Swinging by Swanson's

Another great part about visiting Chava Nessenbaum and Erron Swanson's garden is that it's a three minute drive from Swanson's Nursery.  An afternoon with the Swansons!  I'd not visited the nursery at this time of year before and wow, it was packed with great plants.  Well, it's June and all.  Come and share some of the fun I had there.

There are always great combinations planted up at Swanson's. One can buy the finished product or steal the ideas be inspired by the ideas, buy the elements and recreate them at home. 

Something for every light situation 

and any color preference.

This symphony of succulents in orange and blue was my favorite.

All sorts of veggie starts.

An entire area devoted to tomatoes.  

Hey look!  That's Begonia 'Gene Daniels' that I first fell in love with at Annie's Annuals but decided it would be too delicate to be squished into my luggage.  I found one at Hortlandia last year and it's grown huge and bloomed all winter.  It's a gorgeous plant and when the sun shines through those leaves, they resemble stained glass.  Go to Swanson's right now and buy one!

You don't suppose that growth regulators were used by the supplier do you?  We've all read so many descriptions of the beauty of short and squat delphiniums right?   On the other hand, these have the benefit of most likely not snapping in half in the car on the ride home.

 Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' lived for some last winter, not for me or many other gardeners I've chatted with.  It's a lovely thing but mine won't be replaced.

Especially when this lovely option exists!  The description is in the next image.

Gorgeous silver foliage!

Dianthus 'Green Ball' is ideal for green flower lovers. 

The path goes on and on.

Sunsprite is one of my favorite yellows.  Easy to grow, nice fragrance, bold color.  

Sempervivum on steroids!

There's always room for a few more of these!

Lots of gems in the rare and unusual section.

Polygonatum odoratum 'Akajiku'  from Harkaway Botanicals, a specialty grower in Canada.  I also saw their plants at Wells Medina Nursery recently.  Love that red stem!

Disporum sessile 'Island Moon'

What do you think of 'China Blue?'  The more saturated blooms of   regular betonicifolia, xsheldonii, and lingholm appeal more to me but maybe it would be different in person.

More to explore!

This would make a beautiful gift.  One could enjoy it this way for a year orso and then have the fun of pulling it apart

All expensive compost orchids were on sale.

This is great one plant/one pot (as God intended) but in matching pots on a green tray.  

That four letter word that every plant addict lives to hear:  SALE.  Unfortunately, nothing here that I couldn't live without.

Glorious double purple clematis

with a fancy tag,

fancy flowers,

and a fancy $50.00 price tag.  Sure is a pretty clematis!

Pseudopanax laetus

One of my favorite trees (aren't they all?)  Quercus dentata pinnatifida or Japanese Emperor Oak with leaves to die for.

 Schefflera taiwaniana 'Yuan Shan'

Acer palmatum 'Ukigumo' (Floating Clouds Japanese Maple)  

If I could only grow one Stachyurus, it would be 'Joy forever' because of it's exceptionally lovely gold variegated foliage.

Try and contain yourself! Pots on sale for 30% off.  I wish I could pull off a modern, clean look with cool pots like these.  

Alas, I live in a crowded jungle that  lacks the negative space to make pots like this sing.

These, on the other hand would work perfectly if only I needed or had space for another pot in my garden.

Red!  

Butterflies on pot.  

Unusual shape!

Is this what they mean when they talk about "going green?"  I have a serious crush on the turquoise shell patterned pots on the right.

Fun s-shaped hanging plant display.

Whoever put these together is a genius.  The color echoes are perfect!

 Another serious temptation, Chamaecyperus lawsonia 'Imbric'  has the form of a small Weeping Willow tree and it's evergreen.  Oh to have more space!

No visit to Swanson's is complete without a visit to the indoor pond! 

Off to the cafe to get a cool beverage for the ride home.  Thanks for joining me for a walk through this wonderful nursery!

Swanson's Nursery Dressed up for the Season!

The last stop on our Saturday tour of Seattle area Nurseries was Swanson's Nursery.  As we got out of the car, the sun was getting close to setting reminding us of how short the days have become.

As always, Swanson's is about plants and there were plenty of them on display showing how much winter interest our gardens can have in our relatively mild climate.  Californians and southerners either feel smug reading this or full of pity for people who live where it gets below 50 in the winter.

Lots to explore outside but it was kind of cold.

Mahonia nervosa  with it's beautiful burgundy winter color.

Love the little chair!

However, there was also space for a delightful array of holiday wonder!

On the icy/cooler side of things.

Lots of great indoor plants too.  This cattleya orchid  was  fragrant and tempting but I'm sure it would die under my care.  Better to admire them in other people's collections.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.  Could this be?  Or is it just a baby like the ones some of us were fortunate enough to see at Floramagoria this summer at the Portland Fling?

A glassy  take on the season.  I like that these could remain on display all winter long!

An interesting bark wreath.

Is this moss/dyed lichen wreath cool or what?  

All of these amaryllis made me think of my eldest sister who always has one of these around at Christmas and of Jean at Dotty Plants Greenhouse Journal who grows them beautifully in her greenhouse.

Dangerous plants!

 Leucadendrons are showing up everywhere.  How I wish they were hardy here!

Rustic twig wreaths are charming. 

There were several areas like this prefect for taking that perfect Christmas card picture.

 OMG!  I'd read about this plant but never seen one for sale.  

These were nice big specimens of "The Rolls Royce" of houseplants.  Really, the website said so. I was sorely tempted to get one of these but the price tag made me think again. It was interesting to see them in person after the pink bracts(?) had fallen off.

Proteas in the poinsettias.  You don't see that every day!

All that and reindeer too!

How do you top that?  With a camel of course.  Isn't that the living end?