Winter Jewels Hellebore party at Little Prince...

Over the weekend Little Prince of Oregon held their first annual Winter Jewels Hellebore sale, I ventured down to check out the action. LPO is a wholesale nursery and rarely open to the public, so I figured this event would be a large draw, and it was.

There were tables with companion plants on offer, such as Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’.

Asarum splendens ‘Quicksilver’

Tricyrtis formosana ‘Gilt Edge’

Agave schidigera 'Royal Flush'

And Agave potatorum...

There were also, of course, hellebores. As usual at Little Prince this event was well orchestrated and the staff had everything running smoothly...

After checking out the goods there, I snuck off to another greenhouse where the behind the scenes magic happens.

I was thrilled to be in the right place at the right time to get this shot of the key people who’s work made the day possible, from L-R: Alexa Patti, the head grower and hellebore breeder at Little Prince, then Marietta and Ernie O’Byrne the founders of the Winter Jewels Hellebore collection, and finally the founder of Little Prince of Oregon, Ketch de Kanter. 

I also ran into these two characters friends, Riz Reyes (assistant director at Heronswood Garden), and landscape architect Caleb Melchior. There were many other people I wish I would have gotten a photo of (like Mike Hicks general manager and director of production at LPO), but as usual my camera was focused on the plants.

Winter Jewels 'Jade Tiger'

A hellebore Riz and I were admiring for it’s foliage.

Maybe Helleborus x ‘Golden Sunrise’?

And this one I didn’t get the name of...

Once I ran into Mike we were off to look at ferns, like Woodwardia unigemmata…

Doodia media

And this insane creature, Microsorum thailandicum, aka blue oil fern. Yes those leaves (fronds) really do have an iridescent blue sheen. 

The first place I saw this fern for sale in real life was at last year's Northwest Flower & Garden Fest, where it was fetching ridiculous prices ($88 for a plant exactly this size). Little Prince is wholesale not retail but I can tell you they're not marking this baby up ($) just because they could... nope. They make the cool plants available to the people! (ask your local nursery to order these!)

I’ve never been a fan of Actiniopteris australis (eyelash fern), but I love it here in combination with the Phlebodium aureum—a greenhouse accident, or an experiment?

We looked at a few other things too, like begonias. I think that’s ‘Red Fred’ in the front, and I have no idea what the magical levitating begonia in the back is (which is actually in a huge pot, but from this angle you’d never know it).

New to me, Medinilla sedifolia…

It’s a perennial from Madagascar that’s often used as a terrarium plant or, an epiphyte mounting (oh yes please!).

I was thrilled to spot this carnivorous bromeliad, Brocchinia reducta, part of an employee’s collection…

As was this gorgeous Agave macroacantha.

I'm a little embarrassed to share the riches which I came home with...

Look at that fern color!

I'd regrated not purchasing a Polypodium fallax at the NWFG Fest, but now I have my own.

And check out that adorable carnivorous baby, Pinguicula 'Aphrodite'...

I have lots of new plants to play with, thank you Little Prince!

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