danger garden

Monday, October 5, 2026

A quick trip to Seattle and its surrounds

After several trips in June and July I was home for the entire month of August, I was going a little stir crazy. So in addition to the trip to Yakima, I planned a quick September Seattle adventure to see friends. And plants. I suppose that's obvious though, right? Plants are always involved.

My friend Erin and I visited a pair of nurseries I'd never been to; NW Garden and Stone, and Sunnyside Nursery. Then because we still hadn't had our fill (Erin is a very good sport) we ventured on to Christianson's Nursery in Mt Vernon. I hadn't been to Christianson's since 2023. That's where I finally had to break out the camera (phone) and take a few photos... because there were ferns growing underneath the plant tables...

Everything was so lush and overgrown (in the very best way).

Get out!!!

You can have the cute bike, I'll take the staghorn.

This was puzzling. I thought those fronds looked like they belonged to a Dicksonia antarctica (tree fern).

But they were growing from a crack in the table.

That's some strange nursery magic right there.

Mossy perfection.

It wasn't all moss and ferns though. This is Yoko, a Trichocereus terscheckii. Read about Yoko's journey to Christianson's here.

The spines of these Agave parryi var. huachucensis were showing off in the sunshine.

So that was on Saturday. On Sunday I headed back to Portland, via the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (RSBG) where I stopped to wander the garden, shop, and drop off a few plants for my friend Emily, who also gave me an impromptu tour of the Hardy Fern Foundation's hoop-house. So many fabulous ferns!

Pyrrosia drakeana

Blechnum novae-zelandiae

I know this as Pyrrosia lingua 'Cristata' or 'Corymbifera', but I didn't see a tag to verify that's what the HFF is calling it.

Lepisorus pyriformis MD 15-09

Pyrrosia sheareri

Dryopteris erythrosora 'Radiance'

Woodwardia unigemmata

Dryopteris scottii

Another Dryopteris scottii shot.

Pyrrosia, maybe P. sp. SEH#12547.

Osmunda regalis 'Cristata'

Orders from the HFF Fall catalogue grouped and waiting to be picked up or shipped to their new homes.

Pleopeltis lepidopteris 'Morro dos Conventos'...sexy!

Close up

So you knew there was gonna be a haul, right? I meant to photograph my new plants before leaving the RSBG, but I forgot. So when I stopped later to get gas I took this photo...

Then I saw this picnic table and thought, why not!? So I unloaded the plants for a little photoshoot. I would have loved to hear what people were saying to themselves (look at that crazy lady!).

Rhododendron maoerense, grown from hand-pollinated seeds from the plants at the RSBG (so says the tag).

Here's a photo I took before leaving the RSBG nursery. I was looking for a plant with large leaves, but wanted something different from my current line-up of large leaved rhododendrons. Plus that color on the new growth was pretty fabulous.

Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilim, those stacked leaves send me!

From the fall RSBG catalogue offerings, a Pyrrosia lingua with "a slightly undulating form with fronds that grow larger once established." This is definitely different from my other Pyrrosia lingua.

And because I could not resist it when we came face to frond in the RSBG nursery, Pyrrosia lingua sp. SEH#15113...yes I already have one. Yes I needed another.

Since this was an offering in the fall RSBG catalogue I thought there was a chance there'd be one (or two) in the nursery. I was playing a little mind game with myself as I wandered around the garden, would I, or wouldn't I? There was no way I could refuse it when I saw it though. It's just SO GOOD.

This next one was an impulse purchase at NW Garden and Stone, labeled as Schefflera alpina (love those dark petioles!). Online I found mixed information about it's hardiness and so I asked in a PNW group on FB if anyone was successfully growing it outdoors. That's when I learned it may not actually be a Schefflera alpina. I've got messages out to a few friends there to see what they say.

This bromeliad was a pass along from my friend Matt (he's the one who has given me several tillandsia in the past). It came to him via mail order and wasn't what he was hoping it would be. I was happy to take it off his hands.

