What the garden looks like, at the beginning of March

Let's take a break from sightseeing in Paris and see what's going on here in Portland, I haven't shared an overall look at the state of the garden in months...

This crazy blueberry (probably Pink Icing™) hung on to it's leaves over winter. Sure we only got down to 23F but still...

The bulbs I got from John Scheepers are all coming up! These are the Rococo Tulip...

And I think these are the Little Princess species Tulips, unless they're Little Beauty, I may have forgotten what I put where.

Snow's all gone! Thank god.

Schefflera brevipedunculata has recovered with no broken leaves. Last year I thought this one was a goner when the snow and ice piled up and bent every leaf to the point of breaking.

The Passiflora 'Sunburst' volunteer still has a little green on it's stem! This is the orange flowering plant that's rated hardy to USDA Zone 10, but a little bit of root growing right next to the house has come back every year, even after last winter's 14F.

The hardy banana, Musa Basjoo, was pushing out new leaves before last week's cold snap. Not so happy now.

The blooming Hakea epiglottis has opened even more flowers. Such a cool plant.

This Lupinus albifrons pushed right on through last winter. It seems none too happy this year. I hope I don't lose it.

Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’ is starting to flower.

And Euphorbia stygiana has survived! (not so for Euphorbia atropurpurea which is a gooey mess)

Grevillea miqueliana, oh how I love thee!

Ditto for Magnolia laevifolia, and it's fuzzy brown buds.

The seeds of my Trachycarpus fortunei were still green until last week's cold snap, now they're blue. Weird, right?

Zone 9 winter!!! Grevillea 'Ivanhoe' lives on, although my second plant did get a bit of foliar burn.

The Anigozanthos flavidus from Xera (rumored to be one of the hardiest Kangaroo Paws) looks bad, but who knows, it might still be alive.

Aloe striatula looks good.

And Agave montana 'Baccarat' looks flawless.

I should have taken a photo of my Grevillea australis last week — when it was flattened under a few inches of heavy snow. This thing is almost as dramatic a flopper as the bamboo. Just when I think it's time to get rid of it then these lovely little buds start to appear. I pruned a lot of material off it last year to get it in shape, I can see it's going to happen again this year.

Speaking of the bamboo it's mostly righted itself again. Although the Sasa (big leaf, on the far left) is going to have to get trimmed, it's still leaning over too much patio real estate. Oh and speaking of the patio, that "winter patina" will go away once it warms up and dries out a bit.

The same for the "green wall," a few dry days and it won't be nearly so green.

This little Tetrapanax leaf never dropped last fall, it's now starting to grow.

The bark started to crack a few months ago on the Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Sentinel’ I cut down last summer but kept as sculpture. I have no idea how long it will take to completely fall off, or what it will look like when it's gone.

But it's a fun experiment...

These brave Podophyllum pleianthum started pushing out of the soil (they're in a stock tank) in January. I covered them up good before the cold snap and luckily they're fine. I think the leaves are a little smaller though. Is that possible, they shrunk a bit? Maybe they're just a little cold still.

How many palm trees do you count? There are four, only three of them are mine however. The fourth (the tallest) is the neighbor's tree.

Veratrum californicum, emerging.

Out front things are doing well, but a little sunshine would make this such a happier scene!. Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' (far left) lost a lot of flowers with the cold and snow, but there are still plenty left for the hummingbirds. A few of the Opuntia are deflated (their reaction to the cold), I hope they right themselves without breaking off. The tall sticks on the far right are Tetrapanax trunks.

My moon carrot (Seseli gummiferum or Seseli libanotis? suddenly I am confused) has died back to this. I hope it makes a surge forward with spring, I was looking forward to it's crazy blooms.

Erica arborea var. alpina, with a Brachyglottis greyi background.

A better gardener would have gotten those Arctostaphylos flowers out of the Agaves already. I am a slacker.

Just when I think I have the brown leaves from the neighbor's trees all cleaned up, then a few more blow in.

Aloe aristata report! This is the original, that made it through last winter, with protection.

This is the large leaf form. It got frost cloth and a overturned pot for last week's cold and snow, however it was completely exposed for the Christmas go-around. Looks pretty good, considering...

And this one is almost flawless!

