The shopping has begun (not that it ever really stops)

New plants have been showing up here in earnest over the last couple of weeks, I guess I really should catch you up—especially since the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's Hortlandia event is coming up this weekend (=even more new plants).

Clematis ‘Pixie’ was a surprise find at The Gardener's Choice in Tigard (a Portland suburb). Andrew had an errand to run nearby so I zipped over to the nursery and found this!

I had no idea what a score it was, I just liked the green flowers and tiny foliage. I posted it on Instagram and lots of people wanted to know where I'd found it as they'd been looking for it for ages.

Here's what I brought home from my stop at Cistus (written about on Monday), as well as a stop at Means later the same day. For those with eagle-eyes there are also a couple of plants from friends on the far left, a Nicotiana 'Hot Chocolate' from Tamara and an Iris from Maurice.

I was feeling all sorts of nostalgic about my historic trips to Joy Creek, Means and Cistus (the Highway 30 Trifecta as dubbed by Peter). So even though Joy Creek is no longer, since I had enough time after leaving Cistus I drove on out to Means. My journey was rewarded with 7 pots of sempervivum and a pot of black mondo grass for less than $40, not bad!

Cistus had several Pyrrosia lingua 'Eboshi' on hand, and since I'm still recovering from how harsh this winter was on my pyrrosia collection, I said yes please!

Ditto for a Pyrrosia lingua 'Variegata'.

Especially since there looks to maybe be more than one growing tip? We shall see... 

I held strong against purchasing more aspidistra, well, until I caved and went back and grabbed a couple. Winter was rather harsh on my aspidistra as well and I really wanted to bump up their presence in the garden. This one is Aspidistra tonkinensis 'Spotty'.

And Aspidistra typica 'Old Glory'...

As I was checking out I had flashbacks to the bad winters of 2008/09 and 2009/10, when I foolishly replaced what winter had knocked down, only to see them hit again the following winter. Am I doing that again? Gosh I hope not. 

There was a bloom in the container of 'Old Glory'...

My final Cistus buy, Liriope muscari 'Silvery Sunproof'.

These next few plants are from Little Prince of Oregon Nursery (LPO), check out that combo! 

This is kind of like an unboxing video where the recipient is all gushing and excited about the gift plants they're unpacking, except I ordered these and went down to LPO and picked them up. Even better in my book cause they're all plants I want! 

Here Tricyrtis formosana 'Samurai' and Saxifraga stolonifera. Click on that link to see the crazy bloom on the toad lily (tricyrtis) which is a bonus on top of that already fabulous foliage. Also I've never seen Saxifraga stolonifera as big as these plants are!

There are several pots of Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' and Sedum spathulifolium ‘Carnea’.

Several jovibarba...

And there are also ferns! Clockwise from the top right: Pyrrosia lingua, Asplenium trichomanes, Athyrium niponicum ‘Silver Falls’ and Blechnum spicant.

Another blechnum, this one B. brasiliense, aka Brazilian tree fern. I love that colorful new foliage! This one's not hardy outdoors here in Portland, so I'll have to treat it as a patio plant, protected over the winter.

You might also be interested to know the fine folks at Little Price are carrying bromeliads now. They sent me home with a sampler pack to try out; included are Neoregelia ‘Cotton Candy’, Neoregelia ‘Red Waif’ and Neoregelia ‘Royal Burgundy’.

I also left with a houseplant, Philodendron mamei (Silver Cloud)...

I love a big unfurling leaf...

 

And the bumpy bits along the stem are pretty cool too, I tried to find a name for this phenomenon but failed. Thanks so much for the plants LPO!

After leaving LPO, since I was down south of town, I stopped in at Bauman's Farm and Garden, not realizing their Gardenpalooza celebration was set to kick-off the next day. They were offering dwarf cavendish bananas (Musa acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish') for just $5! I bought three. 

I had been thinking I needed to buy a few canna lilies to provide some tropical "je ne sais quoi" in the garden this year, but hey, when you stumble upon $5 bananas who needs cannas?

Speaking of tropical (looking), I spotted this Echium fastuosum ‘Star of Madeira’ at Thicket Nursery and grabbed it quick like. I haven't grown one of these in awhile and it will make a great filler for a spot that's open thanks to winter's destruction.

