In the gardens of friends, day 1 (2010 version)

Visiting fabulous nurseries like Jungle Fever Exotics and City Peoples Garden Store should be motive enough to make the trip north to Seattle. But I had an even better reason: a weekend with old friends. I first blogged about my friend Steve’s garden back in September of 2009, he was a new homeowner with lots of energy and great ideas, as well as a few challenges created by the previous homeowner and less than ideal views (you know, neighbors).

I absolutely love garden drawings where people are sketching out their ideas! So I’ll start with this drawing I spotted on the refrigerator, of his new fence and design for the front garden.
With the addition of a relatively short run of fence he’s managed to create what will become a private little oasis in his front yard. The perfect place to enjoy a glass of wine and unwind in the evening sunlight after a long day at work. Note the placement of table and chairs in the upper right hand corner of the drawing. That is this corner…
You don’t feel claustrophobic in this space because the fence doesn’t run all the way up to his house but stops about 5ft up the driveway (that’s my car in the driveway, above). Long enough to enclose and short enough to still feel open.

The other ingenious thing about his design is that it takes into account the fact you’re backing out of the drive onto a busy street, he left the sight lines open. This staggered area (below) will become the entrance (think gravel and cement slabs where the grass is now) connecting to the existing cement walkway. And the fence is open on the opposite end, there is no return on the section of fence on the right hand side of the picture, so as you are backing out you can see the oncoming traffic. Genius!

Another new fence in the back yard helps to hide the ongoing ‘projects’ next door.

This set of three stock tanks are waiting to be filled with bamboo, which will further screen the less than beautiful view.

Did you notice the cement ball in the above picture? Seems I wasn’t the only one taken with a recent Design Sponge ‘how to’ on creating cement orbs for the garden. If I remember right they used an old soccer ball and poured in the cement, then cut away the ball when the cement had hardened. When Steve ended up with extra cement after anchoring the fence posts he grabbed an old glass light-fixture shade and filled it. It must have been so much fun breaking the glass! (did you spot the errant wine cork?)

Other creative developments include a gravel and cement slab patio…

A thrift-shop-find umbrella stand painted orange (the planter above and a thrift shop table got the same treatment).

A few of the things I found growing in Steve’s garden include cucumbers.

A surprise volunteer of the very same euphorbia I fell in love with during our visit to The Grotto, Euphorbia lathyris, not planted but perhaps “deposited” by the birds?

And even though he’s no fan of daisies Steve has let these live on. They are the best looking daisies I’ve seen in a while! Thank you Steve for letting me chronicle your garden projects!

Mr. Ripples, maybe?

Last year I mentioned the fabulous birthday tradition my husband started when we moved to Portland, it involves a crazy (sometimes expensive) shopping trip to Cistus Nursery. Well as you are no doubt very aware I’ve kind of been on a plant shopping binge the last few weeks (months?). So we decided to break with tradition this year.

Now before you go thinking that means no birthday plants just calm down! There was still a birthday plant, an agave that had been on my mind for awhile, it just wasn’t at Cistus. I’ve been infatuated with this huge agave in the indoor display garden at Portland Nursery on Division since I saw it on my first visit back in March. There were a few pups growing around the mama and I really wanted to offer to help them out by digging them up. If I had brought my gloves I just might have.

Fast forward to another visit in June and they had a smaller one for sale. But it was rather shop worn; a little dead around the edges (that's it below, I didn’t get a good shot of the dead leaves, but trust me on that). And it was not cheap at $45 so I left it behind. But I couldn’t get it off my mind!

And that’s what the birthday tradition is all about…a big special plant purchase (like Sammy our Yucca Rostrata and Clifford the big lead Magnolia). So we talked about it and I went back. And I was again struck by how mangled it looked. So I swallowed my pride and I asked for a discount. Emphasizing how much I wanted to take this poor neglected agave home and care for it. And guess what! It worked. I got a 35% discount!And then I went home and put on a long sleeve shirt and 2 pairs of gloves and went to work removing the dead and mangled leaves, at least eight of them. And potted up my new birthday agave.