It has a nice overhang of Grevillea rivularis to protect it though.

Oh the poor suffering Echium wildpretii, I think it's gonna pull through.

Hopefully this one will too.

Agave parryi 'Notorious RBG' (my made up name, purchased at the Ruth Bancroft Garden with no tag) is looking fine. Although there's one brown, mushy, leaf on the bottom.

Agave montanta, planted last spring, looks fab.

And the Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow' are on fire!

(sorry, this blog post is getting really long...) A volunteer Verbascum that's looking a little beat up. I should cut back those older leaves. This first appeared as a tiny seedling in 2015, hopefully it will bloom this summer.

Ugh. What a sad sight! The trio of Mangave 'Inkblot' are not looking their best after what winter has thrown at them. They're definitely still alive though, a little warm  (dare I say sunny?) weather would work some magic I'm sure.

Speaking of alive, I did the fingernail test and there's still some green under the bark on my Bougainvillea × buttiana 'Barbara Karst' — could it be? She's supposedly hardy to 20-25F, and we've been down to 23, but she is in a container, which reduces hardiness. It seems unlikely a Bougainvillea would live through a Portland winter, but then again, you never know!

Gotta give a shout-out to the Agave ovatifolia and Euphorbia rigida combo.

And look, more emerging bulb success! This Allium schubertii.

Pachystegia insignis looks like it will live to see another summer.

Echium russicum is starting to wake up, I need to pull off all that ugly old foliage!

This one is supposedly a biennial or short lived perennial. I've had my plants since 2011 or 12 and they're still going strong.

Wow, you made it to the end! Your reward is a lovely Salvia apiana, or maybe that's my reward. Either way, happy March!

Weather Diary, March 1: Hi 50, Low 38/ Precip .04"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Visiting Les Puces de Saint-Ouen (the Paris Flea Market)

When it came to prioritizing the sights to see of Paris I received wonderful tips from friends. I think it was Bruce Bailey who mentioned the flea market. Officially called Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, but known to everyone as Les Puces (The Fleas), it covers seven hectares and is the largest antique market in the world. My friend Julie and I set out on a very rainy Sunday afternoon (the same day she flew in) to see what it was all about...

Thankfully there was a large indoor area we were able to wander around in, when the rain was really coming down.

And I had to make peace with the facts we weren't going to see it all, and I would see many things I loved, but had no way to get home. Like this table...

I fell hard for these metal flowers and leaves.

The owner of the stall refused to sell them individually and they (plus the container, a package deal) were just a little too expensive to buy and risk not getting them home. Of course I love them still...

A fish spear I believe? Dangerous and pricey,

The covers look empty, the cart wanted to come home with me.

That fountain/birdbath, heavy, very heavy...

My perfect little blogging corner egg!

For those of you who need more space...

Danger of Death! (that's a different blog)

The floor on the second level was covered with wooden blocks. They shifted with every step.

As a kid did you ever play with that square plastic puzzle where you slid the blocks to get the numbers in order? Walking here felt like you were walking on a giant one of those puzzles.

Hmm... the Opuntia seems a little undersized for the planter, but it's a start.

Check out this odd fruit fused with leaf thing...

Ha! The fake grass from IKEA made me smile.

Eventually it was time to head back outdoors and discover more of what the market had to offer.

All I could think of when I looked at this building was "earthquake"...

Well and wish something more interesting (and evergreen) had been planted in the planters.

Now that's lush!

Did you notice the metal pillars that seem to create a market space from a parking lot? We went over to check out the goods and then spotted "doorways" in the hedging.

Naturally we headed back through the openings in the hedge, exploring and praying we weren't trespassing in private gardens...

We never did figure out exactly what this space was, other than beautiful.

Thankfully nobody let the dogs loose on us.

The lights! Absolutely loved the lights.

We could have explored for hours and hours longer but the merchants were closing up shop and we were wet and cold. It was time to head back to our home base...

So did I buy anything? Yep, these four matchboxes. The largest one still had matches in it, but because I planned to carry on my bag (a plan foiled by Air France who made me check the same bag I've carried on every flight I've ever been on!!!) I emptied them out and left them in the hotel trash.

Weather Diary, Feb 28: Hi 46, Low 41 Precip .36"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden The Danger Garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.