Visiting Dragonfly Farms and Celestial Dream Gardens

The next stops on the Geek, the Nut, and  the Outlaw tour of cool nurseries (after Valley Nursery and Windcliff) were Dragonfly  Farms and Celestial Dream Gardens.

Where's Waldo Evan?  Watch out Vickie, that gunnera is trying to get you too!

Dragonfly Farms always has a great assortment of plants and cool garden art.  Notice the Wollemia nobilis in the black square container!  ( From Wikipedia - Wollemia is a genus of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae.  Wollemia was only known through fossil records until the Australian species Wollemia nobilis was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorge 150 kilometres north-west of Sydney.
In both botanical and popular literature the tree has been almost universally dubbed the Wollemi Pine, although it is not a true pine (genus Pinus) nor a member of the pine family (Pinaceae), but rather is related to Agathis and Araucaria in the family Araucariaceae. The oldest fossil of the Wollemi tree has been dated to 200 million years ago.
The Wollemi pine is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, and is legally protected in Australia. A Recovery Plan has been drawn up, outlining strategies for the management of this fragile population; the overall objective is to ensure that this species remains viable in the long-term) 

It's always exciting to see this "living fossil" tree.  Just to the right of the tree is another rare sight, Heidi, the nursery owner, actually standing still.  Heidi is so full of energy and enthusiasm for plants and gardening that she's most often leading a lucky customer to see a cool plant or keeping the gardens and nursery looking great!

At the time of our visit, the annual poppies were spectacular.  Such lovely and carefree plants!

Mosaic hat anyone?

These would make beautiful hose guards at the edges of beds!

The dish desert was in bloom!

If I had the space, this would be an idea that I'd definitely copy, maybe with a big agave in the center.

'Drama Queen' living up to her name!

 

 

Notice how few flowers are in this shot and yet how much color is present - masterful!

And, as Loree says, if you just believe hard enough, there's always an agave.  The great thing about the metal ones is that they're hardy in any climate and take our wet winters in stride!

Ditto for their cacti friends!

It's a joy to walk through the gardens and see what new scenes Heidi has put together.  This poppy field with a rusty piece of farm equipment was especially delightful!

The branch shadows make this area even more lovely.

Sweet and shy Lilium canadense var. coccineum from Edelweiss Perennials

has a surprising  interior!

Eryngium 'Miss Willmott's Ghost' which we'd later see in many of the gardens at the Portland Garden Bloggers' Fling.

Jeff at Celestial Dream Gardens was kind enough to open for us.  I was so busy enjoying the many cool plants that I forgot to take pictures of them (bad blogger!) That didn't stop us from buying quite a few!  Here's Jeff behind one of our boxes of plants.

It never ceases to amaze me that there can be so many fabulous nurseries in our area, each of them carrying slightly different inventory so that they all must be visited! 

Celestial Dream's Facebook page says that they'll be at the Fronderosa Frolic on August 9 so I'll start nagging now.  Do plan to attend this cool event which "has become the horticultural equivalent of Woodstock."  It's a great sale which includes independent growers and yard artists (some who only sell here)  from Port Townsend to Eugene!  Not only is the sale itself great but the setting is gorgeous and you are encouraged to pack a picnic and eat either at tables in a forest glade or on the sandy river bank below.  There are interesting produce/plant stands, antique stores, and yard art places on the way in (or out) and we always get at least one case of fresh peaches to freeze for the winter on this trip.  I hope to see you there this year.  Also, you can hit Flower world and Molbak's on the way back to Interstate five. (And Wells Medina if you still have the energy!)  Portlanders, come on up for the day,  spend the night and explore Seattle (Bedrock Industries, Swanson's Nursery, City People's, The arboretum, Sky Nursery) the next day before heading home!

Garden Bloggers Nursery Romp part 2: Heronswood and Celsestial Dream Gardens

After leaving Valley Nursery,  our happy group proceeded to a plant sale at the former site of Heronswood Nursery.  Alison and I attended the spring sale there in May when we also toured the garden.

I chose not to tour the garden this time as it as last time I visited, it elicited a feeling of  sadness for what had been lost.  Although the volunteers are working diligently and the garden still has many gorgeous features and plants, the joy of discovery that I always felt when I visited in former times was gone.  Others in our group took lots of pictures of the gardens that look gorgeous!

A nice surprise was seeing Sylvia,  Ross, and their plants from Dig at the sale! 

Anna can't believe that Loree has another schefflera from Dan Hinkley in her hand.  Loree looks pretty sly, don't you think?

More happy shoppers looking at plants!  This sale had even more vendors than did the spring sale. 

So many  groovy plants, so little space left in my garden. 

Dancing Oaks, from whom I actually purchased an oak among other things, did a nifty trick and appeared both at this sale and at Portland's HPSO fall sale a state away.  They brought with them, as did a couple of other vendors, Billardiera longiflora, my favorite plant in the garden last week. 

Kelly and Sue brought some great plants from Far Reaches Farms.  I resisted buying anything from them at the sale because their nursery was to be a later stop in our day.

Sweet Dahlia

I put my camera away and enjoyed all of the great plants.  Other vendors included Windcliff, Friendly Natives, Longbranch, Robinwood, Colvos Creek, Chimacum Woods, Keeping it Green, Foxglove, Rhododendron Species Foundation, Dragonfly, and the next nursery on our tour, Celestial Dream Gardens.

Celestial Dream Gardens  has stunning plantingsfeaturing the plants that they sell and a few that they don't. 

This Puya came home with me.  Isn't it purty?

