A stop at Doug and Bruce's garden (it was the agave)

The first text from Doug came in on May 6th, he’d noticed his Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ was looking a little odd. Then the bloom spike started to grow, and grow. This photo is from June 27th. I kept meaning to stop by to see it for myself.

Sadly, that didn’t actually happen until the last week in July, and when I texted Doug about stopping by, he told me he and his husband Bruce were out of town, but I should feel free to look around anyway. So I did, and I couldn’t resist snapping photos.

I’ve been by this garden a few times, and wrote about it back in 2021 (here), but things have definitely grown in the 5 years since that post. The front garden…

Purple prickly pear in the hellstrip.

I couldn’t resist getting the Hesperaloe parviflora in the foreground of this shot. It’s growing in both the hellstrip and next to the driveway.

Standing in the driveway now.

That’s a people and dog-friendly agave…

That is the largest Senecio candicans I’ve ever seen. Notice the stepped down platforms (stages?) for the pots, what a nice touch (Bruce is a landscape designer).

The private side of the front garden…

At first glance I thought the plant on the table was a begonia. It most definitely is not. It looks like a Euphorbia milii (crown of thorns) to me.

Maybe a Euphorbia milii hybrid, ‘Sunset Splendor’?

The riser for the agave didn’t catch my eye at first glance…

But then I realized it was a piece of diamond plate metal, like something you’d use in a car repair shop. So cool!

On the opposite side of the driveway (still in the front garden)…

Aloe and a smaller Senecio candicans.

Starting down the walkway to the back garden and the reason I’m there becomes visible. Wowsa…

Great match up of container and plant.

Getting closer…

It’s a thing of beauty, even though of course it means the end of this agave (there might be bulbils, tiny agave babies that form on the bloom stem, or seeds).

Doug had warned me that the bloom was starting to wind down. There were dozens of these “ovaries” that had fallen to the ground and were caught in the plants leaves. 

I suppose these are the ones that were not successfully pollinated?

There was still a lot going on up there.

Looking around the rest of the back garden... (the containers were grouped to make watering easier for the house-sitter)...

Melianthus and Nandina? It’s a great color combination.

Tiny palm (Trachycarpus sp.)

And big big palm (also a Trachycarpus)

Yucca rostrata

And a final shot of the main attraction. Thanks for letting me poke around the garden you guys!

The Bit at the End

Did you notice the fabulous understated metal sculpture in the front garden (13th image)? To my eye it was perfectly placed and looked right at home in Doug and Bruce’s garden. That got me thinking about a story I read on Garden Rant a few weeks back; Right Piece. Right Place: Ornaments in the Garden. What a hot-button topic, I’m surprised there were only 28 comments.

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A Bittersweet day in the garden

Last Saturday was gorgeous! I was able to spend a good part of it puttering around the garden, doing nothing other than watering and trimming dead leaves and flowers, in other words just enjoying it.

Lila’s preoccupation with something in the corner of the back garden made me aware that the Dracunculus vulgaris (Dragon Lily) was blooming. Poor dog couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from…the flies in the vicinity had no problem though. Out in the front garden I discovered a Hesperaloe getting ready to bloom. This will be only the second time I’ve seen this particular plant with a flower; the first was when I bought it back in 2008. I’m a sucker for blooming Hesperaloes! Shortly after that last happy discovery I went in to the house to get a bit of lunch. That’s when I read the news that Dulcy Mahar had died earlier that morning. For those of you not familiar with Dulcy she’s been a regular columnist in the Home & Gardens section of the local newspaper for years, more years than I’ve lived in Portland, heck for more years than I’ve had a garden (she started in 1997). Dulcy’s writing style made you feel like you knew her, as though she was your gardening neighbor.

When we first moved to Portland I was without a garden (we rented a house for a year). Reading Dulcy’s column was the next best thing for me; I gardened vicariously through her, and along the way managed to learn quite a bit about gardening in my new city.

Dulcy had been battling ovarian cancer for several years, yet she still managed to write her column, every week. Perhaps, like gardening, it was one of the things that kept her fighting. I never made it to see her garden, she frequently opened it for tours, I wish I would have.

Back outside in the garden I noticed way deep down in the center of the Eucomis Oakhurst the very beginnings of what will become tall pineapple-ish flower spikes. They took last year off from blooming, I’m glad to have them back. I’ll be thinking of Dulcy when they bloom.

Could you resist?

