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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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