-

-
Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Heronswood Part One: The Sale



Driving down the driveway to Heronswood brought a flood of fond memories of this once magical place, first going to various opens and later discovering that it was much more interesting to make an appointment and stroll the place almost by myself.  The confluence of place and time for the nursery and my green education was perfect.  My last visit to Heronswood happened a very brief time before they were closed.  Much has been written about what has happened to this magnificent garden and nursery by myself and others in a forum on Dave's Garden and by many others  all over the press.  The purchase of Heronswood from George Ball by the Port Gamble S'Klallam tribe has  saved the place.  Going back after all this time was a little strange but wonderful.

 
A couple of old friends were still there to greet us like this Davidia involucrata

And Ranunculus repens 'Pleniflorus'  which I had purchased here and probably pulled with the other buttercups taking over a bed.  The foliage is quite similar.

What's left of  the few hoop houses still standing.
 


While it's nice to have on site parking and not have to park in a neighboring community and walk in, I miss the many hoop houses that used to cover this space, each filled with treasure.

There were some vendors from the tribe selling fry bread, and other tasty food items.  Alison had never had fry bread before and she seemed to like it!

There were carvers and other craftspeople as well.  This charming woman is selling her jewelry and her father's beautiful drums.  Love the one with the hummingbirds!

There was excitement in the air for this first plant sale on these grounds in many years!  One of the vendors from the tribe remarked to another that he'd never seen anything like it, the people just kept coming, with traffic through the parking being constant.


Alison and I weren't quite sure what to expect as many of the same vendors were also at the Bloedel Reserve Sale the previous month.  WOW!  were we ever blown away!   The vendors really outdid themselves and brought many different things.  Alison remarked that everyone brought their "A game." 
 
 
 Polygonatum x hybridum 'Striatum'

I'm sorry that I didn't take more plant pictures.  It was difficult to balance my camera and my ever increasing number of plants and talk at the same time.  Suffice it to say  there was something at this sale for every garden interest from unusual shade gems to great hardy aloes and agaves, grevilleas, banksias, you name it, it was there!  O.K. I didn't see any petunias but you can't have everything, right?

Hardy orchids if you like that sort of thing.
 I find them beautiful and magical in other people's gardens and in the wild but I've never had tremendous success with them living longer than a few years at my place so why torture them?
 There was also some spiky goodness!
 
 Colletia hystrix is pretty dangerous!
 
 
 For those of you not in Alaska, parts of Canada, and the Pacific Northwest, look at what we can grow here!  Hey Satu, I bet that Meconopsis 'Lingholm' would grow beautifully for you, too!
 
 
 More plants!  I also ran into a very special internal medicine specialist vet who helped me and one of my furry kids many years ago.  She was spectacular and a gardener to boot! 

 Near what used to be the check out area used to stand tall Rosa sericea  pteracantha.  Many a customer would see the sun shining through those blood red thorns and decide run back and buy one.  It's been cut back to about a foot tall but new canes are emerging.
 
 
Just as we were leaving the sale Members of the tribe sang a song of welcome and a couple of other songs as well. 
 
To a plant addict, the hard-working people who supply our drug of choice are our rock stars!  Here are a few of the many present at the sale:
 
Dan Hinkley who, with his partner Robert Jones. built Heronswood and now sells plants as Windcliff, the name of their new garden. 

Kelly Dodson  (pictured) and Sue Milliken  operate a plant geeks paradise called Far Reaches Farm.

 Ian Barclay of The Desert Northwest always has incredible plants and is happy to tell you where to go!

Heidi Kaster of the absolutely fabulous  Dragonfly Farms Nursery, "where abnormality is the normality"  will point you in the opposite direction.  I wonder if she and Ian play this back and forth game with unwary gardeners when the sale slows down as a form of entertainment? (Just kidding!)

Nils Sundquist of Sudnquist Nursery  (I've never visited but have sure bought a lot of his great plants over the years!) seems to be enjoying the day!
 
Lane McLaughlin of Steamboat Island Nursery has been supplying yummy plants to some of my favorite retailers for years.  I also had the pleasure of visiting their nursery before they stopped selling on site.  This is the first sale at which  Lane's partner, Duane Heier  hasn't been working at her side. 

The quiet dude in the shades is Arlen Hill of Keeping it Green Nursery trying to dodge the paparazzi.
 Thank you and all the other rock star vendors who work diligently at your nurseries and go into overdrive to make events like this possible!  We truly  appreciate all you do, your advice, humor, and your plants! 
 
Hey wait, who is that rising star?  It's Riz Reyes who designed the multiple-award winning "Lost Gardener" garden at the Seattle Flower and Garden show, discussing plants with a friend.
 
Tomorrow, we'll walk through Heronswood, an aging diva undergoing reconstructive surgery.

26 comments:

  1. I wish I'd been able to make it...I've never been to Heronswood, only heard the stories (or are the legends at this point)!?! You forgot the most important part...what did you buy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The legend of Heronswood is true! At one time there was a very special garden where incredible, unusual, rare plants seemed to spring up at ones feet while walking through the cathedral of towering douglas firs. The magic was not only in visiting familiar and established wonders in the garden but also in finding the new surprises added each season - the garden and it's evolution. I'm truly grateful to have experienced the wonder of it all!

