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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.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Joy Creek and Means, The Last Two Stops on the Post-Hortlandia Nursery Romp.

Joy Creek is a nursery which I frequently visit on the way home from Portland.  See previous posts here.

Joy Creek is a great retail nursery but they have even more extensive offerings in their mail order catalog here

Last summer, when the Garden Bloggers' Fling was in Portland, many of us fell in love with Clematis 'Oshikiri' in bloom in J.C's garden. See description and photo here.   The nursery had sold out but recommended checking their mail order list when it came out in January.  I remembered but forgot to order.  When we got to the nursery, I couldn't find one among the large selection of clematis.  Rats!  However, I asked the kind folks about it (I didn't remember the name)  and a nice young man went off somewhere and produced one.  This may be one that they bring in as the tag, including planting directions was in Japanese.  Anyway, I was so excited to have captured one of the last ones for this year (their site shows that there are now 0 available) that I forgot to take more pictures.  Oops!
 Oh well, it's always a Joy to visit Joy Creek!

Next stop, Means Nursery just down the hill and across highway 30.  Here the intrepid plant hunters Vickie and Alison check out the perennial offerings.

You may remember that Means is a large wholesale grower with fields in a couple places in Oregon and in Ohio where the corporate offices are located.  This is their only retail outlet and prices are often crazy low.  For more information, go here.

You never know when you'll find 8 foot tall magnolias on sale for ten dollars.  Their specials are sometimes out of this world.

They supply several big box stores on the east coast among other clients.  This deciduous azalea was as fragrant as it is beautiful.  Wish I had more sunny space in my garden!

Always great prices on their Acers!
 Labeled Ficus cardota 'Italian Black' (Maybe Ficus carica 'Black Italian'?) with that handsome foliage was tempting!

Again feeling a bit silly for starting tomatoes from seed this year.  The "Mighty Mato" was new to me.

I knew about grafted tomatoes but the two variety idea was really interesting. 
 So many possibilities. 

Meanwhile, in my greenhouse, the seedlings that I planted into four inch pots are ready to go into gallon pots, and the two that I bought in gallons were planted into five gallon pots and are now as tall as I and have green tomatoes that will be ready in a couple of weeks.  

Hey there experienced tomato growers, what is your opinion about pruning suckers from indeterminate tomato varieties? 

23 comments:

  1. Franken-plants! I spied "Ketchup & Fries" the other day at Molbak's.

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    1. I saw "Ketchup & Fries" a while ago at Watson's. Crazy!

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  2. I think you know that I only prune suckers to make more plants. If you want one tall main stem with tomatoes along that stem, prune. If you want lots of foliage and new growth that eventually has tomatoes too, don't prune.

    I am trying to make a wall of foliage on the south side of my greenhouse with tomatoes as bonus. Out in the middle is another 'speriment' with big plants growing in a shelf unit with some boards removed.

    It isn't science, it's entertainment, and you get tomatoes. Serious gardeners need not apply.

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    1. Love this! I started a few extra plants from some suckers I pruned earlier. Since there seems to be a glut of tomato plants this year, I'll play a bit, prune some and not others. Your comment "It isn't science, it's entertainment, and you get tomatoes made me laugh out loud!

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  3. Tomatoes! Oh gosh...I haven't bought mine yet. Must do that.

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    1. Yes! It wouldn't seem right if you didn't have a stock tank or two full of tomato plants!

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  4. I bookmarked Joy Creek: what an extensive Clematis collection, and such a timely post. If I'm to replace my dead clematis this year, I need to hurry up.
    Do you seriously already have tomatoes on your plants? Did you try any of the indigo varieties?

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    1. Cematis is one of their specialties and they do have a lot of them! There are tomatoes on the two plants I bought a couple of weeks ago in gallon pots that were in bloom. The ones that I started from seeds are being transplanted from four inch pots to gallons now. There is one indigo variety that I found at Windmill in a four inch pot. Just transplanted that one from a gallon to a five gallon & it has blooms on it now.

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  5. R is growing some tomatoes from seed this year. Why is it that when it is HIS plants lining the dining room window sill, I hear no complaints? Pride of parenthood takes over, I guess.
    I'm not the food crop person here, but he always prunes suckers.

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    1. Funny how our own stuff doesn't bother us near as much as someone else's. Good to know what R. does. I don't know if I'll bother with seeds next year as there are so many tomato plants on the market.

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    2. This is an experiment to see if they grow stronger...will let you know.

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  6. So now you have me browsing through the Joy Creek catalog again... I could probably use a couple more clematis, right?

    Starting from seed is still fun and rewarding, but it's good to know that if you forget (as I did with basil this year) that you can almost always find reasonably-priced plants.

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    1. There's always room for a few more clematis!

      Starting from seed has been fun but transplanting from flat, four inch, gallon, and five gallon is a bit tedious. On the other hand, I get large plants that would be fairly expensive to buy for the price of seeds and potting soil which I can re-use.

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  7. That clematis is certainly beautiful! For some reason, they aren't very popular in Australia so getting anything other than the basic varieties is always a challenge.
    I love the franken-tomato! Hopefully it yields well and doesn't split the graft

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    1. Interesting that clematis aren't popular there. You have so many beautiful natives that we're crazy about here! I didn't buy any of the franken-tomatoes as there are lots of tomato plants in the greenhouse due to my over zealous seed planting this spring.

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  8. Oh, for access to a nursery with wholesale prices and a retail outlet...

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    1. Oh Kris, when you move up, we can go to Means as often as you wish!

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  9. Looks like a fabulous place! Love the name of the grafted Tomato--very creative!

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    1. We're lucky to have so many fabulous nurseries in this region! Mighty-mato is a fun name for sure!

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  10. I almost regret not bringing it home but not having to dig another hole for a plant is nice too!

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  11. I'm going to have to check Joy Creek's catalog in January. They sell out of some things so quickly! My tomatoes (and a first ever tomatillo) went in the vegetable garden last weekend. I need to start checking Means for deals on trees and such for when the fence is done.

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    1. They told me at Joy Creek that mail order customers have access to a lot more variety than customers who drop by the nursery so checking out their list is a good idea! Very exciting to have so much space to fill with plants!

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  12. Ooh, getting some pangs of nostalgia for Joy Creek from your post. Glad you found your clem!

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