A Winter Visit to Alpine Nursery

Judi Hook called me a couple of months ago to tell me that she'd decided to start making garden art to sell.  I was thrilled as I'd greatly admired her pieces in her garden which you can see here.  A couple of weeks ago, she let me know that she had some pieces for sale at Alpine Nursery.  I was excited to see what she'd come up with and the next weekend, we paid a visit to Alpine to check it out.

Oh look, some tiny tillandsias for the trees.  Hmm.

Fun idea for rain chain display!

Trachodendron aralioides.

This echiveria could be a plant, a pet or both!

"Down Under" pots.  What do you think of these? 

Most of the huge table of epiphyllum had bloomed but some were still going at it.  It's hard to resist the beauty of these sweathearts in bloom!

As Loree says, if you seek it, there will always be an agave. (or several!)

Agave americana marginata

Always happy to see Agave parryi but this is the first time I've seen a Monrovia/ Proven Winners pot even though they teamed up in 2010. 

Agave 'Kissho Kan' While I love agaves in the ground in California, I think I'm starting to prefer the ones that I bring inside for the winter.  They require virtually no care, grow well, and look pristine compared to their pals roughing it outside.

Even more agaves!

A Brugmansia 'Miner's Claim' that looks this good at this time of the year is a sign of a gardener with great skill!

Because we visited in the middle of one of our freezes, much of the inventory that would usually be outside was under cover.  I was welcome to check it out but decided to see what was toughing it out in the cold instead.  Here's a 'Chief Joseph' lodgepole pine in a two gallon pot for only $109.00, the least expensive I've seen one of these of this size. Really, I went back and looked at the tag several times.  If you were thinking of getting one, now might be a good time.  I'd be happy to pick it up for you if you want it but can't get to the nursery!

 Alpine is known for their huge selection of evergreens and Japanese maples.  The maples weren't doing much but it was a treat to walk through the conifers.  This one, whose tag I forgot to read really looked red, not the rust color that appears in this picture.  I'm not fond of evergreens that turn "bronze" in the winter because to my eye, they turn brown and look dead.  This one was vibrant and wonderful!

 

Here's what we came to see.  When the sun hits these amber spheres, this piece seems to glow from within!

Here's one of Denny King's spheres, this one painted bright red.  What's not to love?

Judi believes that these are best displayed in a large pot with low growing ground cover, especially sedum/sempervivum.  I think they look great in the landscape as well!

 

Loving the allium color of this one.

 

Truly fun work and very low prices!  Portlanders, I'd be happy bring anything you may need to own to you at the Yard, Garden, and Patio Show!

 

Only 28 days until spring.  We're going to make it!

Time for some Winter Magic!

You may recall my posts about Judi Hook's garden full of her own unique artwork here.  Recently, we had the opportunity to once again visit her garden, enjoy her previous work and see some new pieces that knocked my socks off!

There is certainly no lack of color n this winter garden!

 

You may recall Judi's "Seed Pods" from my previous post.

She's taken the idea to new heights and designed cool stands for her pods as well!

The exciting news is that Judi has decided to produce work to sell!  If you are interested her work, please call her at (253) 847 - 2937 as she loves to discuss her process.

Alpine Nursery, website here my previous visit here, exclusively carries Judi's work.  Soon I'll post about my return visit to Alpine to see Judy's work and about the great plant surprises I found there!

Judi is now working with a welder Named Alan Wharton, whose more refined style works very well with Judy's designs!

this Bonsaiesque landscape is very special and is what Judi sees from her living room windows.

Revisiting some old friends.  Too bad there was a garden and an electric fence between us.  I'm sure I could have found a carrot in my car for this sweet looking horse!

This purple and red combination throughout the garden is very effective.

One of several balls fabricated by Denny King.  I also love the stand!

Judi calls this a bird but it looks a little angelic to me.  Either way, it's pretty groovy!

Horse shoes make a perfect stand for this sphere in Judi's garden which is surrounded by her horse pastures.

Don't be frightened by this dragon!

She may look fearsome but she's really very sweet!

See, she has a heart in her hands.  Let's  assume that she's not just ripped it out of someone else's chest, shall we?

This bird made me laugh out loud!

Loving everything in sight,  next came these new super mega seed pods.  I fell hard for these! 

Here is that fellow who follows Alison and me around to gardens sometimes shown here for scale.  These new "seed pods" are about three feet across!

A copy of this one will be coming to my jungle! 

It's unfortunate that the sun wasn't shining when we visited as these simply glow in sunlight.

Crazy flowers?  Undersea life?  something from outer space?

They're wonderful as is the evergreen border in which they're displayed.  Year round color!

But wait, there's more!

 Another gorgeous sphere. 

More color!

Judi, Alan, and Denny's work is fun and unusual.  I haven't seen anything quite like these anywhere else so get on over  to Alpine Nursery and take one home to your own garden!