WWTT Number 7

One last picture before we leave Tacoma headed for Vancouver, BC. We stopped to get gas and that’s where I saw this poor doomed palm. I’ll I could think was WWTT!? Wrong plant, wrong place.

I think this sweet Yucca tree is headed in the same direction, so to speak.

W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory in Wright Park

The drive from Portland, OR to Vancouver, BC is a long one, we decided to take it easy and spend a night in Tacoma, WA on the way up. While researching book stores to visit my husband also searched for gardens and found the W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory. I was torn between a second visit to the fabulous Jungle Fever Exotics vs. the allure of the unknown. The unknown won, I figured a trip to Jungle Fever would result in plant lust…and since we wouldn’t be able to transport plants into and out of Canada why be tempted, right? So rational it scares me.

Since we were early (they don’t open until 10 am) we took advantage of the beautiful morning and wandered around Wright Park for a bit. Crisp fall air and leaves just beginning to change, it was lovely.

These huge banana’s were just outside the conservatory entrance.

As I was snapping the photo I realized I was being watched.

It’s time to enter the conservatory! But before we do a little background from their website: "Exotic tropical plants and floral displays await you at the W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory in Wright Park. This historic glass conservatory, with its distinctive twelve-sided central dome, is listed on the City of Tacoma, Washington State and National historic registers. 3,000 panes of glass make up the dome and wings of the Conservatory.” Here are some of those panes of glass behind a few very tall Papyrus.

I love the base of this palm on the left, is it a Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, or Bottle Palm?

More from the website…

“The Permanent Collection includes:
More than 250 individual plant species
More than 200 orchids
Between 300-500 blooming plants on display year round
Large collections of tender azaleas, Vireya rhododendrons, Clivias, Cymbidium, Agapanthus, Epiphyllum Cacti, and exhibition Chrysanthemums”

Ok it’s those Chrysanthemums that I just couldn’t handle. Look at them all!

And their sad little stems tied with bread ties. In fact just now looking at this picture I notice there was an agave on the right. That’s how blindingly bad they were….they blinded me to an agave! I didn’t even see it when I was there but I did read this later on their website: “This specimen is a "pup" taken from an older plant that resided at Seymour Conservatory until it flowered in 1988. Its flowering stalk was 30 feet high and necessitated the removal of glass panes.” I wish I could have seen that!

But back to my rant: why waste precious space in a climate controlled building on supermarket mums? So annoying. Then I decided to get of my botanical high-horse for a moment and read the sign.

“Humans have cultivated Chrysanthemums for at least 2500 years. Exhibition mums are a good example of how humans manipulate plants. They are created by removing all the flower buds on the plant except one which makes the plant’s resources work to produce one oversized flower. The Conservatory’s flowers are the result of hard work, meticulous attention, and constant grooming. The exhibition mums are grown at Metro Parks’ Pt. Defiance greenhouses. A crew of three employees and nine volunteers care for the plants year round in a multi-step cultivation process.”

Well, I appreciate the sign explaining why these are here…and I understand the decades old tradition of bedding out plants (which some may use to rationalize the ever changing seasonal floral displays in conservatory buildings) but that doesn’t mean I have to like it! Moving on….beautiful color on this fern (no sign with a name that I could find).

Here is its green counterpart.

Usually I’m not one to like sculpture in a garden, but theirs I loved. Like this one with its Sago hair, again taken from their webstite: “Hidden amongst the displays are six sculptures created by Clarence Deming…The sculptures are artistic reinterpretations of religious art found all over the world and represent the traditions and legends of African, Maori, and Aztec cultures. Not exact replicas, the sculptures sample from several traditions.”

A bad picture of a great bloom, and a huge Staghorn Fern hanging from the ceiling.

Another sculpture, this one in the Aztec and Maori tradition: “This wall relief is an excellent example of Deming's sampling from multiple cultures in one art work. The central figure with its menacing expression and tongue is characteristic of Maori carving. Skulls, like the one on the left, decorate the exterior walls of many Mexican pyramids.”

I have no idea what this one is but I love it.

I’m sure I’ve seen Rhapis humilis, or Lady Palms (from SE Asia, China), before but I’ve never noticed the way they grow in a clump looking a little like bamboo.

Here is Quetzalcóatl “A plumed snake, Quetzalcóatl symbolizes fertilization of the earth. The reptile represents the earth and the feathers the sun. Quetzalcóatl was a spiritual guide with many roles. He is known as the inventor of the calendar and writing, teacher of maize (corn) growing, and muse to artists and craftsmen.”

