Monday, October 14, 2024

An afternoon at Cistus, talking about the Portland Botanical Gardens

I spent the afternoon of October 6th out on Sauvie Island at Cistus Nursery and Rancho Cistus (home of Sean Hogan and Preston Pew) touring, visiting with other plant people, and hearing the latest on how the planned Portland Botanical Gardens are progressing.


The weather was magnificent, I think Mother Nature was blessing the event.

I walked Sean and Preston's home garden first, this photo and the above are from the desert island bed at the end of the driveway and just in front of their home.

The entrance to the home's front courtyard...



On the front porch...

Marcia Donahue's work.


Yucca and Cheilanthes tomentosa (I think), what's not to love?

Working my way around the side of the home now, there are a few gigantic containers.


I remember when they first moved out to the island and this was all open, Sean made quick work of filling things in.

Creatures were a buzzing around the blooming Schefflera delavayi.



Verbena and eryngium.

Seedling eryngium starting to work their way across the pathway.


The crevice garden...


Aloiampelos striatula / Aloe striatula was wiped out all over town thanks to last winter's extended cold. How nice to see them again.

Acanthus sennii, bloom slightly expired.

Hesperoyucca whipplei fireworks, with a Chris Dixon crevice garden in a pot (yet to be planted up). 





Walking back towards the house, looking over my shoulder...

Time to go join the party.


There was a presentation on where things stand with the proposed location for the garden. This graphic was my most interesting take away, comparing the proposed site here in Portland with other botanic gardens, from Kew to the Denver BG, New York BG, and our local Leach BG.
It is so exciting to think this project could (will?) actually happen. It's such a missing piece, that we do not have a public garden like this in Portland. I scanned the hand out we were given, if you're curious to learn more. Click on the image and you can make it larger.

Of course if you want to donate to the effort there's a page for that, click here.

After the event wrapped up I (naturally) walked thought the nursery proper...


Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'

Agave 'Ruth Bancroft' (sharkskin)

What did I buy? Just a couple things. A nice Opuntia x 'Beaver Rita' for a container project I'm working on, and a beautifully variegated Pyrrosia lingua 'Ogon Nishiki' to fill an empty driveway container over the winter.

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12 comments:

  1. It's been six months since MY last visit to Cistus--America's gem of a garden (OK, OK, Far Reaches is pretty cool too!). The range of plants Sean grows is mind boggling. What fun you must have had! Autumn in Portland is a great time...

    As if Cistus NEEDED more acolades---Portland Botanic Garden will be the ULTIMATE plume in their hat!

    Great post!

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    1. It was a wonderful day indeed, a fabulous place to spend a sunny day.

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  2. I love seeing and reading about this kind of garden even though it’s also maddening and teeth gnashing about what I can’t grow. I haven’t much more room to squeeze in droughty plants. As you may know, the water table in the majority of my garden is literally one foot or less under the surface in winter, which I love till I’m walking around with a dry-loving plant trying to find a place for it. I need some huge containers, obviously! Love those! It is a joy to vicariously tour through all that silver beauty.

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    1. I cannot imagine gardening in soil that wet, how different from my garden. I know Sauvie Island has areas that sit lower and thus are more prone to water accumulating both from above and below. I wonder just what it's like digging at Rancho Cistus.

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  3. I couldn't decide which was more impressive: Rancho Cistus, Cistus Nursery, or the plan to create a Portland Public Garden. That was one jam-packed day!

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  4. Their personal garden is just amazing with the variety of plants they grow. Lots of spiky plants too! I am just not crazy about the crevice garden concept. I try, but too many rocks for me! I hope you all have success establishing a Portland Botanical Garden. I am really surprised there isn't already one there. Here in the Phoenix area, where the gardening is so tough, we have the Desert Botanical Garden and Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

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    1. It is crazy that we don't have a botanical garden here in Portland! I love both of the gardens you mention, but the DBG has an especially big place in my heart. It is a great garden! Sadly I haven't been since 2016, I really need to get back.

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  5. I would like to see Sean and Preston's garden in winter to see what, if anything, they do to protect some of their plants over the winter. My impression is that they don't do much of anything. It must be a protected microclimate somehow? I would have thought the infamous wind off the gorge would be a problem. That Hesperaloe whipplei is something else (in a good way).

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    1. I know they've built a couple structures for protection in the past, but I've only seen them after they come down. With the greenhouses just a few feet away it's definitely easy for containers to whisked away to safety. They are definitely in a good microclimate, I believe most of the east wind through the gorge is aimed at Portland and doesn't make the bend up to Sauvie Island.

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  6. Dorothy DanielsonOctober 16, 2024

    Well Think I really Like The Pot of Slate. Just Simple and Beautiful! Also a Beautiful Agave! Thanks for the Visit!

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  7. Ah, it's so wonderful. I love seeing the Herperaloe whipplei in the alpine garden, I wouldn't have thought of that. Portland Botanical Gardens, how thrilling!

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