You’re visiting a nursery (no specific needs in mind, just driving by and thought you’d stop) and you happen upon these: Could you resist? Just look at them! So sinuous, beautiful bright color, and they promise a good 6-8 weeks of stunning bloom, a hummingbird magnet the entire time. Why would you resist? Hesperaloe parviflora with bloom tall spikes, if you’re local and you want to grab a couple they’re at Dennis’ 7 Dees, Cedar Hills, only $14.99. (In case you’re wondering if I could resist, yes. But only because I had already bought the one shown below elsewhere)

Hesperaloe parviflora and Dasylirion wheeleri, my spiky rocks.

If you live in a climate like Portland’s, (zone 8, lots of winter moisture, summer drought, only a few weeks with real heat) and are looking to add a little spike to your garden you should consider Dasylirion wheeleri and Hesperaloe parviflora. These two plants are my under appreciated spiky rocks. I first planted Dasylirion wheeleri (Family: Ruscaceae) in 2007. I had four, but I did lose one in the winter of 2008. The other three have never missed a beat. They are even doing that fray on the end thing that they’re known for. I spend about 2 minutes a year caring for them. Maybe cutting off a dead leaf, or pulling a leaf from the neighbors tree trapped in the jagged spikes. That’s a pretty low maintenance plant! The same can be said for the Hesperaloes (Family: Agavaceae). I’ve got five of them and rarely do a thing to care for them, yet they just keep on looking good. Well, I guess I could have pulled the random tree leaf out of the middle of this one and cut off the broken leaf before I took this picture. Of course when they bloom they look extra good, but that’s the one downside of growing them here in Portland. It rarely gets hot enough for them to flower. **update - I've been told that a little extra water helps to get the lovely blooms! Water your Hesperaloes!** Rare but it does happen, and when it does it’s beautiful. The flowers last for weeks and they attract hummingbirds like mad. I also love their curly white filaments. I’ve grown both of these in containers as well as in my (fairly heavy) clay soil without issue. Oh and there is one other spiky standby in my garden that deserves a shout-out…Yuccca rostrata (family Agavaceae), it’s also a spiky dream that sails through our cold wet winter with ease. But I really wanted to highlight the other two, since it seems I’ve overlooked their two minutes of danger garden fame.

The Parking Lot Sale at Cistus (subtitled) OMG I bought a Rose!!

I got the email last week…."tough-love Cistus parking lot sale with all kinds of great plants in need of a good home and for really inexpensive prices; 1g plants @ $2, 2g plants @ $4, 5g plants $10, etc.”The sale started Saturday, Sept 25th at 10:00am.

Of course I wanted to be there at 10 am last Saturday, but I finally got there about 2 pm on Wednesday. Better late than never, right? I wonder what I would have found if I had been there on Saturday? As it was I’m pretty happy with my finds. Let’s see what $11 bought me…(yes only $11!!!!)….

Two Hesperaloe parviflora (weeping inflorescence) for $4 each. Granted they look a little “shop worn” but $4 each! That’s a bargain!

A Nothopanax delavayi for $2….and pretty weeds at no extra cost!

And a Eucomis autumnalis ‘Wahroaneta Giant’ for only $1. Here is what the tag said: “Gargantuan version of the South African pineapple lily, selected from our own collection here at Cistus. These stood out in our shady greenhouse with flower stems fully 6 ft tall and foliage in broad rosettes to over 4 ft tall. As with the species, the leaves are broad and soft with wavy edges; the long-lasting flowers are pale, greenish yellow with tuft-like bracts at the top, the pineapple look. These winter dormant bulbs are best in fertile soil that drains well with generous water during the growth period. Frost hardy in USDA zone 7, lower with mulch”.

Okay bargains located. Time to go explore…

Just like her mom. She wants to go explore where you aren’t allowed to go… Pyrrosia hastata or Felt Fern. Reminds me of the Phlebodium pseudoaureum or Blue Fern I purchased at the HPSO Sale.

I still need an Agave 'Kissho Kan'…

Now it’s time to talk about a dirty little secret. There is a, well, uhm. Well. Uhm a rose that I’ve been lusting after (I know….you never thought you would read those words! Nobody is more surprised than me). This was not part of the sale. I paid full price…

They glow bright red. Like licorice, or blood.

I bought a Wingthorn Rose (Rosa sericea omeiensis f. pteracantha). Yes you read that right. I bought a rose. And I am very very excited about it.

I already know exactly where I will plant it so that the afternoon sun lights the thorns just like when I put it in my car to bring home.

I bought a rose. Wow. Do you suppose hell is freezing over right this very minute?

But (regaining my senses) aren’t the stately Canna and Ginger bordering the parking lot beautiful?And the squash!

(oh and, I bought a rose!)