The YG&P Show, shopping!

Every year one of the most interesting displays at the show is the one by the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. It consists of tables and tables of vases with foliage cuttings showcasing plants that provide winter interest. It was at this booth last year that I first learned there were hardy Callistemons that would grow in my garden, some of my favorites this year included…

Osmanthus sasabaNothopanax delavayi

Aspidistra elatior 'Variegata' (why did I buy the plain old green Cast Iron plant when I could have had this?)

Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red'

Callistemon viridiflora, maybe there is another Callistemon in my future….

Euphorbia rigida, I can’t believe I don’t have this Euphorbia!

Eriobotrya japonica

And of course there are many nurseries that have booths at the show. One that I’ve only visited at the show is Bauman Farms, someday I’ll make it to their nursery but it’s just so far away! This barn wall with cracks filled with Moss and Sempervivium formed the back of their booth, isn’t it creative?

Several years in a row they’ve had a great selection of little agaves and other succulents at great prices. This year was no exception. I loved the Agave “silver surfer” on the right. But since I wasn’t sure about its hardiness and I already have a few blue agaves I passed it by.

Not so with this Agave Shira ito no Ohi, I’ve loved it in the Plant Delights catalogue for $20 so with a price tag of $6.95 this one became mine!

While I was fondling the agaves (yes I have to touch them, all of them!) I overheard a couple admiring these beauties…(how could they not right?)…

They had no idea what they were and asked one of the sales people. I was very happy to hear her explain what they were, how to correctly pronounce agave, and to take special care to keep them dry in the winter. In the end they decided to pass, the male half of the couple didn’t want to buy a plant that he couldn’t just “plunk in the ground” … they walked away repeating the name “agave” like it was a tantalizing new word. I loved hearing someone discover agaves for the first time! I predict they will end up getting one eventually. You could see the fever in their eyes.

These fabulous blooming aloes were part of a display that wasn’t for sale. Good thing otherwise I might have had to buy them.

I am obsessed with Tree Ferns right now. This one was a beauty, as was the Cycad behind it.

After the last two Flax killing winters we’ve had here in Portland I was very surprised to see that a nursery would actually tag a Phormium like this…

“Phormiums will grow just about anywhere”

Really?
“Will tolerate extreme heat & cold”
Then why do all of mine look like hell?
“Little care for great color all year long”
Oh boy. Wrapping them against the cold is not ‘little care’!

There’s an area of the show set aside for plant vendors that don’t have a full booth at the show. A percentage of the sales in this area benefit the OSU Master Gardeners. This is where I did most of my buying.

At the Rare Plant Research booth was this Eucomus blub (if bulb is the right term?), isn’t it wild!? I wonder if all Eucomus eventually look like this? Seeing it made me want to go home and dig mine up to get a look.

They also had this marvelous Bromeliad display.

But what really caught my attention was this monster Furcraea (it’s about 2ft tall, 2ft wide). I’ve been mildly obsessed with Furcraea since our trip to California last fall. First seeing them at San Marcos Growers and then later at the LA County Museum of Art (they weren’t art, they were landscaping). I had to have this one!

Isn’t it gorgeous?

I’d been hoping to find more Saxifraga x Geum 'Dentata' and Xera plants had them. I grabbed two.

Another must have, a Dykia hybrid (Burgandy Ice), they say it’s hardy to Zone 7.

My heart sank when I saw this…

And this…

And another! Agave abuse! So sad.

My last two “must haves” were from the Cistus booth, it’s a little ridiculous to buy plants from a nursery that I can (and will) drive to sometime soon, but then again if I passed them up now and couldn’t get them later I would have regretted it. I’ve already shared images of both on Bloomday and Foliage Follow-up but I love them so much I just have to show them again! Yucca rigida…

And Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red'...after seeing it in the Hardy Plant Society display and dreaming of it for 2 nights I went back on Sunday and bought it.

While at the show I picked up a couple of flyers for upcoming sales, mark your calendars! The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon spring sale is April 17th and 18th and the Rare Plant Research open house is May 15th and 16th this year. I can't wait!

The YG&P Show, seminars

Reading the local newspaper the day before the YG&P Show opened I learned this year’s show almost wasn’t. Evidently the show got to be too much for the Oregon Association of Nurseries resources and staff to handle. I was completely aware we almost lost the NW Flower and Garden show in Seattle but I had no idea that our YG&P Show was in jeopardy too! Luckily a new group of volunteers stepped up armed with new ideas, partnerships and the conviction that the show must go on! Thank goodness they did, February just wouldn’t be the same without the show. The seminar series this year was one of the best, I am so glad that I made it to so many of them!

Lucy Hardiman was the first speaker I attended on both Friday and Saturday. What a great way to start the day. Lucy is an energetic speaker and always comes armed with tons of great images to share. In both seminars she shared photos of Lauren Hall-Behren’s Lilyvilla Gardens, a garden I was fortunate to visit on last summers ANLD tour. Knowing how fabulous that garden looks now I was I completely blown away seeing the before pictures.