Celestial Dreams is not a huge nursery but every plant that they have is choice and highly garden worthy!

Fuchsia 'Delta's  Groom'  was a huge hit at the sale and Celestial Dream had more of them.

Debbie Teashon of Rainy Side Gardeners, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the San Francisco Garden Bloggers' Fling, lives on the Kitsap peninsula and joined our merry band at Heronswood to visit some of the sites on our itinerary.  Debbie  looks like she really bonded with Delta's Groom!

 It's a gorgeous fuchsia and I'll never look at mine now without thinking of her and this fun day!

Laura likes  the red chevron markings of this Persicaria!  I think they'll be very happy together!

Persicaria (or Tovara) virginiana 'Brush Strokes'   Here's what they looked like in May! 

Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea'   is still looking gorgeous.  Jeff said that he'll have some available for sale next spring. 

I was attracted to the dangerous looking foliage of Carlina acaulis ssp. simplex in cute little four inch pots.  Jeff directed us to the garden where some were blooming.  Yowsa!  So glad that I liked the foliage.  Isn't this a cool bloom? Both Loree and I got one of these! 

The glaucous leaves of eucalyptus really stand out against  darker evergreens.

 Aloe polyphylla AKA Spiral Aloe looking quite happy in the ground.

You don't see this everyday in the pacific northwest!

Or this.  Unless you live in Portland.

NOID interesting flower buds.

Nice combination of Carex and Eryngium.

Eucalyptus and Eucomis look great together and remind me of Jane's Garden! 

 Pay for those plants folks, It's time to head to the next nursery or maybe we'll take a surprise side trip.  Stay tuned to find out!

Celestial Dream Gardens, Stop Four on our Kitsap Frolic.

Neither Alison nor I had visited Celestial Dreams Gardens before but we met Celeste and saw some of the exceptional plants that she and her husband Jeff carry at the Rhododendron Species Garden Plant Sale in April.  How fortunate that this nursery is only one driveway down from Heronswood and fairly close to Dragonfly Farms Nursery!

The drive from the street to the nursery is a treat as the driveway wends through part of the beautiful garden created over the last few years by Jeff and Celeste.  Getting out of the car, I noticed this Magnolia macrophylla, a tree which I love and think is far too underused  and difficult to find in the trade.   Although last year, Valley Nursery and Flower World had quite a few of them.  P.S. Jeff says that this is Magnolia hypoleuca not M. macrophylla.  Thanks for the correction, Jeff!

Great plants and friendly people seem to be what this place is about.  The puyas below looked so cute!

Persicaria (or Tovara) virginiana 'Brush Strokes' love the markings on this one!

Luma apiculata 'Glanleam Gold' is a stunning plant that would have come home with me in an instant if it could grow in the shade.  Likes full sun.  Beautiful!

Deutzia crenata 'White Splashed' is a plant that caught my eye at the RSG sale.  I'm a sucker for variegated leaves.  You know, if there are going to be so many beautiful plants that we can grow here, I should really have a lot more garden space!

 

 

 Never met an Eryngium I didn't like and this E. venustum is no exception. 

Aloe grandidentata somehow ended up in my box along with several other plants.  Alison must have put it there as I keep promising myself not to buy any more plants that need to come in for the winter. 

Speaking of not having enough garden space, isn't the foliage of this Sequoia beautiful?

Peeking around the back of the nursery at a roped off area, I saw some groovy opuntias and other fun stuff.  Didja see that big Loquat?

In the main hoop house.  Do you see that yellow flowered plant on the far left?

Why, it's none other than the Azara serrata that greeted us at Heronswood.  It's a beautiful sight and says that it has a strong vanilla fragrance.  I could smell it if I put my nose to the flower but it's not a fragrance that freely wafts over an area.  The flowers are followed by white fruit.  Very tempting but it stayed at the nursery.

 

 

What follows is a few  shots of some of the  great plants in  the garden. 

 

Fremontodendron californicum is so showy, blooms for a long period in the summer and likes sharp drainage.  Great bush/small tree!

Grevillea somethingorother is so vibrant that it stopped us in our tracks!

 I wish that we'd had more time to enjoy this garden as there were treasures everywhere!  Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea'  had me swooning.  I've had this before and it's pretty much a large annual here.

However, due to a couple of mild winters and a  good location, this one is larger than any I'd seen before.  Those aren't blooms but new growth at the end of the branches.  The purple new growth contrasts so beautifully with the grey older leaves.  I've a feeling that if there were any of these for sale, we would have purchased them.

Dactylorhiza praetermissa.  O.K. I know I said that I don't have time to fuss with orchids but this is supposed to be fairly easy.  According to Arlen at Keeping it Green Nursery, "Dactylorhiza are among the most rewarding and care free orchids both for the orchid collector and the gardener.  They will multiply fast when kept moist and not too shady.  Once a plant has settled in it is one of the few that readily self sows seed."  AND this one is hardy to zone 2!

Cistus with white flowers but the shrub is truly stunning right now  with these pink/red buds!

Clianthus in bloom.

Because we really wanted to visit Far Reaches, we needed to leave so that we'd have time to arrive there far enough before closing to really enjoy the place.    I'm looking forward to going back to Celestial Dream Gardens  and will certainly plan more time there on my next visit.  Alison and I paid for our plants  and headed to Port Townsend.  We'd already visited 3 nurseries, Heronswood Garden and Sale and were heading out to our last stop of the day, a car full of great finds and ready to discover more.  If you are a plant addict, you know how wonderful this feeling is.  We nearly started singing.