If it's still there, then it's meant to be...

Have you ever played that little mind game with yourself? You pass on something you really want, but then find yourself thinking about it. A lot. Hmm. Maybe I'll swing back by, if it's still there, well, then it was meant to be...

Back on June 5th. I was headed up to Bellevue, WA, for the Hardy Fern Foundation's (HFF) FernFest. I stopped at Zenith Holland Nursery because a friend had mentioned it, and I'd never been. That's where I saw this double trunked tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica). I thought it was priced reasonably for a tree fern of it's size. But was more money than I was prepared to drop on a plant on a whim. I left it behind. This was the only photo I took that day.

Two weeks passed and I was back up in the area (just a mere 20 miles away in Tacoma, for the HFF Vashon Tour). I thought about the tree fern, but I did not go by the nursery. Nope! But then in the days after the tour, after visiting the Riehl Stumpery and falling under the spell of the tall tree ferns there, well, I could not stop thinking about my double trunked friend. 

Fast forward to Sunday July 26th (almost two months since I'd first seen the object of my obsession) and I was headed back up to the area for the NHS Meet the Board garden tour. I'd be driving right past the nursery. That's when I started with the "well, if it's still there..." thoughts.

And it was...

Talking with the helpful salespeople I learned it had been there at least through last winter, as that's when they moved it inside and into the place I found it.

The label told me it had come from Suncrest Nursery in Watsonville, California. Suncrest ceased to operate in June of 2023, so...this plant could have been bumping around Zenith Holland for 3 years...

The staff was very helpful, tying up the fronds and bagging the pot...

Because I had to lay it on it's side to get it in my car.

Home!

So just how tall its the trunk? The taller side...

And the shorter...

A friend (the same one who mentioned the nursery and has tree ferns with 4ft+ trunks) called this size a "starter trunk"...

So you're probably wondering where in the heck I'm going to plant my new plant friend? Especially since this spring (despite my stated intentions) I ended up not planting the trunking tree fern I already have.

 

I have three different spots in mind. One currently in the lead.

My only concern is that it involves a lot of digging and there will most certainly be magnolia (Clifford!) roots in the way. I don't want to kill an old friend to plant a new friend.

Such is the drama in a small garden...

The Bit at the End

I know the horrible fires in my hometown of Spokane, Washington, have been in the news so I wanted to share that, thankfully, my family and friends there are safe, living well away from the areas that have burned. They, of course, know people who have lost their homes, or been evacuated. It's awful. Seeing the destruction online my heart aches for everyone affected.

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude. 

My annual June visit to Dancing Oaks Nursery

This is the third year I've made the trip to Dancing Oaks Nursery in late June. I'd love to visit more often, but since they're an hour and a half away that just doesn't happen. Nearing the parking area I was thinking I'd walk the display garden first, before exploring the sales area. Ha, who was I kidding? Shopping always comes first...

I know I've heard of people feeding banana peels to plants, but this method looks a little suspect?

Pteris vittata 'Benzilan', still with it's Plant Delights tag.

Such a cool fern.

I have a couple I picked up at Raintree Tropical a few years back, if that is indeed what mine are. They were sold to me as greenhouse weeds (having popped up in other plant pots).

Pyrrosia lingua 'Variegata'

These (and most of the plant pics I took) were in this greenhouse, Jurassic Park.

Begonia macrantha (be sure to click on that link to see the size of the leaves on the plant in the wild).

Sonchus canariensis, tree dandelion

A large part of Jurassic Park includes plants that are not available for purchase...

Oxalis lasiandra, palm tree oxalis

Centaurothamnus maximus, Arabian shrub cornflower (I liked the leaves).

Volunteer ferns are always a happy occurrence, I assume the nursery folks feel the same since they've left them in place.

Itty bitty baby Cliffords! Clifford being the name of my big-leaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla.

Walking the garden now and starting with one of my favorite features, the tropical plantings with planted up water-dripping pedestals.

Lobelia tupa

The dry garden.

Dierama pulcherrimum

Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa)! I haven't smelled tuberose in years, so good!

I remember these as purple, but they don't look so purple in my photos.

There's an agave in there somewhere...

Okay, time to pay for my plants and start the drive home.

Here's my haul...

I made a couple of stops on the way down to Dancing Oaks, this Yucca linearifolia came from N&M Nursery, only $15!

Aloe aristata

...and this NoID aloe Gasteraloe 'Savannah' came from S&K Nursery in Woodburn.

Which brings me to my two Dancing Oaks purchases, first; Androsace sarmentosa, or so it was labeled. When I look that plant up on the DO website it doesn't look quite right. Hmm?