Both Friday and Saturday Lucy was followed by Mr. Dan Hinkley. I was prepared to stand in line to hear the famous plant hunter speak but it turned out to not be necessary, I was able to walk right in and get a seat. You gotta love it! And what a great speaker! He started out Friday’s seminar about his personal Garden, Windcliff, by sharing a photo of the first garden feature he and his partner installed at their new garden…Yes, Mt Rainer (with the Puget Sound in the foreground), not bad if you can get it! (photo borrowed from http://www.ramblewithme.com/). Both of his talks were peppered with great quotes and fabulous pictures. Every other line seemed to start with “here is a (name of plant) that I collected in (name of exotic place),” can you imagine the stories he has to tell? One of the most exciting groups of plants that he shared were the hardy Scheffleras, wow, such great foliage! (photo from Wikipedia)

He also shared a photo of gold spray painted Gunnera leaves, saying that when the leaves get tattered in the late summer he spruces them up with a little paint. I kept expecting him to laugh but he didn’t (I think he may have been serious). And when talking about his preference for lacecap Hydrangeas over the mopheads, his reasoning was that he just can’t trust a 10 lb flower.

Always entertaining, Sean Hogan imparts amazing bits of knowledge as though he were talking about the weather. In his talk on ‘Bold Textures for the Small Gardens’ we were treated to marvelous pictures and a take home list of plant names, great when you aren’t really sure how to spell Caesalpinia yunnanensis but you want to remember it. He also shared a sure fire way to remember the difference between a Datura and a Brugmansia, The Datua are the “pointy uppy” ones and the Brugmansia are the “hangy downy ones,” who can argue with science like that?

Dan Heims from Terra Nova had several beautiful images of plants that thrive in the shade, or actually the various degrees of shade. He also threw out a tidbit regarding green flowers and says that they last longer than flowers of other colors due to the chlorophyll present in them. Interesting eh?

Burl Mostul, the owner of Rare Plant Research, took us along on a recent trip he and his wife made to South Africa. One of my favorite images from that seminar was one that he called “the Euphorbia forest,” it really was! He also talked about the hoops that he has to jump through to bring seeds back into the U.S., first he collects them in the wild, then he gives them to a local nursery (in this case one in South Africa) and they then turn around and sell them back to him, then they are legal!

The last seminar I attended was a talk by Ciscoe Morris. This guy is so energetic and excited about gardening that he could turn even the most skeptical anti plant person into an eager gardener. His talk was on tropical-ish plants and he had a great rip for mulching them to overwinter, use fern fronds. They are plentiful and naturally repel the rain, helping to keep what you are protecting dry and less likely to rot in our wet winters; they also allow a little air circulation.

In addition to everything I learn from the speakers I also find that sitting in these seminars acts as a sort of garden meditation. I not only fill my notebook with wisdom from the speakers but also fabulous ideas and sketches for my own garden that seem to just flow from my mind. Now the trick is to getting out there to implement them!

February Foliage Follow-up

I think the most exciting foliage in my garden right now is the new foliage. After a long grey winter who doesn’t love to see bright green (or red, or orange) new growth?

Back in December when we had record lows for a few nights I hauled my large planter with Horseradish growing in it into the garage, fearing it would freeze and crack if left outside. Then of course I forgot about it! Last week I caught sight of it and was excited to see new leaves peaking out of the gravel! Aren’t they wonderful? Like something you would expect to see underwater in a fish tank.The reverse of new foliage growth is of course dead foliage. I’m glad I didn’t get a chance to cut back my Umbrella Palm, or Cyperus involucratus last fall. The dead leaves have their own beauty.

I’m always a sucker for the foliage of the Sempervivums, their coloring is especially vibrant right now!

The Arum italicum foliage is at its best right now too. I really need to move this plant to an area where I can better appreciate it.

While I was out snapping shots for Bloomday and Foliage Follow up the sky turned dark and opened up. I ran for cover under our shade pavilion, snuggled up close to Mr. Big, my Agave americana variegata. The rain and light reflecting on the patio was beautiful.

Not so beautiful are these “stretch marks” on Mr. Big. I wonder if they are due to our extreme temperatures in December. Frozen moisture causing his tissue to expand? Am I crazy in thinking this might be the case?

On the north end of our patio is a wall of tall Privet, this time of the year there are no leaves…

However there is a small section of the shrub that has this variegation. It is also the only section that didn’t loose its leaves this year.

This is a new addition to the danger garden, purchased at last weekend’s garden show, Yucca rigida, don’t you just love the glowing yellow edges?

I continue to be infatuated with the new frond on my Tree Fern, the little leaves are getting bigger daily!

And finally I wanted to share a picture of one of my favorite foliage gardens, a neighbors. Amazing texture and color don’t you think? Someday I'll ask his permission and do an entire post on his wonderful garden.

Want to see more February Foliage? Trek on over to Digging...

Bloomday, February 15th

There are only a few blooms to share this Bloomday, my predilection for foliage leaves the February garden pretty bare of blossoms. You won't find any of the bright cheerful daffodils, crocus or snowdrops that welcome the season so well in others gardens, while I go without my neighbors more than make up the difference!

I am enjoying a couple of Hellebores. This one has been given up for dead several times and actually this is the first bloom I've seen in years. naturally I can't remember it's name. I continue to just love this Helleborus foetidus or Bear's Foot Hellebore. Green flowers have a special place in my heart (right next to black ones).

This Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red' is a new addition to the danger garden via last weekends garden show. I fell in love and since it's the closest I'll ever come to being able to grow a Protea (it's in the Proteaceae family) I had to have it.

The Bridal Veil Spiraea is slow to get started this spring.

The Pieris japonica is having a bouintiful year!

The shrub is a bit on the ugly side but I do like the blooms. And lastly the Euphorbia are all on the brink of exploding into bloom. Right now they are all putting on their shy act and bending down towards the ground, so charming! Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae

Euphorbia characias wulfenii

Euphorbia 'Despina'

As always for more posts on what's blooming around the world on February 15th visit May Dreams Gardens...