DIG! Meanwhile back on Vashon Island...

 

You may recall last week when Alison Bonny Lassie and I set out on a Vashon Island Adventure.  Today, we'll continue the fun with a visit one of my favorite nurseries, (aren't they all?) DIG Floral and Garden.  I posted nearly a year ago about this wonderful place here and pal Loree  posted about her recent visit here.  What more can be said about a nursery that is continually changing and always keeping plant geeks and trendy gardeners inspired?  Well, not much more than WOW.  Of course, I've a fairly limited vocabulary.  Suffice it to say that this is a magical place that has kept me coming back several times a year since they opened 15 years ago!  If you don't believe me,  Val Easton has written about the place several times,  here and  more recently here.

 

 

 

 

Sylvia "potmaster" Matlock shows that sometimes a single plant in a container speaks volumes.

Her ideas are worth stealing and truth be told, I've  bought planted containers  here because they are so beautifully done.

Less is more with a simple but elegant combination of burgundy and blue.

Spiky goodness!

This echiveria  planted left of center in this shallow tray is stunning. Like a huge Dahlia in a mid century painting crossed with an ikebana arrangement. 

This one particularly tugged at my heart.  The pot, plants, and placement - oh la la, as Cisco might say.

The container queen always surprises with her interesting choices!

 

 

Just hangin' out. 

 

This new piece is incredible.  It creates a feeling of enclosure without shadiness and provides a convenient  place to hang pots and those pesky European chandeliers cluttering up  the garage.  It would also look fabulous covered with any number of climbers.

 

Bacchus looks very peaceful.  Must be all the wine.

This guy also looks pretty peaceful.  Don't know what his excuse is.  I didn't realize that homelessness was an issue on the island but Sylvia and Ross, owners of Dig, are quite charitable letting him stay like this.

Echiverias never cease to thrill me!  They're like flowers growing on the surface of the ground.

More succulent goodness.

I am crazy about the new (2 years old) greenhouse!  This little slice of zone 9 would take up most of my garden.  (I'm eyeing our detached garage...do we really need it? )   The incredible stone table that runs down the center has me swooning.  Wouldn't this be an amazing place to display one's plant collection and to entertain?  Picture it -  dramatic lighting, gorgeous plants, this stone table that could seat 40 of your closest friends...

Did I mention that on Northwest Perennial Alliance Open Garden day, Dig offers a 25% discount to NPA members?  I recouped the price of membership in savings here.  One of these four packs of aloes came home with me.  Aren't they cute?

 

 

Seeing succulents is like visiting the dog pound, each one is so adorable that I want to take them all home. 

So many plants, so little garden!  Why can't I grow 10 of everything?

Glass flowers.

Not a glass peony.

Nectaroscordum tripedale doing it's downward flowering upward seeding coolness. 

 

 

Another part of the nursery. 

Merchandising or just great plant combinations?  Who cares?  Cool it down or

heat it up. 

 

Another look at the terrific new structure.

 

Going inside to pay for one's purchases is also a treat!  This is my kind of white sale! 

I like screaming color better though.  It adds so much vibrancy to our gray northwest winters!

Must go back for some of these cute little potted tillandsias.  Those pots are about an inch and a half tall. 

Maybe even smaller.  This idea is really fun and would be perfect for the conservatory in your doll house!

Placing floaters in tall glass containers allows us to appreciate the dramatic root structure. 

 

 

Here are the geniuses  (Genii - we're all about correct Latin nomenclature.) behind DIG:  Sylvia Matlock and Ross Johnson.  Thanks for  15 years of ideas, inspiration, and fun! (O.K. fun for us, I know it's a lot of work for you!)

 

Sylvia's joke was saying that she was charging five cents a picture.  Click, "Five Cents."  I'm unsure if that includes all pictures or just the ones that I kept.  Anyway, the 33 here will cost  $1.65 which I'll be sure to remit post haste in the form of one hundred sixty-five loose pennies. 

 

 Next, we're back on the garden tour.