On the way to the beach...

I thought about calling this post "15 Minutes in Eugene"—because the time that elapsed between my taking my first and last photos in this post was only 15 minutes. Eugene, Oregon, was a quick stop on the way to the beach, planned so Andrew had a chance to visit a favorite bookstore. So while he shopped I took a little jaunt over McMenamins High Street...

If you've read this blog for any length of time you know McMenamins brew pubs have interesting gardens, this one was very small, but had some nice plants. Contorted filbert and phormium make an interesting combination.

I have no idea what this is, but it made a nice ground cover.

I can't think of what this might be besides a daphniphyllum, but it's just different enough from my plants to give me pause.

There were several, all small, growing in barrels.

Another close up.

Also in the barrels, Eryngium venustum

It was mid afternoon, and chilly, still I was surprised there was nobody taking advantage of their outdoor seating.

I discovered even more in back, also empty with the exception of a lone table that I didn't photograph.

Walking back to check out a carving I saw while looking for the McMenamins, I passed this street-side sculpture.

And here's the carving...

There was a lot going on! 

Even a bench, although I think I would be a little nervous to sit there. I mean they notch trees kind of like that before they fall...

Finally, am I the only one who thinks the bear looks like it wants to play, whereas the fish knows things are NOT looking good for him?

Weather Diary, April 26: Hi 59, Low 46/ Precip .03 

All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Beachy

At the end of March we took a few days off and ventured to the beach, the Oregon coast that is. I've shared a few things from that adventure, but I have some beachy photos I thought worth posting before too much time elapsed. First up are these warnings posted behind our hotel. I took them as sign that I was right at home, you know danger is my name...

In front of the hotel were several large shrubs blooming with these intense purple flowers. 

I was pretty sure they were hebes, even though I've never seen ones with such large leaves growing in Portland. The larger the leaves, the less hardy they are.

A visit to the local nursery later confirmed my hebe diagnosis, and I think they're Hebe 'Autumn Glory'.

Quite striking!

Heceta Head Lighthouse, just a bit up the coast from where we were staying. We didn't venture any closer than this, the parking area was thick with unmasked people.

More skunk cabbage! Just because I can.

We pulled off the 101 so Andrew could try a little fishing and I went exploring. 

I adore lupine foliage.

He was down there somewhere, trying is luck and being whipped by the wind. I tried not to worry.

These mussel shells were up on a bluff, way above the surf, there were many others, several of them smashed to bits. I imagined that birds were bringing them up here to dine on the contents.

Another stop on another day. I had to get out of the car and photograph the glowing bark of this arctostaphylos (manzanita). In combination with the lichen it was quite showy.

Then what do you know but this little rufous hummingbird showed up and darted in and out of my camera frame. This was the best shot I managed to get.

The area we stayed—our hotel was in Heceta Beach, but Florence, OR, is the nearby city—is known for its mountains of sand. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is just down the coast a bit from Florence and the whole area seems to have an economy based on renting motorized buggies/ATV's for tearing around in the sand. We did not partake but instead just enjoyed the area on our own two feet...

Accidental half-selfie, and yes I am wearing a mask. We were walking out a thin jetty with not much room to pass other people (think city sidewalk size) and so we masked up...

When I was really aiming the phone camera at the fishing husband...

I sat on the rock jetty and enjoyed the sun and the view.

And then we walked some more.

There was no shortage of driftwood.

A final photo from our hotel balcony. We were blessed with a couple of sunny days sandwiched in between grey rainy ones. Can't ask for much better than that in March at the Oregon coast...

Weather Diary, April 25: Hi 62, Low 48/ Precip .03 

All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Acanthus syriacus, yes please!

Do you grow acanthus? My first was Acanthus mollis, the plant whose stylized leaves adorn many a cement urn as well as the tops of Corinthian columns. I love those big leaves, and the tall flower spikes. Here's a dark and moody Bloomday photo from my garden back in 2015.

My next acanthus crush was Acanthus sennii, a spiky acanthus—why not!

Unfortunately it's blooms never amounted to much in my garden, so I can't show you a photo of them (go here if you're curious). Interestingly they're red, not the characteristic purple of A. mollis and the subject of this post, A. syriacus. As you might imagine it really was all about the foliage for me though, so I never minded not getting the red flowers.

Acanthus syriacus, though... that's what we're here to talk about today and I adore it's flowers, and they're quite spiky! My first opportunity to purchase an Acanthus syriacus took place during the Portland Garden Blogger's Fling in 2014, during our visit to Joy Creek Nursery. I saw one for sale and snatched it up—I was on the lookout after seeing photos of it on both Panayoti Kelaidis' blog Prairiebreak and and Bob Nold's blog the miserable gardener. It took a couple of years but I got my first flower on that plant in June of 2017.

Turns out that was also my last flower as the plant became shaded out by the huge Ceanothus 'Dark Star' growing above. It reliably came up every year (what a trooper!), but never amounted to much. Here it is emerging this year...as you can see it's multiplied a bit.

Shortly after admiring that emerging foliage I happened to look at the Xera Plants availability and what do you know!? They had Acanthus syriacus listed so I managed to score two more plants! Orange arrows identify the old, and the new.

I am thrilled to add a couple more of this plant to my garden and hope that with the removal of the overbearing ceanothus both the old and the new will thrive...

Because while I do love that foliage, I'd love to see some of those flowers.

 What's your acanthus experience? (if any)

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Weather Diary, April 22: Hi 66, Low 45/ Precip 0 

All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.