And Chamaedorea metallica, or Seagreen Fishtail, from Mexico.

I couldn’t get a good photo of the foliage but it really did live up to its “metallica” name with a not so slight metallic sheen.

The conservatory also had a nice selection of plants available for sale in their gift shop, as well as a very sweet and knowledgeable older lady available to answer questions. There were a few plants I was tempted by, and their prices were great, but I had to leave them behind….next stop Canada!

A sad tale of three Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'

I thought about using the Goldilocks principle (one too big, one too small and one “just right”) to describe my three red bananas, but that comparison doesn’t work. Why? Because they are all too small!

For me it’s become a annual tradition to buy a red banana, even though they’re doomed to be annuals in zone 8. I love the color and the big leaves; they are one of the tropical must haves on the patio.

The last few years I’d made the purchase at the Hardy Plant Society Spring Plant Sale (mark your calendars….April 9 & 10, 2011), but there were none available this year. I chalked it up to our cool wet spring and bought one a month or so later at the Rare Plant Research Open House. It only took a week or two for it to start fading, before long it looked so sad there was no way it could stay in a container with a staring role. It was moved into the ground, where it has stayed alive, that’s about all I can say for it. Here is how it looked yesterday, Oct 25.

29” tall (measured from the base), with 4 leaves (hand for scale)

Enter banana number two, this one from Portland Nursery. Ditto for the performance, now granted it was probably more the lack of sun than anything (for both of them) but this one too took a quick nose-dive and was removed to a supporting role elsewhere. Here it is now.

31” tall (measured from the base), with 6 leaves

Number three came from Garden Fever, and remains in the container, mostly due to my laziness at this point. Although it did perform a little better and in fact it has recently started to look respectful, but nothing like the spectacular specimens I’ve enjoyed in prior years, and seen in others gardens this year (not mentioning any names like Megan, Patricia, Kim, or Grace).

44” tall (measured from the base), with 7 leaves

I figure each successive plant has done a little better than the one before because the weather had warmed and the sun was actually shining a bit more when they were planted. But the overall performance of all three was so dismal that I’d love to hear banana secrets from those of you that have experienced success. I also think I may try and over winter specimen #2, it’s in a small enough container that I can take it inside when the weather cools a little more, my mother managed to do this last year, maybe I can too! Any hints from the experts out there?

Arborvitae Saguaro

This probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen a picture of an Arborvitae Saguaro and it probably won’t be the last. But it was the first time I’d seen one “in real life,” and it was pretty amusing. So just in case, I had to share. I think the shadows are my favorite part.

I apologize for the poor angle of the shots. This was a very busy highway (both traffic wise and visually) and it was nearly impossible to isolate my intended subjects.

Is case you’re curious this manicured collection was in front of a do-it-yourself carwash.

It’s looking a little spooky around here…

I am always surprised at the amount of Halloween décor I see around town, people really embrace this holiday, but I kinda don’t get it. Maybe it’s because we don’t have kids? Hell we don’t even get many trick-or-treaters at our house! (we don’t let that stop us from buying the Halloween candy though).

The last time I remember carving a punkin I found it smashed in the street a few days later, teenagers no doubt. In the years since I’ve occasionally bought a punkin and just put it on the front steps uncarved. I think partially as a not so secret sign to any potential trick or treaters that we indeed have the goods…just give us a try.This year I was inspired by something I saw online, I believe it was on Paradise Express (a great blog with tons of inspirational pictures). I actually went out and bought a punkin, hollowed it out and planted a Heuchera obsidian. Heuchera are not usually my thing but I liked how the leaves looked with the punkin shape and color.

Next year maybe I’ll carve a shallow face in a punkin and add some black mondo grass for hair, that could be fun.

I pulled the pathetic spindly Castor Bean into the mix too. After all nothing says Halloween scare quite like a potential poisoning right?

Oh and the blood grass is right on theme too! (maybe I can do this Halloween thing after all?)

The Cannas in the front garden are even in the Halloween spirit, with their orange flowers and dark foliage.

Inside I decided it was time to put out the velvet punkins, I love their rich colors.

I even pulled out the spiders to spook things up, the cactus spine spiders!

Years ago I had a cactus that sort of imploded into a pile of mushy goo, yet the spines were fine. Since they were what attracted me to the plant in the first place I pulled them off and saved them (is that weird?). I’ve always thought they looked a little like spiders.

So what about you? Are you one of those people who loves Halloween and goes all out? What’s the craziest Halloween display you’ve ever put together?