In Hog Heaven at Hortlandia!

I'd heard about the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon (HPSO) sale, now named "Hortlandia" for several years. Various growers speak highly of the sale and mention that it's the biggest sale on the west coast.  Come to find out, it's the largest sale of it's kind west of the Rockies or was that this side of the Mississippi?  North of the Mason-Dixon Line?  Anyway, suffice to say that It's big.  I've been to big plant sales before but this was really something.  Alison and I drove down, leaving Tacoma at 7:15 a.m.  arrived well before opening, and the line already extended around the room.

The line kept growing until eventually it morphed into a mass of people filling this rather large lobby.  When the doors were opened to the sale, the movement of the crowd as a unit was an interesting thing to be a part of.

No wagons are allowed so one must hold a box and ogle plants.  There were so very many fab plants that it was difficult to pull myself away to take pictures so there aren't many in this post.  This is an awesome plant sale in the true sense of the word.  It's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of and number of deservedly well-known vendors  at this happening!

This podophyllum (sorry, forgot the name) was tempting but I decided against giving it a ride home.

Everyone who can should grow an Embothrium coccineum.  Their bright flowers are a hummingbird magnet and they have attractive evergreen foliage.  I got one about this size a couple of years ago at the Seattle Flower and Garden Show and it's now at least 10 feet tall.  I'm hoping to see blooms next year!

It's impossible to show in a photograph how large this part of the expo center is and how many plant tables were present.  Go here to see a room map complete with vendor names.  The plant holding area alone is huge and filled up very quickly!

You never know who you'll run into!  Here's Jane,  the Mulchmaid. 

Linda, Whatsitgarden, fondles a candidate. Do you see the people in the background?

It's the dynamic duo of Heather, Just a Girl with a Hammer, and Scott, Rhone Street Gardens.  

Alison found Hannah, Weeding on the Wild Side, who we hadn't met before.  Garden people are always fun and it was lovely to meet another!

We also ran into Matthew, The Lents Farmer and Loree, Danger Garden who encouraged us to come to the sale.    Somehow they eluded the camera.  People come from all over the country to shop at this sale and it's only a little over two hours driving time from where we live.  Hello, I'm (Insert name here) and I'm a plant addict.

So, here's part of the plant holding area.  Alison and I have discussed volunteering at the sale next year so that we can shop before the sale opens to the public.  Although everyone was very nice, it would be great to take pictures without disturbing plant shoppers. Oh, who am I kidding, it would be incredible to shop early and be able to see the plants that sell out quickly and worry about taking pictures later!

 A few fun things from the art area:

Just what I need, another reason to visit thrift stores. I liked these very much and may make one or two for my garden when I have some extra time.

Cute or what?  This booth had many styles of these birds, which were reasonably priced and would be very sweet sitting on top of a fence. 

Beautiful metal trillium!

Almost got one of these sweet bats but decided  that since I haven't hung the bat I got from the Seattle Show in February that I should wait.  Hope they're here again next year!

 Here's Alison with her haul.  

 And here is mine.  (Can't believe that I bought a rhododendron! but the foliage of 'Super Flimmer' is pretty spectacular!

Also found this cool  seed pod vasey thing

And this sweet cat to replace the marker on the spot where our much beloved grey kitty (wet, this looks much darker)  was buried many years ago.  Since then, we've cremated our pets and now have  ashes in beautiful contaners all over the house.  Maybe we should consider scattering them?

So, the sale was an amazing experience and Loree was right, it took us a little over three hours to see it all and I could have stayed longer but we wanted to make a day of it and visit some nurseries (we hit 4.)  Stay tuned for more from Portland, a wonderful garden city and if you can, plan on attending the sale next year!