danger garden

Monday, April 22, 2024

The Hume and Johnstone gardens

Today we're headed back to June in Vancouver BC and the 2023 Study Weekend garden tours. First up is Diana Hume's garden, if I'd been with friends (or not on a tight schedule) I might have found that swing impossible to resist...

From our tour booklet: "This older 1920’s/1950’s 2/3 of an acre character house and garden has a bit of everything; from trees, including the old apple orchard that was originally here, shrubs, vegetables, herbs… many of the plants have been started from seed. There is also a greenhouse which mainly houses citrus trees in winter, seedlings too when appropriate."

I love it when gardeners have work spaces open for us to explore.

There's the greenhouse. I intended to get closer and snap a photo or two but never did.

Those wheelbarrows look like they're about to be called into action.

This garden seemed like an old friend. Comfortable to walk thru, like I really could have just sat down and spent the afternoon.

Wide swaths of orchid foliage (Cypripedium formosanum I believe?) were a common sight in the Vancouver gardens we toured.

Imagine when those plants at the base of the stairs are producing ripe tomatoes and the geraniums, stairsteps, and tomatoes are all displaying pops of red...

Now we've jumped to Delphia Johnstone's garden: "Thirty years in the making, this garden is full of unusual plant treasures that will intrigue gardeners of all levels of expertise and areas of interest. It is a treasure trove of herbaceous perennials, where hostas, from mini to mammoth, play a key role. (there are over 350 different varieties of hosta in the garden)"...

Yes, there were A LOT of hosta, but many other fabulous plants as well.

Next to the front door.

And heading into the back garden...

What an impressive patch of Syneilesis aconitifolia (shredded umbrella plant)!

It's always nice to see Pyrrosia sheareri.

I really liked the way this gardener raised her hosta collection so some were near eye level. It makes them more interesting than just a sea on the ground plane.

Rodgersia blooms I believe.

This was the last garden I toured as part of the 3-day event. I mixed things up for posting though and there are still three more gardens to come...

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Friday, April 19, 2024

It shouldn't be, but it is...

Many gardeners here in the Pacific Northwest are still tallying the plant losses from the one week storm that wreaked havoc in an otherwise benign winter. Just this last week I've discovered my 10 year old Maytenus boaria 'Green Showers' is dead, ditto for three established Callistemon (Melaleuca) 'Woodlander's Hardy Red' and why isn't my Amsonia hubrichtii (hardy to Zone 5!) coming up?

So when a plant nobody considers hardy here makes it thru the storm with zero protection, and is putting on new growth, well, that's something to get excited about. The plant is Lomatia ferruginea, here's a photo showing the mild foliage damage it sustained.

And it's colorful new growth...

Near as I can tell I brought this little guy home from Cistus Nursery in September of 2017. I doubt I planted it until the following spring, since I don't plant borderline hardy things in the fall. Lomatia ferruginea is thought to be hardy to the mid 20's F, my garden saw an ultimate low of 12 F last January and was below freezing for over 150 consecutive hours.

If it's not regarded as hardy here why would I have planted it at all? Well because I was encouraged to try by my friends Mark and Gaz (of Alternative Eden fame) who had success with it in their garden. They were here in Portland visiting and were the ones who talked me into trying it.

Funny thing, I found myself crushing on this same plant when Andrew and I walked the Queen Elizabeth II Flower Market during our trip to Paris in January of 2018. I took a photo of the plant tag.

From Argentina and Chili it's a member of the Protea family and is related to Embothrium coccineum (the Chilean firetree) which is thriving in my garden just a couple of feet away.

It's planted at the base of my Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'. Just to the right is a Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash' that didn't make it through the winter and nearby are various aspidistra and pyrrosia that were toasted. This is not a protected spot!

I do have a second Lomatia ferruginea, this one much larger and growing in a container. It's a plant that's been around the neighborhood, starting life with Evan, then moving on to Patricia, and living with me for the past few years. The foliage is ferny, and quite attractive.

This one spends all but the coldest days out on the patio.

I have considered putting it in the ground, based on the success of it's little sister. Then again I would really like to see blooms someday—neither one of my plants have bloomed—so I will protect it until that happens.

My other lomatia, L. tinctoria was zapped pretty hard with the frigid temps and wind during January's storm. I cut back several branches that were dead, others are hanging on to grey leaves...

While other branches have leaves that are green.

Back in the the years of milder winters it was a reliable bloomer, but it's been a couple of years since I've seen those flowers—mainly because I've done a lot of spring pruning to remove damaged branches.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Opening day! (at Secret Garden Growers...)

Last Thursday was opening day at one of my favorite local nurseries, Secret Garden Growers, You know you've arrived when you see the witch crossing sign... (pardon the bad photo taken from inside my car)...

The day had been marked on my calendar for awhile, it was a good excuse to go for a drive (45 min to an hour from my house), see friends who work there (Ann and Evan) and of course a fine opportunity to ogle the plants...

Variegated Daphniphyllum

I want to clean out the pine needles and plant something in that cool slab. I forgot to ask if they had plans for it.

Lots of 'Spotty Dotty' (podophyllum)

Love the vibrant backdrop for the Schefflera delavayi.

That gunnera is wasting no time waking up and putting on some growth.

Aquilegia viridiflora Chocolate Soldier’

I bought one of these here last year that's up and blooming in my garden, but that didn't stop me from buying another on this visit.

Lathyrus vernus (spring vetch/perennial sweet pea), darn cute!

Everybody needs a rodgersia or two.

I thought I needed this euphorbia as well (Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire') but it doesn't need me. I've lost it more times than I can count.

OH MY GOD! More moss than foliage. I should have bought this! (I think it's a barberry?)

The SGG Yurt. I've never been inside.

Asarum caudatum will definitely cover some ground.

I quite like those flowers too. I recently posted a photo on Instagram of one of mine in flower and someone called it "ugliest flower in botany"... no!!!!

Rhododendron 'Tressa McMurry', how is it even possible that a rhododendron in a 4" pot is blooming?

Moving into the greenhouse now (technically not open to nursery visitors) and looking at these Aloiampelos striatula I'm reminded that mine COULD resprout from the woody base. Could. But will they?