A visit to Gossler Farms Nursery

My Eugene adventure earlier in the month started here, at Gossler Farms Nursery. I've visited several times before—like the time I took home a variegated daphniphyllum—but every visit is special because you never know what you might find. This trip Andrew planned to fish the streams around the farm (rather than waiting in the car), here he and Roger Gossler are walking back from checking out the access.

In a fluke of timing two other speakers at the Eugene Home & Garden show (which is why I was there, speaking over the weekend) pulled up right behind us, so I toured through the greenhouses with Mary-Kate Mackey, Ciscoe Morris, and Roger. It was interesting to view the plants with people of such differing taste and gardening experiences.

Osmanthus armatus 'Jim Porter', tempting, very tempting—just look at those spikes!

Hellebore seedlings in the background, protected with netting held down by the terracotta tubes.

Baby trachycarpus. They look so bright and cheerful.

Conifer collection, not for sale.

Yes, there were more than just conifers in the NFS area, like this lovely mahonia. M. oiwakenses aka M. lomariifolia I believe.

Another mahonia (M. eurybracteata 'Cistus Silvers'?) with Fatsia polycarpa 'Needham's Lace'. 

Daphniphyllum macropodum

Variegated daphniphyllum, I can't remember if Roger confirmed this as Daphniphyllum teysmannii 'Mountain Dove' or not.

And of course the original large green on green variegated plant I first saw on that 2014 visit.

Speaking of variegation, check out this variegated Poncirus trifoliata branch. 

Daphne bholua (Szechuan 2006), the label was from Windcliff Plants (Dan Hinkley), the fragrance was heavenly. Isn't it fun to see what a nurseryman has collected from other nurserymen?

A ginormous cement apple tucked in among the plants. Isn't the moss pattern fabulous?

This little cutie (I cannot remember her name) kept chewing on the end of that board. Every time I almost got a photo of her in the act she stopped and gave me an innocent face.

Dryopteris wallichiana 'Jurassic Gold'

Leucothoe fontanesiana Scarletta

That color!

Cement apples weren't the only thing mixed in with the plants. This is Bennie, he did not take his eyes of Roger the whole time we were there.

Rhododendron 'Strawberry Sorbet', instant plant lust! Then I remembered that I already have one.

Hamamelis japonica 'Tsukabana Kuranami', divine fragrance!

Agaves! Agave victoriae-reginae 'Porcupine' 

Out in the garden now (in between massive downpours)...

Something about this mugo pine (I think) captured my attention. It glowed against the grey sky.

Lonicera fragrantissima. Roger broke off a branch so we could give it a whiff, I took it back to the hotel where it perfumed our room.

The shrub itself is a little awkward.

One of the Garrya elliptica...

The pollarded trees that border the drive into the nursery captured my attention the first time we visited, they're still just as enchanting.

Hamamelis blooms look even better on mossy stems.

Hey there's my #1 fisherman finding a dry spot in the #1 greenhouse... 

Off to the office to pay for my treasures, but not before appreciating the spikes under the eaves.

I remember hearing these once described as pets.

Not for sale, of course.

So what did I come home with? Here's the haul...

Rhododendron 'Everred', because I swoon over the one planted at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden every time I visit. The backside of the foliage...

This was a gift from Roger, we all went home with one. Shortia soldanelloides, look at that winter color!

And I grabbed a pot packed with Blechnum penna-marina. Thanks for spending your time with us Roger!

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The garden at the O'Byrne's Northwest Garden Nursery

We're back in Eugene, OR, at Northwest Garden Nursery—Marietta and Ernie O'Byrne's place. Wednesday I shared some hellebore photos (here) from the greenhouses, today we wander the garden...

This is my second visit to the O'Byrne's, the first was way back in 2014. That was also an early March visit—blog post here—back then I made the trek during their Hellebore Open Garden Days, this year I visited after the hellebore madness. 

I can't remember if it was Marietta or Ernie that pointed out they'd let the opuntia lounge out across the pathway (rather than cutting it back) knowing I was going to be visiting—spiky plants and "danger" of course.

The foliage on that Helleborus foetidus is pretty fabulous...

My photos are all kind of jumbled, I snapped as I wandered...

The sun came and went as the clouds passed overhead. 

It really was a delightful day to be outside walking garden paths, especially contrasted against the day before when it rained hard during my visit to Gossler Farms Nursery (photos from that visit coming up for Monday's post).

There were even fancy creatures milling about, peafowl. Both the traditional blue/green coloration and one that was all white. Sadly I didn't get a photo of the white bird.

On Monday I shared photos of two other gardens I visited in Eugene, both with pebble mosaic designs. There were more elaborate versions here at the O'Byrne's garden, these built by Oregon craftsman Jeffrey Bale.

I was glad to see the elevated container with bronze grass was still a garden feature. I loved it when I saw it on my previous visit.

Close up...

I suddenly need to plant yellow/green hellebores mixed with black mondo grass!

Can you make out the elevated platform on the left? It's built on the stump of a tree that was removed and provides a great place to sleep on a summer's night.

Another angle...

Bamboo!

Schefflera delavayi

Looking towards the backside of the O'Byrne's home, with a guest house on the right.

Quercus alnifolia, planted in 2017 and now at a height where the tawny undersides of the leaves can be appreciated from the pathway.

That's a wrap! Since both of my visits to this garden have been in the very early spring I do hope to return in the summer. Fingers crossed!

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