More of that Wonderful Day in Portland

After leaving Cistus, Alison, Loree, and I continued up Highway 30 to visit Joy Creek Nursery.  Unfortunately, we arrived at about 4:45 and the nursery closes at 5:00  this did not deter us from quickly shopping our way through the nursery but I didn't stop to take pictures.  For previous visits to Joy Creek, look here.  

This beautiful old barn is one of the great parts of Joy Creek!

Then we stopped by Means Nursery.  Here's Loree proving her saying that if you look hard enough, there's always an agave!  Means is known for it's extremely low prices.

You never know what you'll find here but if you're starting a new garden and need a volume of plants, this is the place to find the basics that make up the backbone of our gardens.  There is always a nice Acer palmatum selection at rediculously low prices.

Remember when Petunia 'Pretty Much Picasso' was new, hard to find and expensive.  I thought the color combination was cool but wish that it had the fragrance of some petunias.

The color of this begonia is delicious!

As is the foliage of this one.  (Alison bought a couple of these.)

Every now and then, there'll be something a bit more unusual at Means like this Sciadopitys verticullata. 

There's also usually some sort of crazy cool bargain like these magnolia trees that are about eight feet tall for only five dollars.

 Or these soon to be very fragrant deciduous azelias for the same price.  One can see large growing fields behind the nursery so I knew that some of what Means sells is grown there but the clerk who collected my money told me that Means is a large wholesale grower with fields here, in another location in Oregon, in California and in Ohio.  They have clients such as Lowe's and the Home Depot on the east coast.  This is their only retail outlet and explains why the prices are so low.  Check out their website to find current special sale items.

How to round out such a great day?  Visit a mortuary, of course.  This used to be the Chapel of the Chimes funeral parlor but has been converted by the wizzards at McMenamins into the Chapel Pub.  Loree, Alison and I had a lovely dinner here.  What a treat to sit and catch up with dear friends!

After dinner, we went to Sean Hogan's house for his post Hortlandia party.  His home garden is as  fabulous as his nursery (Cistus.)  He is a delightful person and his garden is equally special!  I didn't take any pictures as the light was fading and I've heard that flashing at a party is in poor taste.  (I guess it depends on what kind of party it is.)  but if you'd like a peek, look here.

I had so much fun with Alison from 7:00 a.m. until we got home way over twelve hours later.  Here are the obligatory plant conquest shots. 

 The plant mobile still had lots of empty space!

Although from some angles, it looked a little full.  

I'm so looking forward to another summer of garden adventures!