Rancho Cacto!

When I first saw the Rancho Cacto name and logo on a plant label, I remember thinking: a new nursery?! Yay! Then of course I wondered, who are these people and where are they located!? The who is Molly Malecki, and the where is right here in Oregon, Aurora to be specific. 

I had the good fortune to visit their operation a few weeks ago with Nat of The Other Side Nursery. 

I was very impressed! I'd met Molly a couple of times before (most recently at The Other Plant Sale in September) but I hadn't really got a chance to talk plants with her—the lady knows her stuff!

And she has great plant taste, like this Stenocarpus sinuatus, aka the firewheel tree. I've never seen this plant available up here in Oregon (it's not hardy here).

Lots of rhipsalis and their near-kin.

This sighting had me very excited, Orthophytum magalhaesii: "A terrestrial saxicolous (growing on rock) bromeliad to 2 feet tall with thick stems holding attractive lanceolate leaves that are brown with scurfy silver hairs and white teeth along the margins. These stems are topped with attractive "flower heads" of green bracts that nearly hide the small white flowers in their interior." (source) I came home with two of the orthophytum, or actually five because one pot had a pair and one a trio.

 Here's another plant I rarely see for sale, Strobilanthes gossypina, such a beauty.

A blooming mangave, not sure which one.

And I neglected to get the name of this cutie...

If you're wondering if you can visit Ranco Cacto, the answer no—they're wholesale only. However if you follow their Instagram page then you'll know when they're out in the world selling their great plants direct.

Agave attenuata 'Kara's Stripes' (I think)

Agave bracteosa

Hmmm, I missed the name of a few of the plants, unfortunately.

This one I know, because one came home with me, Aloe hemmingii

Mangave 'Bad Hair Day' (I believe)

There were a few mixed plantings on display, Molly definitely has a designers eye for plant combinations.

I've never met a grevillea flower I didn't love.

The second greenhouse is home to smaller plants and a propagation area.

Euphorbia some something.

Greenovia aurea in the center there.

I really appreciated Molly's attention to labeling. While not every pot had a tag (this is a wholesale nursery after all), there was a representative group at the end of the table with appropriate labels.

The only issue here is that I wasn't remembering to snap a shot of the name, cause I was so busy looking at the plants. This might be Aeonium fiesta...

This agave was one of the few unlabeled. I managed to leave it behind (what exactly was I thinking?).

I did grab three of this cutie, Sinocrassula yunnanensis.

And this striking Eriosyce heinrichiana. 

Thanks Rancho Cacto for bringing these cool plants to the PNW!

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