Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Random Wednesday; summer scenes from three venues

Since I'm always taking photos it's only natural that I end up with a few loose ends that don't make a complete post, so today I'm doing a three-fer. We start in Dale Hickey's garden up in Vancouver, Washington. It was late May and I was there for our spring garden blogger's plant swap. Dale was working on a new crevice garden...

I fell hard for these Yucca aloifolia Dale had planted along the front of his house and was lucky enough to come home with one from the swap.

A few photos from Dale's beautiful back garden...




The see-thru shurb is a hakea, I think a H. microcarpa...

Its blooms...

Fast forward to August and I'm out on Sauvie Island for a little gathering at Rancho Cistus, the home of Sean Hogan and Preston Pew...


Callistemon some somebody, maybe C. pallidus?

I only have one photo from the always spectacular desert island bed, I was trying to make my way around the whole garden that evening!


Crevice garden in the distance.

And closer-up...


Back-lit cactus spines are always sexy.


Into the grasses and tall eryngium...

Agave magic.


Mahonia, palms and blue sky. Life is good.

It was fun to watch people discover this little gem. Thomas and Kirk from Sebright Gardens gave Sean this small variegated daphniphyllum, what a gift! It was admired by everyone who passed by.

Now it's September and I stopped by Marbott's Nursery. I was there because a friend had posted on Facebook concerned about how empty the place was.

Could they be closing?

In my eighteen years of shopping at Marbott's I've never seen these tables empty. Ernie, affectionately referred to by many as "old man Marbott" passed away last year (obituary here), truth be told I've been holding my breath every time I've visited since then, afraid I'd learn they were closing.

This greenhouse complex is one of my happy places, I wander thru when I need a lift. It's gorgeous in the summertime, and even more so in the winter.

I asked Larry Marbott if the rumors were true, and learned that indeed they would be closed for a few months over the wintertime. He was having surgery and didn't have reliable staff to run the place.

Would they reopen in the spring? I've returned a time or two since, and gotten even more vague answers. Most recently I was told that indeed changes were coming. 

When I asked who would care for the plants while they were closed I was told the elves would. But will they? It's not just the dwindling stock of outdoor plants that my heart worries about, but treasures like this NFS Epiphyllum oxypetalum.


There must be something in the works. I just pray it doesn't include the demolition of these vintage glasshouses...

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13 comments:

  1. I hope your suspicions are off-track and your beloved nursery will reopen in the spring. I noticed that you skipped right over that nice display of Iris in Dale Hickey's back garden (3rd photo) without mention ;) The crevice garden at Rancho Cistus is magnificent and the photo of the desert island bed has me wishing that my Santa had tripped over larger rocks...

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    1. Iris? Guilty. I think your Santa needs to call for a rock delivery...

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  2. Must be the season for nursery closures: Molbak's of Woodinville will not reopen in the new year. My heart is heavy. Sigh. I hope relocation is possible though nothing mentioned as of yet).
    What's that chartreuse, ferny-looking thing in photo 18?
    Chavli

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    1. I can't believe the news that's coming out about Molbak's, they're such an institution! I'd just read they were making a return to the NWFG Fest this year too. The plant you ask about is a fern, a dryland fern. I think maybe Astrolepis sinuata.

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  3. Fun to walk down memory lane. These gardens are beautiful so deserve their time has come to be appreciated. Concerning about Marbott's. I hope it continues as these wonderful places are becoming fewer. My local center celebrated it's 100 year anniversary (3 generations) only to close the same year as none of the next generation were interested in continuing. Breaks my heart every time I drive by to see it is now a grocery store.

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    1. Ugh, a grocery store! I'm sorry, that's unfortunate. There are new small nurseries opening, I try to take some solace in that, but when a place that had been around for 100 years closes that leaves a huge hole!

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  4. I could name any of my fave local, family owned businesses, whether nursery or not, and the kids are not interested. I think they saw too much hard work growing up and they didn't have the passion their parents had to start these treasured places. I have few happy places left and am waiting for some new arrivals to make the scene. Great photos of some great places.

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    1. Indeed, without the passion the hard work is just not worth it. In the case of Marbott's the "kids" (who are in their 50's) have kept the thing going but I've not seen anyone younger there to take it over.

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  5. I so hope Marbotts is not closing permanently, but those signs are definitely worrisome. Your pics of the Rancho Cistus crevice garden has me wondering if I could create a crevice garden in wet Astoria. I love that look. And I had to chuckle at you going home with a coveted Yucca aloifolia from our spring swap when I got one from you at a swap about four years ago - sometimes plant lust comes full circle!

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    1. Jane, is this you? You should definitely make a crevice garden in Astoria! And have a future swap there so we can all come enjoy your hard work. As for the Yucca aloifolia, really? Hmmm. I have no memory of that. In addition to lust for the plant there's also the fact this go-around I had empty spaces in the garden (removal of a large fatsia and cotinus) to fill...

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  6. It's nice to revisit both of Dale Hickey's garden and Sean and Preston's. Seems so long ago now, but the warmth and foliage in the pictures still shines through. The agave/cholla photo is one of my favorites. I love that island bed.

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    1. I have a sweet photo of you and L from the Cistus gathering, I got some good people photos that evening.

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    2. It was a fun evening. Great group of people. I should have mingled more, but was feeling shy that day.

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