Agaves, Blue Poppies, and other Garden Myths

Are you aware that in the Pacific Northwest part of the United States, we can grow a wider variety of plants than anywhere else on the planet save the tropical rainforests?  It's true!  In this area, we can grow the elusive himalayan blue poppy (meconopsis betonicifolia, grandis,lingholm) without much difficulty,  an extensive array of unusual evergreens, perennials, succulents, hardy bananas and palms, even tree ferns with protection.  Mediterranean plants and rainforest gems all thrive in our mild climate.  I remember gardeners in Alaska growing roses in large pots and sheltering them in cool basements or crawl spaces for the winter.  Here they grow like weeds.  We live in a climate that is basically paradise for gardening, not to hot, not too cold, and yet we still have changes in our seasons.  So what do gardeners in this area of plentiful winter rain want to grow?  A whole variety of tropical and semi tropical plants that must be brought inside for the winter plants that are borderline hardy,  and of course plants that crave an arid and hot climate, the anthesis of what we've got.  Why are gardeners so weird? 

Desert plants do have their charms and while I've  had an agave or two around for a while that simply spend their summers outside, this is the first year that I've tried a few outside.  I feel sort of cruel subjecting these plants to our climate.  We don't even get a lot of the heat that they crave in the summer!  After our recent couple of weeks of below freezing temperatures, I thought it would be a good idea to check on some of the iffy plants that were left outside.  I won't bore you with pictures of the agaves that were brought in as they're all doing fine.  Lost some aeoniums this year to some sort of mold though.

This agave pup was a gift from the Agave Queen and with the exception of that one spot, it seems fine and firm. 

Agave gentryi  'Jaws'  was left outside with no protection from the rain. It  has a couple of mushy leaves but the rest are firm. It is now under the cover of the porch and will get no more water for the rest of the winter.  If it doesn't survive, I'll replace it as it is such a cool plant.

The following few pictures are of agaves that were brought onto the open porch out of the rain in the fall.

Pups from transplanting larger specimens seem to be fine in the dry cold.

These are from the Free Agaves Saga  and are doing well  also on the back porch with no water

This one, like the other one of this variety that went to the Agave Rescue in Portland, wasn't happy about living any longer.

Outside with no protection from the rain - thinking it's a goner.

No protection from the rain - seems to be doing o.k. It came with the brown tips.

Opuntia  santa rita 'Tubac' is  worrying me with that brown pad in the middle.  the rest seems o.k. though.  We'll see what happens.

This fat little cutie from Cistus seems to be happy and healthy!

This Opuntia polycantha of which I was the lucky winner in a drawing  this summer is taking the rain in stride. 

Here comes a heart breaker.  Remember this gorgeous Agave weberi that is in a pot too big to move?  In the fall, it got a plastic cover to protect it from the rain.  After the freeze, I decided to remove the covering to see what was going on.

The soil is bone dry but I don't think the plant is supposed to look like this. 

While the plant may survive, I have my doubts about it recovering its former good looks.  Since this is a big focal point, it may need to be relocated. 

Maybe I'll seek out a hardier large agave to take it's place. 

On the bright side, both this Rhodocoma capensis and the smaller one that I got in a 4" pot last spring and potted up twice are looking green and healthy!

Another piece of happy news is that the freeze didn't even touch the leaves of Abutilon megapotamicum.  There are still buds and a couple of open flowers on all of my plants. (in pots elevated above the ground.)  If  the weather doesn't take a drastic turn and get really cold, this puppy will just keep increasing it's blooming through the spring and all summer long.  Hooray for a relatively mild winter. (So far, knock on wood!) 

Have you begun taking stock of what's still alive and what's not so much in your garden?  I know that it's way too early for many of you!