-

-
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.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Spring Has Arrived at Molbak's Nursery!

At the main entrance of Molbak's are these large rusty metal sculptures.  It's fun to see the displays in the foreground change with the seasons.  The rain was pouring so I didn't spend much time outside.
 
Spring comes early in these parts and this year, because of our mostly mild winter, a few things seem a bit ahead in blooming but in the nurseries, things always bloom a bit early!

Must go to the used materials shop near me and find more interesting doors!

The color of this primrose seduced my eye.  Rich saturated purple/violet blending to almost magenta with a cheery yellow eye.  Yum.  Three, since you wanted to know.

There were large tables displaying single colors of plants.  Rich jewel tones are more my cup of tea but pink is pretty too.

A purple heart - I like the Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria? Artemisia?) and Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') edging.

If I loaded this door into my car, do you suppose anyone would notice?   Valentine's Day is the next big push at the nursery.  The Edgeworthia blooms are a bit ahead of mine which are still buds.

My yellow specimen which had been happy for years did the sudden death thing that sometimes happens to members of the daphne clan.  It was replaced with the orange-flowered Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Akebono' which looks like it won't be blooming until later this month or maybe even March.

Camellia japonica 'Pearl Maxwell' is a sweet pale pink color.  


Forgot to remember the name of this Camellia japonica.  Garish colors like these are often looked down upon by designers and people with good taste because they don't go with anything else.  Not having a ton of flowering happening in my garden right now, I don't so much mind.  The jolt of bright color does wonders for gray-sky weary eyes.

 Sweet!  More hearts!  

Cheery combination table!  


Be watching your email if you've signed up with Molbak's because usually sometime in April they have their big two for one pot sale.  I love metallic gold pots.  One would think that they would stand out like a sore thumb in the garden but surprisingly, they blend beautifully.

 So many great frost proof pots!


So, I'm innocently walking through the indoor pot section and what should I see?

Yes ladies and gentlemen, those are macrame plant hangers!  Groovy man!


I'd no idea!  A search online  brings up a number of sources for them.  I refuse!  I did it the first time!  My bedroom in my parents' house had these hanging about along with stoneware pots that I'd made. (directly after the black light and fluorescent posters)    Oh, such memories. With a price of $50.00, it may be time to re-learn how to make these! 

Beautiful when in bloom but the rest of the year, meh. 

Such interesting blooms, though. I've killed a few in my time.  Some of you grow beautiful orchids and I have a very few that are still alive.  I mostly forget to water them and while they prefer that to having soggy roots, they also don't take the neglect that cacti and succulents do!

Very exciting were the colors of this sansevieria until I realized that it was artificial.  Like Loree, faced with imitation tilandsias, I thought, really, a sansevieria is sooo hard to take care of?  An artificial orchid garden, that makes sense!

These pots are too cool for school.  I found one in white to ride home with me. 
So many great house plants and a super new display of tillandsias all of which I forgot to photograph  as I was so wrapped up in experiencing it all. (Sorry.) 

This is a lovely sign to have in a nursery!  However, I wonder about that marriage  only making you happy for a weekend thing.  Perhaps the honeymoon period was much shorter in those days. So, a barbecued pig brings longer-lasting happiness than marriage?   Probably costs less, too. 

Happy new week!  Tomorrow is the preview of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and I'm very excited to see the gardens, vendors, seminars, and special gardening friends!  Do you have any special plans this week?  Visiting a garden show? Romantic Valentine's Day dinner?  Taking up macrame?

32 comments:

  1. I love those quintessentially Pacific Northwest displays of conifers, heaths/heathers, and other evergreens like that first photo. Wow, $50 for macrame? Maybe I should learn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you should learn to macrame; It would give a new meaning to the phrase "tie one on."

      Delete
  2. Peter, you are a sucker for primroses! I really want to see you post about your new DIY macrame plant hangers in the near future... don't let us down! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do love the cheerful colors of primroses in the middle of winter! I thought of you the other day when looking at my primroses that have been outside for a while now. Not a whole lot of slug damage but the flowers looked awful having been pelted with heavy rain. They looked very real! You'll be waiting for a long time, I'm afraid. Although, as I recall they worked very well and the natural jute cord went well with green plants.

      Delete
  3. Hi Peter, oh those frost proof pots are so tempting! It's really a good thing that I live far away from such tempting shopping destinations! I love the textures of the containers you highlighted. And..yeah..macrame is coming back..starting to see it all over Etsy. I'm hoping you'll bust out a design of your own :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Jennifer, you could always take a nice road trip up although, I've seen some lovely pots in Portland and there's no tax there! Macrame making a comeback. What's next?avacado, harvest gold, burnt orange, and brown shag carpet and appliances? Come to think of it, I still have a few polyester leisure suits in the attic. Hmm.

      Delete
  4. Looking forward to all the Garden Show pics and chatter, I will not be making faux macrame in crochet patterns this time around.

    Strong colors are preferable, I agree. Before I got into my White Garden phase, I thought pink and white looked too much like a wedding cake.