And second, Pyrrosia lingua 'Tachiba Koryu'. I have a plant I purchased as Pyrrsoia linqua 'Dragon's Tail', which I've always thought was 'Tachiba Koryu', but now I have it for sure. And those wavy margins are extra special fabulous!

The Bit at the End

Since I saw a Plant Delights label at Dancing Oaks I'm guessing the DO folks won't be offended if I link to the PD Juniper Level Botanic Garden newsletter to share a fabulous fern; "Lepisorus palmatopedatus, which translates in to palm-foot, scaly-sori fern" so cool!

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

I went to Buffalo NY and returned with a Hosta (and lots of photos)

July 8th thru the 13th I was in Buffalo NY for the 2026 Garden Fling. Flying out I had a great view of Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer.

Flying into Buffalo I got my only view of Niagara Falls (the white froth off in the distance). Yes, that does appear to be duct tape on the end of the airplane's wing. It did get us safely from Denver to Buffalo...

We were greeted by a nice green vertical planting in the Buffalo airport.

Naturally I had to look closer.

From what I found online it's been in place since at least 2022, they've been maintaining it well!

From the hotel Andrew noticed this celebration of wind going on out in Lake Erie.

The official Fling activities didn't get underway until Thursday evening, so I had the day to explore. Since the Fling itinerary didn't include Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens I made the trek on my own, mainly to visit the Historic South Bark Conservatory (future blog post).

Before calling my Lyft back to the hotel I walked up the street to put an eye on this building, which turned out to be Our Lady of Victory National Shrine & Basilica, built in 1926.

It was rather extraordinary.

It seemed like they were covering the dome with new copper sheets.

Inside...

Andrew was with me in Buffalo and during his exploration around the city he encountered many sidewalks in need of repair, and snapped this photo of one that had been taken care of.

More street art, this one hitting a little hard.

Even though this one isn't technically art, I thought it was a fine call out to my blog.

Each of the three days of Fling tours we boarded a bus luxury motor coach at the hotel and headed out to the suburbs to tour gardens. Then in the afternoon we returned to the city and set out walking a different neighborhood, with a map in hand of gardens participating in Garden Walk Buffalo. It was in one of those neighborhoods (Elmwood) where I spotted this unique piece. This was not one of the participating gardens, by the way.

Their front walkway railing, also eye-catching.

All told we visited some 27 private gardens, 2 plant shops, and a Hosta farm. We dined at one of the Oldest Woman's Clubs in America, had lunch at "Silo City" (a post industrial landscape being reimagined), toured an arboretum and stopped at Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House—although oddly touring the actual house was not included, just eating lunch on the grounds and walking through the conservatory.

It was in garden #20 that I finally saw an agave (I'm not counting the ones I saw in the conservatory), as a bonus there were also ferns!

I came away from the long weekend with two new plant crushes, the first spotted in this garden, belonging to Wendy and Jeff Leyonmark....

I give you Calycanthus floridus 'Burgundy Spice', that foliage! Sure it can eventually reach 8ft x 8ft but I spoke with Jeff and he said it was slow grower.

The next new must have is hanging out in the far right window of Craig Coyne and Gary DeNezza's home (check out those Hosta!).

Thankfully there was another down at ground level, Caladium 'Burning Heart'.

A bronze-leaved "sun tolerant" Caladium that has pink to orange spots. The color does not show well in these photos but was fabulous. 

Here's the group picture. Officially there were 72 attendees from 28 states and Canada signed up for the Buffalo Fling. You can see the list of folks on the Fling website, here. The Pacific Northwest was represented well with 7 Oregonians and 5 Washingtonians.

Yes I'm sharing a couple more photos from the sky, first this shot of an island, maybe in Lake Michigan—we flew back to Portland via Baltimore. I found the agricultural patterns especially interesting on an island.

And then, home. That's the Columbia River Gorge, Mount Adams and Mount Rainer in the distance. I love visiting other places, but also love coming home. 

So about that Hosta. I received this Hosta 'Sun Mouse' as a door prize at our group dinner at the Twentieth Century Club. It was donated by Murray's Hosta Farm which we'd visited earlier in the day. I thought it was rather fitting since Hosta were grown in practically every garden we toured.

I purchased this Hoya crassipetiolata at one of the plant shops we visited, Put a Plant On It. I needed another Hoya for a little project I'm working on and wanted to support the shop. Of course there will be a future blog post about it, and the owners garden too which we visited the day before. 

There will be future posts about the gardens we saw during the Buffalo Fling! I also want to thank the Fling organizers Jim Charlier and Elizabeth Licata, the many volunteers that made the weekend flow smoothly, and the sponsors that keep the Fling affordable...

And... next year the Fling returns to Portland! Mark your calendar for July 22-25. Watch the Fling website for more information.

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.