In the About Us area the folowing statement caught me by surprise: "After 9 years of business one thing has become apparent..." Yikes! It seems like only yesterday that a lovely young lady in one of my glass fusing classes was telling me about a nursery that her sons were starting. The boys could only have been in their early 20's then (if that.) Still at 9 years old, Garden Sphere is the newest nursery in the Tacoma area. Garden Sphere does not grow any of its own plants so they are not a nursery in the strictest sense of the word but rather a plant shop. (Hairs are being split.)
This place is a neighborhood nursery full of fun stuff. The new urban farmers flock here to get their veggie starts, organic fertilizers, and chickens (G.S. even has a tour of urban chicken coops.) I don't mean to sound like the curmudgeon that I am but having had a subscription to Organic Gardening Magazine in the 70's and being raised in smallville, I've always known that vegetables come from plants and not the grocery store and that animal poop makes good fertilizer. B.T.W. urban chicken ranchers, you can use the stuff that comes from the chickend instead of buying plastic bags of the stuff at Home Depot. Just sayin' is all. I guess it's neato that gardening is hip again and that growing our own tomato plant will save the planet. I digress.
Sorry, this is about a nice visit to a purveyor of plants. Cheerful annual hanging baskets adorn the steps on the way in.
The nursery is located in a building that already existed so much of their plant display area (small part pictured) is under a solid roof with flourescent lighting. They tried to remedy the too dark for plant life problem by putting in some skylights but it's still an odd area to shop for plants. It looks lighter here because my camera's flash helped. I sometimes carry plants to the outside area to get a better look.
Red, chartreuse, and blue a lovely combination of azaleas (the purple may be a rhododendron) and Choisya 'Sundance'
Whooo says that a small nursery can't have a lot of interesting plants?
Gunnera with cool rusty sunflowers.
Quite a glamorous snail n'est-ce pas?
Agave bracteosa. Aren't they cute and octopus looking?
Like every nursery worth it's salt, this one has a sweet feline (canines equally fabulous) greeter! I should mention that the staff at this nursery are equally wonderful, kind, and helpful but won't ruin your new curtains or pee on your rug. (I'm assuming here.)
Garden Sphere always looks good and has both common and more unusual plants.
It seems like they've increased the size of this outside area since last I visited which is wonderful as I love shopping for plants outside.
Pasque flower seed heads always make me smile!
Scilla peruviania seems to be everywhere this season. Such wonderful blue flowers!
Variegated sedum. Yum!
Byckia 'Burgundy Ice'
Symphytum x uplandicum 'Axminster Gold' like the one that I drove back from Oregon a few weeks ago because it's so beautiful and because Sue gave some great tips for growing it well.
There is an inside shop with houseplants
Including these sexy Sansevierias. With low light and light water requirements, these are house plants that even I can keep alive!
Garden related tchotchkes a go go.
The rusty hanging candle holders would be way cool in the right setting.
These cousin Itt votive candle holders are interesting.
The inside shop also has a great selection of organic fertilizers, chicks, and well-chosen garden tools.
After debating finally buying a pair of Felco secateurs, I opted for the less expensive ones. One of the founding brothers, very kind and patient, helped me come to the decision to be cheap. Since I wear sweats most of the time when I'm gardening, a belt is not part of the ensemble so where to put the Felco holster? My pruners usually end up getting lost, left in recycle bins, etc. so sharpening and servicing are really not a concern. I also picked up a lovely bronze phormium. Forgot to take a picture of those but you can imagine it, right?
O.K. already, here's sort of what it looked like! Happy now?
Happy gardening!
Another cool shop that I've never heard of! It kind of reminds me a bit of Ravenna Gardens, although the lighting in Ravenna is probably better. We really should visit there!
ReplyDeleteI agree. As soon as June 19 rolls around, I'll have weekdays free as well and we could maybe hit some Seattle nurseries.
DeleteLooks like a great nursery!
ReplyDeleteIt's always got some interesting plants & nice people.
DeleteLove the new phormium! Unique color for a phormium. Fun place, the neighborhood shops always surprise with their variety. The octopus agave is so cool, I wish they were a little more hardy.
ReplyDeleteHow many phormiums have you added now?
