Acting on a tip from a blog reader I stopped by an exotic animal hospital in Beaverton, OR. Why? To check out the plants of course...
These are quite fitting for an office that specializes in exotic pets. After all, you don't see blooming cholla on every street corner in this part of the world.
Technicolor flowers and fruit.
Oh my now that's exotic! A variegated Cylindropuntia imbricata flower.
The title of this post is a play on another post from back in 2011, when I shared photos of a drive-by home garden that happens to belong to the same person who owns this vet office,
see that here.
These agaves appear to all be the same species.
Pups of plants from the home garden maybe?
There are a lot of them!
I should know which one this is, but my brain isn't connecting the dots.
This big bad boy was behind the office building.
Nearby yucca...
Okay what the heck, here's another garden I stopped to photograph a few weeks ago. This one closer to me in North Portland. These plants were all blooming in a wide hellstrip.
Maybe you don't see blooming cholla on every street corner, but there are more than you might think.
It turns out summer in Portland can look a lot like the desert...
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You are the official chronicler of succulent plantings in the Greater Portland area!
ReplyDeleteIf only I was organized enough to have compiled a map...
DeleteImpressive! The unusual-for-the-area garden befits an exotic animal veterinary hospital. And I'm not at all surprised that the owner goes for the same vibe at home.
ReplyDeleteYou love what you love, right?
DeleteOne of the parryi? ssp. neomexicana? Not truncata.
ReplyDeleteExotic pets with exotic (for OR) plants, seems appropriate...
Best wishes!
Yes! I do believe you are correct.
DeleteWhen Kristi and I toured Mark's home garden this spring, he was very proud of that variegated-flower Cylindropuntia, and rightly so!
ReplyDeleteIt is a beauty!
DeleteThe variegated flower is so cool. I love that you have drive-by gardens you check in on. The owner here seems like an interesting character!
ReplyDeleteIf only I kept better records of where they all are!
DeleteYou certainly arrived at the perfect time to see everything blooming in a spectacular fashion! I'm wondering if the blooms last longer in Portland than they do in Tucson? The cactus flowers last for maybe a day here, cholla flowers show off longer. What a lovely collection!
ReplyDeleteThey fade pretty quickly here too, unfortunately.
DeleteWow, those are beautiful plants! And perfect for the location, as you describe.
ReplyDeleteGlad you agree, so many people don't appreciate desert plants.
Delete