So about finding that second Pineapple Guava…

Yesterday I mentioned it was the chance discovery of a nice little specimen Acca Sellowiana at The Gardener’s Choice that pushed me to go for it and do away with our established Pieris japonica. It wasn’t just the Pineapple Guava that caught my eye that day. For instance I’m still kind of obsessing about this Ligularia 'Osiris Cafe Noir'…

I have a springtime love affair with Eremurus ‘Cleopatra’ every year.

In my experience this is the way to plant them, when they’ve already emerged and have a nice bunch of foliage.

I’ve planted 5 or 6 tubers (corms?) and nothing ever happened.

This was the first time I recall seeing Euphorbia c. ‘Portuguese Velvet’ for sale in a nursery. Of course since then I’ve seen a couple.

Its leaves really do feel like velvet.

This was a new one too, and wow! So bright…Golden Zebra Daylily.

So when I went inside to pay for the Acca Sellowiana, that’s when things got really interesting! Because I saw this…

A Schefflera taiwaniana with HUGE leaves.

It’s not like you see one of these everyday (this is only the 4th time I’ve seen one for sale) and this one, with the big leaves, I’d never seen before. Do you suppose I bought it? Damn right!

And I managed to fit two 5-gallon shrubs in my car no problem!

Are you wondering just how much bigger those leaves are? Here’s a comparison to the plant I moved a few weeks ago…

New one…

Old one…

Why the difference in a plant with the same name? I was reminded of a slide from a talk given by Dan Hinkley. The photo illustrated the extreme variance in the plants growing at Monrovia, all were grown from seed he'd collected. From this batch they selected the plants to grow on to sell. So it stands to reason they probably released the others for sale and that's why the ones on the market thus far show so much variation. At least that’s my theory. I do have one other Schefflera taiwaniana, this one from Cistus Nursery. It has dark petioles…making it different too.

So that’s the story of how I came to have 3 Schefflera taiwaniana, all different, all loved.

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Spring, if only for a few days

In the last week there have been more sunny dry hours in Portland than grey wet ones, heck we even hit 65 degrees yesterday, that’s the top temp of the year! And yes, that’s all I needed to come down with a serious case of spring fever... and I’ve got it bad…

Since all work and no play makes Loree a very crabby gardener I took a day off from project Bishops Weed and instead cleaned up and cut back other parts of the garden. I found signs of life! Isn’t it wonderful that we get excited over and over again at the sight of little plant nubbins pushing up from the soil? Eremurus…

Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’

Gentiana lutea

Melianthus major

Peltoboykinia watanabei

Rodgersia pinnata ‘Chocolate Wings’

Veratrum Californicum

Of course the downside of sunny dry days are cold clear nights. I was thrilled to see my Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira' had the beginnings of a bloom on one of its surviving tips.

But this is what it looked like after a 28 degree night Tuesday…so sad! I hope it recovers.

The bloom buds on the Clematis armandii were unfazed by the cold.

New foliage on the Loquat…

I figured this was a good day to peel back the winter covers on both the Musa basjoo and Gunnera. I’ve never uncovered the banana to see it this green!

The Gunnera looks like a prehistoric creature rising from the depths of a winter sleep, unfurling it's claws and reaching out to the sun (or to grab you if you get too close)…

And to finish the day I partook of the chore which officially signifies Spring is here…a lawn mow, followed by edging the path pavers and lawn border.

Ah, if only it would last. Instead we’re now headed into a period of successive showers, one after another for days on end. But I’ve still got the sore muscles to prove 3 days were spent gardening in the sun!

Eremurus

Eremurus, Foxtail lily, Desert candle….oh how I love you. Why will you not bloom for me? These blooming Eremurus were photographed in June of last year at Dancing Oaks Nursery in Monmouth, OR. Look at those tall bloom spikes! I bought my first Eremurus at the spring 2009 HPSO Sale, that’s 2 summers of hoping I might see the tall glorious flower spike…only to watch the foliage shrivel and disappear sometime in July without a single bloom having made an appearance. This year I’ve been given a bonus! Instead of just one little tip of foliage busting out of the soil there are three! That triples my chances of seeing a bloom, right? Like the plant addict I am I figured more plants equal an increased chance for blooms. So I just purchased Eremurus Cleopatra bulbs at Garden Fever, to put in the front garden. I’ve heard that fall is the time to plant Eremurus, but spring seems to be when I find them available. Have you grown Eremurus? Have they bloomed? What is your secret?