Back to Playing with Danger

To recap, one day, I drove south for a garden play date with my pal Loree.  On the way, I visited Tsugawa and Marbott's nurseries and finally made it to the Danger Garden.  We had a little time to venture out but  needed to be back for Lila's medication and mid day walk so didn't want to stray too far.  Because of  Chickadee Gardens' recent post, I knew that Xera, once again this year, had Arbutus menziesii, a native tree that I adore but for which I don't really have space.  When has that stopped me before?  You may be familiar with the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle.  You may not know that Magnolia's naming was actually a misnomer.  It was named by Captain George Davidson of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1856, who reportedly mistoook the plentiful madrona (Arbutus menziesii) trees for magnolias.  Anyway, we had to stop at Xera to see if they still had any.  Fortunately they did and I got one!  Hurrah, something more to plant.  Although a native, this thing is notoriously difficult to get started and likes to die just for the hell of it.

Xera's retail space is not huge but it is always packed with such fabulous plants that visiting is always a good idea.

Rosa ‘Radway Sunrise’ "Fantastic shrub rose that is worth seeking out. Single fragrant flowers (4" across) open light yellow with a hint of orange and change to deep carmine over several days. To 7' tall and as wide in full sun, rich soil with regular summer water. Remove spent flowers for fast rebloom. Prune in late February- remove old wood smaller than a pencil. Spectacular simple flowers. VERY good disease resistance. Good container rose. Great garden rose. This lovely thing should be everywhere. Especially where a festive pop of long lasting color is needed."  Tempting but I just got Rosa 'Mutabilis' in the ground.  The first picture is a bloom that recently opened.

This image shows what it looks like after it's been open for a day or so.  Dreamy, right?

Glaucium flavum with cool foliage.  Sorry Horned Poppy, you'd be crowded out in the Outlaw jungle.

Agave 'Cream Spike' is a handsome fellow!

From Xera's website: "Begonia maculata ‘Polka Dot’ Zn10b (35º to 40ºF) If there was a more perfect plant for a Martini lounge I’d like to see it. Arrow shaped leaves are red underneath on the green top there are perfectly round white dots. A cane-type that can grow up to 3’ in a single season. Small pink/white flowers are not the point. A strange aspect of this plant is that the polka-dots may be rubbed off with your finger. Unfortanately, they won’t reappear."

More Agaves.  Aren't they cute?

From time to time, we all wonder what it might be like to garden in a warmer climate, with more space, an unlimited budget, etc.  There are also times when I feel extremely grateful to have landed right were I am - this place where we can have a few agaves growing in the ground and also hostas, fuchsias, and tulips.

In the wishing I had more space category - Taxodium ascendens 'Debonair.'  Gorgeous!   Okay, so it's not going to get to fifty feet in what's left of my lifetime, right?  Most likely whoever lives here once we go will take everything out to make space for lawn anyway.  Almost talked myself into this one.

 Frangula californica 'Eve Case' also looked very appealing. 

Oh those masterfully-planted shady beds.

Tanacetum densum ssp. amani came home with me to fill in a bit of space opened up when I severely cut back my English Laurel hedge.  Who could resist those grey feathery leaves?

While paying for our plants, we admired the work of Kate Blairstone adorning the interior space.  

Not thinking ahead, I didn't ask permission to share images of Ms Blairstone's work here but do click on the link above and check it out. I want several of these as wallpaper in my house! Hope that's not a horribly ignorant blunder but these really appeal to me and I could be happy surrounded by walls covered in them. Oh those begonia leaves on the field of blue with orange blooms.  Dreamy!