Finally, from Sunnyside, Platycerium superbum. A new Platycerium species for me to play with, yay!

The Bit at the End

Laura Fenton of Gardenista recently asked me to share a few of my favorite places to buy plants. Here's the resulting article; Get Thee to a Nursery! 14 of the Best Independent Nurseries, According to Garden Pros. I thought it was a good share for this post because the nursery at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden made the cut. I wish more folks new what a great place it is to buy plants!

— — —

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control.

Friday, October 2, 2026

Return to the Hillside Desert Botanic Gardens

The second stop on our recent trip to Yakima, WA, was the Hillside Desert Botanical Gardens, a private garden with a big name. I'd visited twice previously first in 2012 and then again in 2019.

The 2019 visit was a special one. I was there to interview the garden's creator, Ron McKitrick for my book, Fearless Gardening. Ron and I spent a couple hours sitting in the sun talking about how he got his start in gardening and why he was so drawn to desert plants. He was a force for good in the horticultural community of Yakima, spreading the word about how the area's arid climate (it's the "Palm Springs of Washington") was great for growing these hardy, low water plants. Sadly Ron passed away before the book was published, before I could share it with him.

I'd heard one of his sons was keeping the garden open for visitors, so I looked it up online, and was happy to see the website was still active. I reached out to see if Andrew and I could stop by for a visit while we were in town and received a quick email and then text from Brian McKitrick confirming.

Late September isn't the best time to visit a garden like this if you're looking for flowers, which was a concern of Ron's. To my eye these plants look fantastic no matter when you visit, no flowers needed.

This looks to be a baby Yucca brevifolia developing at the base of one of the tall ones.

A spiky clumping yucca.

We found Brian working in the larger greenhouse, putting together mixed planters he sells at a local farmers market.

The spikes! The fruit!

The two tall Y. brevifolia are definitely taller than on my last visit.

There's still plenty of cresting on Ron's crested Cylindropuntia.

A lot of the larger agaves I remember from the garden have bloomed (and thus died) in the past few years, but Brian has been planting others, specifically some different Agave utahensis.

I love this angle on the garden, with the greenhouse and the hillside beyond.

Delosperma sp.

Agave parryi?

The green lawn still gets me. Such a strange juxtaposition with the plants.

A few more spiky Agave utahensis...

And another very "fruitful" Opuntia.

I couldn't help myself, I had to snap all the angles...

And all the agaves.

Yucca elata I believe.

Where a Yucca elata was removed and babies keep popping up.

What beauty. It's leaf margins are so dark.

Hesperaloe parviflora in bloom.

Ron kept a small nursery onsite, so people could purchase plants to take home.

I was glad to see that was still there as well.

This expired Agave bloom spike was a new addition since the last time I was there.

It was secured to the back of one of the greenhouses.

If you're going to be in Yakima and would like to visit HDBG get ahold of Brian and set up a time. The website has a "contact us" feature, but Brian says giving him a call is better, the number on sign at the top of the post works (1-509-248-1742) or try him on his cell at 509-930-7419.

I brought home this interesting piece of metal (the possibilities!), and a small but spiky Opuntia... a big thanks to Brian for both the time he spent with us, and for keeping the garden open and looking great!

The drive to and from Yakima is a beautiful one. Lots of big sky and long views. I only took one photo from the road though, as we were headed home. It's looking across the Columbia River towards Lyle, Washington.

The Bit at the End

Kris, who blogs at Late to the Garden Party, recently noted some issues she's having with Blogger's blogroll feature. In addition to that issue I wanted to mention that I've been having new and frustrating difficulties uploading photos. Thankfully I have enough material saved that I'm usually working a week ahead of time publishing posts, so I've typically got something in the queue. But it all feels so perilous now. Like at any moment Blogger (Google) could make it all impossible. I guess this is me saying I currently have no plans to cease blogging, so if I go away...well, it's not on purpose!

— — —

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control.