Just one more, Salvia africana-lutea...

I've wanted this plant for awhile, mainly because I've drooled over the interesting brown blooms on Kris' blog Late to the Garden Party. It's a Zone 9 plant, so not hardy here, but I chatted with the guy who checked me out at Portland Nursery where I bought it and he's successfully over wintered it in a container, so maybe that's what I'll do. 

Here are a a few blooms just getting started.

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have another good haul to share after Friday's Hortlandia adventure...

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Since I was on the island...

After visiting Maurice and George at their stunning Sauvie Island garden it was only natural that I drove right on over to Cistus Nursery. I mean I was on the island, it would have been criminal not to!

It's been a long standing private "test" I run in my head when I visit the nursery with a friend, will they follow the sign and go to the front (the one on top, which I swear used to be the only one), or will they cut through and enter the nursery in the middle. I love that the signs now support both options!

This darling small planter is new too.

Oh! Ditto for this moss and lichen filled strawberry pot.

I went ahead and started at the front of the nursery, all the better to appreciate the moss and mahonia there.

Somehow I neglected to take a single photo once I started plant shopping. It wasn't until I was back at the private "desert island" at Rancho Cistus (Sean Hogan and Preston Pew's home) that the camera came out again. If you're wondering if I bought any plants I did (of course), and there will be a haul post on Wednesday. For now, let's check out the garden!

I think this might be Mangave 'Whale Tale' (Agave ovatifolia and Manfreda maculosa).

And this one may be Mangave 'Falling Waters' (Agave ovatifolia, Agave gypsophila ssp. pablocarrilloi, and Manfreda maculosa). Then again I'm probably wrong on both, I'm just guessing.

I love this combo so much—although I'm not sure which barrel cactus this is, or which dry-land fern. I need to go through and have Sean ID all the plants and I'll write them down, rather than just thinking that I'll remember.

Agave ovatifolia there at the top of the mound.

Wide view...

Close-up, kinda. They look great.

I know I've asked Sean which agave this is, but I of course can't remember. It's beauty and I want it, that I know.

A pair of Agave 'Sharkskin', and a pair of maybe Yucca linearifolia.

One of the 'Sharkskin' has a bit of ugly.

Long view, with hoop houses in the background.

Another agave I feel I should know, but I don't.

Front courtyard garden.

And looking to the left.

A bit of agave ugly on the front A. ovatifolia, but the one at the back looks unscathed—not that I climbed in there to look closely.

Naturally I did a quick walk-about the crevice garden.

The passthrough with flat rocks is a great feature.

A shot looking the opposite way, with the house in the background for scale/placement.

I've walked around to the back of the house now and I usually go up those steps, however this time I decided to keep going around on the outside pathway.

It's a very different feel from this corner...

Walk a little but further and the feeling changes again. Daphniphyllum, mahonia, palm.

Deeply incised leaves on a choice Schefflera delavayi (I think).

Another nice mahonia and the ever present (it seems these days) hellebore blooms. I'm not knocking them! I just wish spring would warm up so some other blooms appear.

Speaking of, camellia! A stunning variegated version.

Agave, nolina, phormium...

The bottom leaves have a little damage...

But the top looks pretty excellent. 

Sean and Preston weren't around during my visit—they were off seeing the sights down under, perhaps you've been following their Australian Landscape Conference travels?—so I wasn't able to ask them what kind of protection they may have given the plants in their garden.

This mossy beauty came with the home, meaning it's not something Sean or Preston went out and acquired. I kinda love it.

Variegated daphniphyllum

Mahonia oiwakenses ssp lomariifolia v tenuifoliola. My plant is not looking nearly this good, winter damaged the leaves pretty badly.

Sinopanax formosanus with cordyline foliage.

What's better than a trunking cordyline? One with multiple growing points. Sadly all of my plants were knocked back to the ground this winter.

Pseudopanax crassifolius

Schefflera taiwaniana (?) and a surviving variegated phormium (winter wiped out many).

One last photo, wow! Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica' shown off to great advantage in front of a colorful leafing out shrub. Thank you Sean and Preston for letting me wander around your private paradise and share photos with my readers!

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