEH#12547. SEH is Steve Hootman, the Executive Director and Curator at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. I have not met him but hope to someday, I've heard many fabulous things about him.

I picked up this oddity at Heronswood. It's Lepisorus bicolor/hardy ribbon fern. I've seen it here in Oregon at Secret Garden Growers and been tempted, but there is always so much more to chose from there. At Heronswood the offerings were slim and so this stood out as a must have.

The new fronds curl ever so fetchingly.

Just two more plants! From the Miller Garden in Seattle, these are both Mahonia x sevillana; a rare hybrid between M. eurybracteata and M. gracilipes. As you can see (if you grow these mahonia) the one on the left favors eurybracteata and the one on the right favors gracilipes.

I'm excited to plant them both and see what they become!

Oh wait, look at that... another image of those fabulous pyrrosia leaves, how did that get in here?!... ;)

Here's one more of the whole haul—which checks all the boxes: agaves, ferns, bromeliad, mahonia, a palm, it was a good trip! So many photos to come of all the places I visited!

All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

24 comments:

  1. You SCORED. Fantastic new additions. I would have been tempted by many of them.

    I got four ferns myself on the weekend. Does the onset of fall trigger fern buying behavior??

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    1. I've never stopped buying, as long as there was an opportunity...

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  2. This is a reminder I should make an effort to visit the RSBG this fall, with or without a plant sale, it's always fabulous. I'm particularly impressed with "that hot pyrrosia", an addition to your outstanding collection. One day I'll ask you to identify my one and only pyrrosia, as I've lost the tag long ago.

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    1. Yes, visit! And do send me a photo of your pyrrosia.

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  3. I think you were very restrained ;) You're good at talking yourself out of selected purchases. I'm very bad at that, especially if the plant is question is found in a location more than 10 miles from my house. I was most impressed by the display at RSBG (even though most rhododendrons are utterly out of the question for me). It was so extensive and nicely laid out. I couldn't help contrasting it with my local botanic garden, which recently announced plans for their first plant sale - in Spring 2022. It seems that announcement was a response to "grumbling" they'd heard via social media...

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    1. Well my garden is much, much smaller than yours...

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  4. How nice you got to go somewhere other than around your neighbourhood. Wonderful to be able to see fresh gardens and scenery. How is Peter? Love that Pyrosia which when I look at the leaves seems very familiar. Wondering if it has been offered as a houseplant here. Looking forward to seeing the other gardens from your trip especially the Miller garden.

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    1. Peter is good, it was nice to spend some time with him.

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  5. What a fabulous haul. I can only great about most of what you’ve shown, alas.

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    1. I am lucky to live where I do. Although I'd love it if we were a solid Zone 9.

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  6. Jeanne M DeBenedetti-KeyesSeptember 20, 2021

    Verrry nice! Love every one of those plants! I have to check my ribbon fern. See if it is the same cultivar. It has done very well in a dry, shady spot (no direct sun but open to the sky) where I can't get a lot to grow! I have been very impressed! It will be interesting to see where you put that trachy!

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    1. Good to know about your fern. I still haven't decided where this one is going.

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  7. Boy, what an exciting trip - no wonder you are thrilled with this haul - they're fabulous!

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  8. Maybe it's just the angle but the leaves on that sinopanax look a bit different than standard, perhaps that is driving the price?

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    1. Hmm... they look like my plant's leaves, well, they're not crispy brown on the edges like mine are (darn June heat wave).

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  9. I once nearly brought home 'Huasteca Giant' -- can't even imagine the size of a giant whale's tongue agave! What a canyon that must be! Beautiful plants, and you saw Peter too. I've been going over the back pages of his blog and miss that outlaw's unique voice. The price of plants these days is really something -- well deserved for all the hard work of the people concerned in getting them to us, but I have to pass more often than not lately. Kudos to your friend that grows them from seed -- that's the way forward!

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    1. Thanks for the reminder that I really need to consider the placement of that agave very wisely. I have to say I haven't noticed a price difference in the plants up this way... closer to the source maybe?

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  10. You got some fantastic plants. It must have been a wonderful time!

    An Agave more beautiful than A. ovatifolia must be beautiful indeed.

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    1. It was, especially after so long of not venturing out into the world.

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  11. What a great haul....and where are you going to put all this stuff ?? Dinner with Peter is icing on the cake. Echoing Denise I really miss his voice.

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  12. So glad to see your haul! This post makes me want to visit RSG but I'll stay away. (An easy way to exercise restraint.)

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    1. Do it! It was looking fantastic when I was there. Oh and BTW, your fans miss you!

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