I had tentatively identified it as an Agave ‘Mr Ripples’ (there was no ID the one I bought or the one in the display garden, and none of the staff had a clue about it) but now I am not so sure. It looks a little too blue to be Mr Ripples.

Anyone care to make a guess? It’s very wavy. Maybe that’s what I’ll call it! Mr. Wavy, the rescued agave.

our table-top cactus garden

We’ve had this planter for a couple years now. The plant that was in it never really took off, and I think that’s why I never really cared much for the planter. What a difference the right plant (or plants) can make! Sedum cuttings from the garden and a few $2 succulents from the orange big box store...

A set of 3 little cacti from IKEA…and wow!

We’ve got ourselves a pretty sweet little table top cactus garden.

But evidently my husband felt something was missing.

Because now we’ve got creatures in our garden. Meet Australopithecus boisei…

And Diatryma...

A visit to City People’s Garden Store

After spending more time at Jungle Fever than planned to I figured I was doomed a lengthy battle with Seattle rush hour traffic. Instead the nursery gods were smiling and I zipped into town in record time. Too early to show up at my friend Steve’s house so I did what any self respecting gardener would do and stopped at another nursery, City People’s Garden Store. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post this is the nursery where it all started for me. So naturally when I visit Seattle I have to make a stop. It’s a pilgrimage back to my gardening roots.

Just inside the door this beautiful Colocasia stopped me in my tracks. At first glance I thought it was called Colocasia 'El Patio' but no, really it’s Colocasia esculenta 'Elepaio.' I like El Patio better and that’s what I’ll be calling it.

Even the stems are variegated! Of course I bought it. My husbands first words upon seeing it…”What’s wrong with it?” he thought it was sick. Ah well. Can’t make everyone happy right?

I love how the center of this Echeveria (correction - Aeonium...thanks Candy!) is so flat, while the outside leaves are not.

Echeveria subrigada 'Fire and Ice' is a new one for me. Looks a little agave-like doesn’t it?

I’ve seen the black terrazzo planters before but never the white version. In fact I have a few of the black. They look wonderful the first year, the second…not so much. I wonder how the white ones weather?

Dicksonia Antarctica...

Look at all those old leaf stems!

What a beautiful white Canna flower!

And next year I’ll be hunting for these brown and green Nicotiana.

I think I’ve finally kicked the Coleus habit. For several years I was smitten with their colorful leaves, but I haven’t bought a singe one this year. Same for Ipomoea (Sweet Potato vine) and Caladium. Isn’t interesting how we all go through our gardening phases?

I took this picture to remind myself to put this book on my library hold list. Maybe you would enjoy it too?

Outside…

Eryngium 'Tiny Jackpot' (indeed).

Beschorneria albiflora…

And the other plant that came home with me…. Carmichaelia odorata.

I’d never heard of it, and it was love at first sight.

Now that I’ve done a little internet research I’m not so sure I would have purchased it had I been able to see those white-lilac-purple pea-like flowers the tag mentions. Oh to someday have a smart phone and the ability to look these things up at the nursery!

More from Jungle Fever

Right next door to Jungle Fever is an amazing garden belonging to the nursery owners. That’s where I spotted the beautiful Agave parryi (var. huachucensis maybe?) that I shared at the top of yesterdays nursery post (unfortunately there were none for sale in the nursery). But there isn’t just one in the garden, there’s three, and they are gorgeous. And there was so much more gorgeous to see…like this blooming Beschorneria.

And a prostrate version of Acacia.

Can you believe this is a Zone 8 garden? (same zone as Portland) I asked the owner, Jerry, to be sure and he confirmed it, while also joking that the last couple of winters were more like Zone 6. But you would never know it.

Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'
I believe this brown and yellow specimen is a Veratrum Californicum. I’m glad to know my speicman which I bought last March isn’t the only one looking like this.

This is a Fig Tree right?

Walking back to my car I spotted these agaves which I thought look more like a scene from an alley in Southern California….

All in a days travels…to Tacoma, Washington!