OOPS, as Mark and Gaz pointed out, I think it's Agave bracteosa as opposed to the other octopus Agave. I really just wanted a standard bronze phormium for the spot I was thinking about. These seem to be the most hardy and some even made it through the phormium killing winters here (have come back from the roots.) I've seen all the beautiful fancy ones all over the place but not the good old bronze one until Garden Sphere. I was really tired when I posted late last night and got a little silly with the phormium scribble.
DeleteYour phormium leaves appear to be a little wider than the norm, aren't you concerned this might make it a little less hardy?
ReplyDeleteThis plant is a new inter-generic hybrid like Fatshedera called Yuccarephromax, a cross between Yucca recurvifolia and phormium tenax. Taupe, grey, and graphite will be all the rage for garden colorists this season!
DeleteOh boy, do I feel you on the "gardening is hip again" thing. It's so funny to see people's faces fall when I tell them that I mostly garden with ornamentals. "Like flowers and stuff? Don't you know you could be growing your own food?!"
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a lovely nursery!
I should be much more gracious about the urban farmer movement because we're all in this joy of growing and discovery thing together, right?
DeleteIt is a lovely nursery!
Quirky and nice looking place Peter, could do with those recycled Coke bottles! The Agave vilmoriana looks more like Agave bracteosa btw, a nice and proving to be hardy agave :)
ReplyDeleteIndeed. You are correct about the Agave bracteosa! It was late last night when I put the post together, I was tired and thought Octopus Agave and threw in the first name that came to mind. Thanks for catching that; it's been changed. I've seen that A. bracteosa has been hardy for many folks here so I may put mine in the ground one of these days.
DeleteI'm a Comfrey addict, I hope I can find the variegated one at some point. I'm also notorious for losing gardening tools- weeding knives, pruners, wire cutters, trowels, etc. I try to do better by wearing a fanny pack that I can put a pruner in, but sometimes still put them down and they mysteriously disappear. Nice nursery photos! Drool.
ReplyDeleteRe: your addiction, Good for you! Admitting that you have a problem is the first step toward recovery! maybe you should seek help before you find yourself homeless and panhandling for handouts to finance your next Comfrey fix. The variegated one is available at Cistus, Garden Sphere and a few other places. A fanny pack is a good idea. I bought a cool tool caddy that fits around a 5 gallon plastic bucket. It's great because extra stuff (weeds, pots, etc.) can go in the bucket. Problem is that I never put my tools back in it.
DeleteHow's about sharing those Axminster Gold tips? With all of your nursery visits, I don't know how you ever get into the garden...but you obviously do. Is there some alchemy afoot whereby you add more hours to the days?
ReplyDeleteIf you click on the Sue link in the post, it'll take you to her post where she tells all!
DeleteI've so badly neglected the garden this year that it's not funny. I have a free Saturday every now and then when I make a little progress. I surely wish that there were more non-working daylight hours in the day and that I didn't require sleep. That takes up so much valuable time!
I wanted to introduce myself and hope that you will come over to Fishtail Cottage's garden party and share a gardening post some time? Love meeting knew gardeners! xoxo,tracie
ReplyDeleteHi Tracie,
DeleteYour home and garden look lovely. I look forward to reading more of you posts!
This garden shop looks nice and cozy. Just my kinda place. Helpful staff, great plant selections..what more could anyone ask for? Lovely plant rendition ;) Cheers, Jenni
ReplyDeleteI was too tired to go outside in the dark to take a picture. You can relate.
DeleteLooks like another great nursery. You really do get around don't you. My other half would be in fear of his wallet if I visited so many ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhy pay the mortgage when there are so many cool plants, right?
DeleteNice to see that there are young folk getting into the independent garden center and doing a fine job.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that they've made it in the recent economic climate. Their parents really helped set them up in this business so they don't have some of the worries of other independent nurseries but they've done a bang up job and their location is just right for what they're doing.
Deletehi OG, lovely nursery, unfortunately a bit too far for me to shop there. But I'm pleased (and relieved) for your sake that the staff don't ruin curtains or pee on rugs!!
ReplyDeleteGood to know that Garden Sphere is the newest nursery in the Tacoma area. And does not grow any of its own plants so they are not a nursery in the strictest sense of the word but rather a plant shop.
ReplyDelete