Friday, February 21, 2025

Greenhouse fun continues; Raintree Tropical and a bonus drive-by garden

Knowing I'd need a winter "pick me up" (yes, even after a visit to San Diego), I planned an outing to Raintree Tropical with friends Tim and Evan. This nursery is south of Portland, in Silverton, and features a nice warm indoor plant shopping experience (earlier visits here and here).
This palm was completely enclosed in a tall plastic protective structure during my last visit, but that visit was right after a record breaking period of cold last January. This winter had been quite mild when we visited on February 1st. 

Raintree is known for their palms, so it's only fitting they've got them planted all around the property.


Okay, let's go inside...

I miss my Pseudopanax 'Sabre', it was a good looking plant (winter death).

P. 'Sabre' with friends...

Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' (I might need to plant one of these again this summer).

Mangave some somebody...

Graptopetalum?

A nice sized Dicksonia antarctica.

The upper part of this cycad is shown in the next photo, I was rather taken with the base however, it was so mossy spectacular. 

Plant chaos of the best sort.

Adiantum hispidulum

Pteris vittata (a big container with a label even, $40).

I've bought so many Pyrrosia linqua here that I wasn't even tempted by these. Okay, maybe just a little...

This however... I was on the hunt for some underappreciated Phlebodium aureum.

Check out the climbing nepenthes...

An excellent Phlebodium aureum, but it was rooted into another much larger pot.

If you forget to look up in a place like this then you'll miss quite a lot.

Layers and layers of plants.

Abutilon 'Tiger Eye'

I loved this gorgeous creature.

Ditto for this one.

This one kind of gives me the creeps though.

One last glance before I pay for my purchases...

They're all weeds! Mine are the five greenhouse weeds (so called by the fellow who took my money); three containers of Pteris vittata (on the left) and two of Phlebodium aureum (on the right), he was so happy to see me taking the weeds away that he charged me weedy prices! The two containers at the top of the photo are Evan's purchases.

And here are Tim's a palm (I neglected to ask him what it was) and that terribly cute cactus.

Just a few more photos in this twofer post. Enroute to Raintree Tropical, Tim and I drove by by this Silverton garden that I've written about in the past (here). 

I hadn't been back by since I took photos for that post in 2022.

Everything was looking great, although the ginormous Agave ovatifolia that originally caught my eye driving by (back in 2022) is gone, it bloomed (I think that happened last summer? Doug mentioned it in a comment he left on a post). 

I spy a replacement agave, behind the rock, in front of the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana).

Thankfully the garden is not A. ovatifolia free, this big guy is still looking pristine.

As are the plants the large steel planter.

It was great to see this garden again after a few years! (love the saxifrage)

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

13 comments:

  1. That's a perfect pick me up to address your winter blues. Even I enjoy greenhouse spaces at this time of year, although I expect you'd consider our temperatures downright balmy. Enjoy your "weeds"!

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    1. Yes, whenever I'm in Southern California in Dec/Jan wearing flip flops people give me strange looks...

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  2. Great timing for a Chaos Greenhouse visit. I love the Silverton garden, the pine and that cool steel planter bed.

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    1. I've been invited back to the Silverton garden for a visit, so hopefully there will be a more in-depth post over the summer!

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  3. The crested cactus that kind of gives you the creeps does me too. They are all over here in the Valley (mostly in pots) and I really dislike them! But many people really love crested cacti.

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    1. Isn't interesting? I also hate those bumpy/warty echeveria, but people seem to love them.

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    2. doug ballingerFebruary 27, 2025

      The creepy cacti are my favorite, love the mutant forms.

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    3. If I ever end up with one of those I'll gift it to you Doug!

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    4. doug ballingerFebruary 28, 2025

      love it,
      I'll trade you something

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  4. Hello Pteris vittata! Thought it a cycad at first... I'm totally charmed by it and you now have three. I can't wait to see where you place them.
    Chavli

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    1. I can see that, a bit reminiscent of a cycad. I got a very small one there a year ago and put it in a hanging container I shared in my talk at the show (so nice to see you!), I'm gonna have to experiment with one in the ground because it *might* be hardy...

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  5. doug ballingerMarch 17, 2025

    Hey Loree i found the tag that came with the agave and it's Gentry's hardy agave or agave gentryi .

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