      Since you and Loree asked (pictues to follow in another post)

      Aloe greatheadii var davyana
      Aloe grandidentata
      Another cool Aloe that I'm too lazy to go check the tag on.
      2 Dactylorhiza praetermissa
      Sinopodophyllum hexandrum
      Syneilesis aconitifolia
      Grevillea rivularis

      Delete
  2. I don't think I've ever seen the dove tree in person, just in catalogs. So glad they saved the nursery!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are pulling the garden out of decline but the nursery is no more. Although, that might be an interesting business for the tribe to consider although it probably isn't a very lucrative proposition.

      Delete
  3. Great post about the sale! I had so much fun with you there, actually I had so much fun with you all day long. I didn't realize how much fry bread is like fried dough, which I have had many times at fairs. It was really yummy though, and I was starving. I always see things in your posts that I didn't catch, usually plants, and then I find myself wishing I'd bought one of those! I have a variegated Polygonatum with a barely there white edge. That one in your picture is fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sundquist nursery had that Polgonatum and I think they have another garden open at their place sometime this year. The fry bread that I've had here at gatherings is less like the fried bread at the fair and more bready. Different tribes have their own special way of preparing fry bread but I've never had any that I didn't like! I always have fun with you, too! When is our next adventure?

      Delete
    2. Sundquist does have a garden open on June 14 and 15. Maybe by then I will have caught up on my posting about this trip! Not to mention all the planting I still have to do. Also, I want to do a Woodinville area trip. Then there's Swanson's and Ravenna Gardens. But you need to leave some weekends open to work in your own garden. Yes, you do.

      Delete
    3. Well, once school is out, I'll have weekdays free...

      Delete
  4. Great post Peter! I almost feel like I was there, almost. And yes Scott is right...what did you buy!!!???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The day was marvelous! You day at Rare Plant Research looks pretty darned fabulous too! Love that yucca! Do they only do one open a year? See the answer to Scott's comment for a list of purchases.

      Delete
  5. Nice post Peter, great to put faces on the names I've heard of before too!

    Oops, looks like a couple spam comments have slipped through before mine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed seeing our rock stars! The spam has increased to the point that I feel like I'm playing whack-a-mole to try and control it so I've switched the word verification thing back on. Maybe that'll stop the spam.

      Delete
  6. Love those orchids, I only like to admire them as I have no interest in growing them. Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like to admire them too. If they actually get going in a garden, they take up lots of space and look sort of blah when not in bloom. My garden is too small for a nice drift of these!

      Delete
  7. This sounded great. And wow, that meconopsis! Thanks for bringing us with you. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll have to storm some nurseries as a group someday! This was a great sale!

      Delete
  8. I love fry bread, but geoduck chowder? What the heck is a geoduck?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A geoduck (Pronounced gooey duck) is a really large edible saltwater clam. Here's a link to some images and a favorite camp song of Northwest children http://youtu.be/3JjhZfJ4dto

      Delete
  9. How I would have loved to be there with you. I think I would have snapped up one of each of those Cyps not to mention a tray of the Meconopsis, just to say I was actually in Heronswood. Can hardly wait to see the follow up posting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Barry, If you could have only experienced the absolute wonder of the large shade garden as it was. You would have simply died of delight!

      Delete
  10. I think the very mention of the name "Heronswood" inspires an almost mystical awe. Of course everyone would bring their "A" game. Nice to see you feature the vendors.
    This looks like a gardeners' version of Woodstock.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The way Heronswood was, the fabulous plants growing in the floor of the douglas fir woods was awesome. To make an appointment and be there almost totally alone; pure magic!

      Pretty close to the Woodstock but the drug of choice was a bunch of different plants, not just the one. The Fronderosa Frolic in Gold bar in August has been called the Horticultural equivalent of Woodstock too. It's a great event with vendors from southern Oregon to Northern Washington showing up. Maybe a Portland contingent would like to come up for it this year.

      Delete
    2. A gardeners' road trip! who could resist? Please do keep us posted.

      Delete
  11. Peter, I think I've had Meconopsis 'Lingholm', but it survived only a couple of years. One winter was too cold for it and I didn't see it after that in our garden. It simply died..It has such a beautiful bloom and color.

    But, what did you buy? You didn't mention that...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry that m.'Lingholm' didn't last very long for you. They only last a few years for me too. Some years I replant, other times I enjoy them in other gardens. They do have a magical color!

      Here's what I bought:

      Aloe greatheadii var. davyana
      Aloe grandidentata
      Another cool Aloe that I'm too lazy to go check the tag on.
      2 Dactylorhiza praetermissa
      Sinopodophyllum hexandrum
      Syneilesis aconitifolia
      Grevillea rivularis

      Delete
  12. Wow, fun post! Thanks for sharing. I totally don't need to blog about it now and just send everyone to your fantastic blog!

    BTW, what the hell was going on with my hair?!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.