A morning at Little Prince of Oregon Nursery

A couple weeks back I trekked down to visit friends at Little Prince of Oregon Nursery (LPO). It was cool and sunny when I left home, but it turned quite foggy as I neared the nursery, that helped lend a slightly spooky atmosphere around these one-eyed monsters outside the office...

And the large slumped gunnera leaves looked even more other-worldly.

Trucks were coming and going, I always love seeing the business side of the nursery industry (LPO is a wholesale nursery, not open to the public except for special events). 

The last time I was here (in March) this area was still mainly houseplants, and before that, in August of 2024 it was almost completely houseplants. However, since houseplant demand has shifted, LPO has pivoted too and now this large climate-controlled space is devoted to growing on plugs (plug = a small plant with a root system that’s grown in an individual cell of a large tray, at LPO plugs can be a mix of plants from tissue culture, cuttings, and seed).

Plugs like these! Agave plugs. 

I may have squealed when I saw this flat, agave roses!

Mike Hicks (Production Manager) said they're Agave 'Blue Glow' Compacta... what does that even mean, right? Well, 'Blue Glow' is a cross between Agave attenuata and A. ocahui and these little cuties are said to be a smaller and more "refined" version of that.

There's Mike himself picking out a few plugs of a particularly nice Epiphyllum.

Next we were off to see a new Schefflera, S. 'Mateo', pretty fabulous right? Sadly it's probably not hardy here in Portland.

They're looking a little tired because they were just planted up after making the trip to LPO as cuttings.

I asked Mike how long that trip took and was surprised to learn just a few days. Cut on a Saturday, flown to the U.S. via commercial airliner, and at the nursery and potted up by Wednesday, assuming everything goes as planned. Also there are such things as "cutting farms"... acres of plants grown to harvest cuttings from.

Here's where some of the remaining houseplants live.

Wow. Microsorum thailandicum, aka blue oil fern...

They're so fabulous! I got a few of these from LPO last March and my plants are doing great, unlike the single overpriced plant I bought from a Seattle-area houseplant retailer a couple years back (D.E.A.D.).

Speaking of ferns...

Adiantum peruvianum (not hardy here in Portland).

And be still my heart, Pyrrosia lingua by the hundreds!

Pyrrosia lingua 'Undulata', a tongue fern with slightly undulating margins.

In addition to seeing Mike, I was also there to see friends Alexa Patti (Nursery Manager, Head Grower and Winter Jewels Hellebore Breeder)—who was so busy I only briefly got to chat with her—and Ann Amato. 

Ann is now at LPO full-time (she was here part-time while going to school and working as Production Manager at Secret Garden Growers), she's now an Assistant Propagator, while learning how to be a Growing Assistant, and she works on special projects. She joked that she's in charge of the fern roots... which I gather means she's making sure all the ferns they grow at LPO (and that's a lot) are happy and healthy.

Thankfully Mike is as big a Pyrrosia fan as I am, and if he can find it, he orders it. Like these Pyrrosia christii that I absolutely freaked out over earlier this year. Turns out they maybe aren't so happy in our Zone 8 climate (some local areas are supposedly Zone 9 according to the latest USDA Map, but no, not my garden thank you very much). They maybe Zone 10 plants? Whatever they are I'm thrilled to have a few to experiment with (a couple are in the ground just to see what they do over winter), thanks to LPO.

Mike and Ann...

When I (and several blogging friends) visited LPO in 2017 they were up to 70 greenhouses, now they have almost 90, and over 40 employees. Every time I'm there I learn more about the business side of horticulture, it's wonderful to spend time somewhere that feels a little like family.

Anemia mexicana, the Mexican flowering fern. Mike shared a few of these with me last summer, mine aren't flowering yet though—oh and of course those aren't actually flowers, the fertile stems resemble flower spikes, hence the common name.

There were many exciting young ferns to ogle, like Blechnum tabulare.

And Blechnum occidentale.

Exciting news for lovers of dryland ferns, LPO is growing a crop of Cheilanthes lanosa.

And Cheilanthes argentea.

Done with the ferns, it was off to the Winter Jewels Hellebore stock house. When I asked why the plants were now in such ginormous containers Ann shared that she and Margaret (Growing Supervisor) recently potted them all up (no small job) to keep the roots cooler. Our warming summers make for unhappy roots in smaller containers. Later this got me thinking about a couple hellebores here at home that I have in fairly small metal containers. Hmm...

Nice Hellebore foliage...

There was another Hellebore house to visit, but enroute we swung by to check out the baby carnivorous plants. Tiny Pinguicula already covered with insects...

Itty bitty Nepenthes and Dionaea muscipula.

Pitchers the size of my pinky fingernail.

And flytraps smaller than a fly.

More Hellebores! If you attended the Hellebore Open House last March this is where the plants for sale were staged.

Between now and then though all that old foliage, and early blooms (this one is 'Red Sapphire') have to be cut back.

Like this...

That's part of what I meant when I wrote I enjoyed learning more about the business side of horticulture. There's nothing glamourous about cutting back hundreds of plants, but it must be done.

In case you're wondering, I didn't come home empty handed. Oh my!

Pyrrosia lingua 'Undulata', my Pyrrosia obsession has been fueled. This one is as hardy as the straight P. lingua, and it's got that gorgeous wavy edge.

I said yes to one of the Blechnum tabulare, even though I'm sure it would have grown faster and better if I'd left it at LPO. Wish me luck.

My Cheilanthes argentea population has now doubled. Yay!

Mike pulled a few plugs for me, Asarum maximum 'Ling Ling'.

Look at the roots on those tiny little plants!

Bergenia 'Ripple Effect', so named for the wavy leaf margin.

A trio of Epiphyllum (I didn't get the species name).

And yes, I ended up with a couple of those Agave 'Blue Glow' Compacta.

As for the rest of my haul... Agaves. Lots of Agaves. These plants have gotten too large for LPO to offer on their wholesale availability and I was happy to give them a loving home...

Clockwise from upper left, Agave impressa 'Impressive', Agave victoriae reginae 'Huasteca Canyon' (4 of them), and Agave titanota 'White Embers'.

Another Agave victoriae reginae 'Huasteca Canyon', Agave chazaroi, two Agave bracteosa 'Calamar', Agave stricta 'Nana', and Agave schidigera.

The Agave bracteosa are for sure hardy here, and some of the others I may experiment with come spring. 

Oh and in case you're wondering, yes, there really were five Agave victoriae reginae 'Huasteca Canyon'. Just look at how different they all are, those markings! I'm in love...

The Bit at the End

Today's shout out is to my friend Ann Amato, who you may already know from her blog Ann Loves Plants (formerly AmateurBotAnnist) or perhaps you've heard her speak at the NWFG Festival, for the Northwest Horticulture Society (NHS), or through Heronswood. I've known Ann since sometime before July of 2011, but that's when we finally met in person at the first Seattle Garden Fling. Ann's devotion to the world of plants runs deep. Besides tending her own garden (which I wrote about here) she's worked at Cistus Nursery, finished a degree in Horticulture while working at Secret Garden Growers, and now works fulltime at Little Prince. What I love about Ann though is her willingness to share her knowledge, and that she's always trying to bring others up with her. Ann is a force for plant good that makes our world a better place. Thank you Ann!

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