    The joy in orchids is that one day we notice a tiny stem that isn't like all those aerial roots, straighter and with a little mitten shape on the end. We wait and wait until blooms appear and then after about 3 months of the same blooms we start to wonder if they're ever going to dry up and shed. Fake orchids you could just bring out of storage in December and put them away in March with nobody any the wiser.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm looking forward to going up and seeing the preview tomorrow!

      White is a grand color and I especially like it with red. White Casa Blanca Lilies with red roses makes quite a statement in a vase! White and pink are perfectly fine but a little to frothy for me.

      I'm not giving up hope on my orchids and look forward to the day when I notice that special tiny stem you wrote about!

      Delete
  5. Hah! I had all the same things in my room when I was young. I saw some great containers at Molbak's last month, so I'm going to watch for their announcement of the sale.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All the groovy people had those things in their rooms, right?

      Delete
  6. Molbak's is always a good tour to get in the seasonal mood. Macrame is back, time to dig out my old one I saved years ago. It should go great with that stoneware pot I picked up recently at a garage sale. Although there's probably some truth to the advice that if you went through the trend the first time best to avoid it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They do a great job of making everything look very appealing! I'm always surprised by how many things I find there that I can't live without! Macrame may find its way into my greenhouse to add to the funky vibe in there but I'm pretty sure that it won't make into the people house.

      Delete
  7. I've seen a few macrame plant hangers around and wondered if it was the begging of a resurgence. Ugh, my mom had one in every-room, some with huge wooden beads and a few with owls somehow worked in. As I recall she made me a pink one for my room. I think I'll be avoiding this one. As for my week...can't wait! See you early Thursday morning!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember thinking that they were the bees knees at the time but then I also loved acetate shirts with big prints and wide collars and bell bottom pants, and those groovy, clunky platform shoes. Some things are better as memories.

      Delete
  8. I didn't know Daphne and Edgeworthia are related. I'll be glad to see a picture of yours when it eventually blooms. A few years ago I knew of a sumo wrestler named Akebono. I giant of a man. Will your Edgeworthia measure up?
    I don't know about that Chinese proverbs except I can vouch for the end to be true.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My Edgeworthia is just a baby yet so I doubt if it will live up to Akebono in size but the beauty of it's flowers may have an impact as long lasting as that of a sumo wrestler.

      The end of the proverb is true, isn't it!

      Delete
  9. We did marcame too, still have the hooks in the ceiling, which we now ignore. I always enjoy the color displays at Molbaks. It looks like a good winter get-away.
    We'll be doing the NWFG show on Wednesday, and I'm excited. I especially love the market, and all the tempting garden related stuff I don't really need. Gotta' come home with at least one treasure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you ever get the itch to do macrame again, I have quite a lot of vintage wooden beads that a friend gave me. Her mother owned a craft store from the 60's through the 80's and never threw anything away. Currently, they are in tubs at school where my kids thread them for fine motor practice and take home bracelets and necklaces to their moms.
      Wednesday I won't be at the show as I thought it might be nice to drop in at work this week and Wednesday is the 100th day of school! I'm excited to see the show and see and hear about it on other blogs as there's always more to think about!

      Delete
  10. It all sounds exciting with the show looming and all. I do remember those macrame plant hangers. I'll pass this time but won't be surprised if it does come back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe you could get a macrame plant hanger as a seat for your special stuffed animal!

      Delete
  11. Very wise proverb, Peter!
    The gardening is a passion that is for all life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gardening and gardening friends truly are a joy for a lifetime!

      Delete
  12. I would rather water than dust...and that's my last word on fake plants.
    Just came across a macramé handbag that I made when the fad was in full force. It actually looks good to me now after a couple of decades at the bottom of a box of fabric.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a great idea, dusting by watering. I can see it now, a great swath of silk blue poppies placed in your delusional drive each June. Just hose 'em down every so often and voila...magic. Your macrame handbag sounds cool and retro!

      Delete
  13. I actually like those macrame pot hangers, but mainly because I cannot stand the tacky white plastic hanging baskets anymore that everyone has everywhere. Edgeworthia chrysantha is one of those plants that I would absolutely love to grow if where I lived was just a tad milder...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not a fan of the white plastic hanging basket, either. I've been seeing some very nice ceramic hanging pots with chain hangers that are quite attractive. You could always move to the mild Pacific Northwest! How do you feel about rain?

      Delete
  14. Delightful post! I'm ready for spring but here we follow the groundhog's schedule.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We follow the groundhog's schedule here too but our Feb. 2 was cloudy and wet so he couldn't have seen his shadow. If there's anything to the old English song we're in for an early spring:
      If Candlemas be fair and bright,
      Come, Winter, have another flight;
      If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
      Go Winter, and come not again.

      Delete
  15. I like the effort garden centers up there put into displays. I wonder if someone walks around after hours filling in the holes created when pesky customers remove plants for purchase? I look forward to your NWFGS reports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They don't just walk around after hours! At some of the larger places, people are constantly watering, cutting off less than beautiful foliage and blooms and replacing/rearranging after shoppers mess things up.

      Delete
  16. I hereby reject the resurrection of macrame' . Can Angel Flights be far behind ?I'm having a disco flashback, god help me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amen sister, preach it! Don't Le Freak out though.

      Delete

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