A little holiday inspiration I've gleaned around town

I love visiting local nurseries/garden centers and other plant "adjacent" shops during the holidays to see what they've got on offer and how they're decorating for the season. My first such stop this year was at Bloke. This was only my second ever visit to Bloke and the first during the holidays.

I love a well curated shop, where the vibe is strong, Bloke has that in spades. 

And trees, and a sleigh (and even an agave)...

Birds seem to be a thing this year, or maybe I'm just finally noticing them.

Yes I did pet the Leucadendron argenteum branches, how can you not?

Suddenly I found myself wondering where I could work in some lichen covered branches and icicles. 

But not these. Nope. I do not need spiders on my Christmas tree.

Top notch lighting skills there on that tree...

These guys had me looking up the santa clones on Instagram, hoping that clues would start dropping soon as to where they are this year (the santa clones don't actually have anything to do with Bloke, it's just the vintage blow mold santas always make me think of the clones).

Suddenly I want metal orbs frolicking across my ceiling. I'd add lights though.

Birds!

Vintage chenille birds ($20).

Vintage ornaments, and yes, I think that price was $79/box? Which has me thinking a little differently about my last 5 green vintage ornaments I have in a box like this.

I went out to look at their excellent tree selection before leaving. Someday I'm gonna step up to a fabulous tree like these...

My next stop was at Portland Nursery, where I crushed on the tiny cones of this Picea abies 'Pusch', at $49.99 it stayed behind.

Also tempting was this Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Curly Tops', which was relatively cheap at only $29.99, but since I don't need a conifer for the garden I looked, I dreamed, and I walked away.

Still at Portland Nursery, there was a wreath-making class about to kick-off.

Wreath-making has become a VERY big thing at many nurseries around town and I love it. I have great memories of making wreaths with friends, including a COVID gathering back in 2020 and a more formal gathering at Cistus in 2022. I've been making wreaths since the mid 90's though, so I guess I was wreathing before it was hip to wreath?

Velvet trees were on offer at Dennis 7 Dees.

And while these technically aren't holiday I'm still lusting over the angled pots I spotted at Little Baja. I was there during their 30% off sale so the smaller pots marked $44 would have only been $30.80, but I'd have needed two, so they could be stacked and look kinda Willy Guhl so $61.60. Too rich. So sad.

It was a tree feeding frenzy when I pulled up at Pomarius Nursery. Folks were lined up in a queue waiting to buy trees.

Since I didn't need a tree I skirted around that madness and explored the rest of the offerings.

There was a wreath making station with tables full off luxurious cuttings.

There's where the action happened. I think staff were the ones doing the making here though, not customers.

The results were fantastic.

It was a sunny blue-sky day and I let myself wander and be seduced by the excellent offerings...

More birds! This beauty was going for $45.

Used (vintage?) terracotta pots on offer. I was tempted by the small ones laying on their sides. I might be going back.

Finally, a little plant lust. I remember back in like 2007, 2008, I so wanted to take the plunge and buy a Sciadopitys verticillata (aka Japanese umbrella-pine) at my local Garden Fever Nursery. The "helpful" employee (I remember being so in awe of her plant knowledge) talked me out of it, after all it would get HUGE! Like 25 to 30ft tall (likely even more, some sources say 80ft ) and 15 to 20ft wide. But it is a very slow grower.

I regret not buying it back in the day. Now these plants in 4" pots (at Pistils) were going for $38, that's what gallon pots were back in the day! They'd make a cute Charlie Brown Christmas tree though...

The Bit at the End

I'm playing off the word inspiration for this "bit at the end"... who isn't inspired by plant-focused travel? Kelly, Sue and Silas of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy traveled to Northeast India last July and they're doing a Zoom Webinar on what they saw. "The webinar will retrace their recent journey from the tropics all the way to the high alpine zone at over 14000' of altitude. Their discussion of what makes this an incredibly diverse and fascinating area from both a botanical and cultural perspective will feature images and stories of incredible temples and mountains as well as 8 species of Meconopsis (Blue Poppy), including Meconopsis gakyidiana, and many more outstanding botanical rarities." Click here to register for the talk, which will air on December 13th from 10am-12am.

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