On Saturday, Alison (Bonnie Lassie) and I drove out to Kitsap County for our last plant hunting spree of the summer. We hit Valley Nursery where we both bought some spring-flowering bulbs. I didn't place a bulb order this year so it was nice to find everything that I was going to order right there at the nursery. Next up was the last Heronswood sale of the season, lunch with our friend Debbie Teashon and plant shopping at Henry Hardware in Kingston where she is the manager of the garden department, and then off to Sundquist Nursery's fall open. Here are some of the plants that came home with me:
Vitis vinifera 'Purpurea' which doesn't often have ripe fruit in our climate. This one came from Dancing Oaks in Oregon which is quit a bit hotter than we are so maybe that's why it has grapes. The foliage color alone is worth growing this plant but the little clusters of grapes are pretty sweet too!
A few things for fall color.
Colchicum giganteum, one I don't have but see growing around town in older gardens. The folks at Dancing Oaks got theirs at a yard sale years ago. A lady had dug a wheelbarrow of them to sell, and they bought them all and have been propagating from those bulbs. I love a plant with a story!
More winter interest from Henry Hardware. I'm a fan of ornamental kale and cabbage and this oh so curly one was new to me. Look at the way it holds water droplets. Great for our moist winters!
A Lonicera (Honeysuckle) the mother plant of which I've admired at Far Reaches Farm. How could I resist it's fragrance and beauty? The plant on the right is Alstroemeria isabellana that we picked up for a pal who couldn't come to the sale with us.
Exciting new Cyclamn coum and hederifolium from Bouquet Banque to add to the collection.
I usually kill heaths and heathers but this one with three colors in one pot was so pretty that it'll get a spot in a pot for fall. We'll see what happens after that.
Heuchera 'Fire Alarm' is so red and glows in the sun. Maybe I'll make an effort to divide it when it gets to looking awful (the reason I don't love heucheras - who needs all that lifting and dividing?)
There were also some great ferns from Sundquist but those will have to wait for a future post. When the patio table and chairs are full of pots (the official plant ghetto/pot holding area is full,) I always wonder where on earth they'll be planted and when I'll get around to planting them all. This Saturday will be a busy one with continuing to get the greenhouse ready for the fall migration and planting, planting, planting!
That grape is so beautiful, I'm tempted to go out and buy one today... but I know that it will end up only feeding wildlife here. Wait, is that a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteI also like that you need to take the photos in the dark. I imagine you out there in the middle of the night snapping shots, neighbors wondering WTF is going on with all of the flashes. :)
That's a good thing! Go buy one right this minute!
DeleteThe neighbors have given up on trying to figure out what kind of crazy person I am.
Love them all!
ReplyDeleteHooray!
DeleteAww, Peter - I wish I would have known... I'm about to dig my V. purpurea up and give away to a good home. It is fabulous in so many ways, but way too big for my itty bitty garden. Down here in PDX I get grapes every year. They are tasty too, except the seeds are almost as big as the grape itself. Love the Colchicum story too! :)
ReplyDeleteThey are so sweet with the grapes on them that I couldn't resist. Maybe it'll grow in a big pot for a while...
DeleteThat is the strongest colour in a heuchera I've seen. It might win me back to them too. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's really a vibrant variety and quite striking when the sun shines through the leaves.
DeleteI overheard you trying to talk someone else into buying the Vitis instead of you, it was kind of funny. I hope it does well for you, maybe with climate change you'll get grapes in the future. Heaths and heathers always die on me too, along with most Rhodies. That was such a fun day!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun day. I only read on a website that they didn't ripen grapes here but it sounds like they do in Portland so why not here? Heaths and heathers are beautiful but they like water or at least more or at least more consistent water than most things get in my garden.
DeleteUmmmm, grape juice! Mama used to can grape juice in half gallon jars. I can remember Daddy taking jars of grape juice to Uncle Fed during his last illness, giving rise to my belief that there must be something medicinal in grape juice.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it was the fermenting process...:)
DeleteWow, you guys got rain! What a fun day you must have had. I was thinking of you, and your love for ornamental cabbage and kale, just yesterday. I'm changing my tune and will be talking about it next week over on dg...
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day indeed. Oh wait, you're changing your tune about ornamental cabbage and kale and I bought a heuchera? Hell must have frozen over.
DeleteI hear a lot of bad-mouthing of Heucheras but mine have been in place for ten+ years and still look good. 'Fire Alarm' is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteWow! What's your secret? I love the way they look but often in my garden after a few years, some varieties start looking a bit forlorn. Work well for me in pots though.
DeleteNothing special, guess they just like the dappled shade in a north-facing border.
DeleteLots of fun new plants, fun shopping trip, Peter! My grape vines will color up when it gets colder and look a lot like that for just a while. The Cyclamens have such delightful leaves, I will have to look for some. I'm also wanting to try some Alstroemerias after admiring their flowers for so long. It would be great to find all the winter bulbs for sale.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun! Boquet Banque sells their cyclamen online as well.
DeleteI love that grape vine and once had a dwarf version of it, great for here because it gets huge. The grapes were bitter but still a beautiful feature in fall.
ReplyDeleteHow cool! I could see that gorgeous color working well in your garden!
DeleteThe pictures of the grape vine are beautiful. Such a perfect capture of fall.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI don't know which makes me more envious - all your new plants or the evidence that you got a good dousing of rain.
ReplyDeleteWe've been getting rain and colder weather lately. The plants that like that sort of thing are responding well.
DeleteGreat plant choices, and what a fun trip! You really got around.
ReplyDeleteThanks! We had lots of fun.
DeleteNice additions! I've been looking at that same grape at work, thinking I need one. The big one at Cistus is loaded with fruit.
ReplyDeleteLovely Vitis vinifera, Peter!
ReplyDelete