Ye'll take the High Road

And I'll take the Lowes road. 

 

 

True confession time.  I sometimes shop for plants at big box stores.  Shamelessly walking in to look at plants, not just checking them out because I need a piece of pipe, a new weed whacker, or some concrete.  I do believe in supporting nurseries and small hardware stores for that matter but it's also fun to see what's available for a cheap plant thrill.    Here is some of what Lowes had when I visited.

 

 

Pieris japonica still thrills with it's early blooms and, in some varieties, interestingly colored foliage.

 

 Winter fire dogwood

Lots of lovely pots of the daffodil and muscari combination. 

 The bargain of the day was these sweet double mauvey pink double primroses in 1.25 quart pots  inside of lovely pink plastic decorative containers.  $2.98.

 Ranunculus have such  interesting flowers.  There are so many tissue paperey petals!

I used to grow these in Alaska where they'd bloom for quite a while and each fall the little tubers were dug and stored inside for the winter. 

Here, they seem to show up as early spring pot stuffer/ annual material and I don't see them growing much in the ground in gardens in these parts. 

 These flats of mixed sedum are great for making succulent spheres.  Start with two half round hanging wire things (you know, the ones you put coco fiber liners in, shove the sedum (it's grown in a fiber mat.) into the pot, fill with soil.  Repeat and then flip one half circle onto the other. (landscape fabric & chicken wire over the top will help keep the soil in place. Wire the two half circles together and voila, a sedum sphere.  If you want to add sempervivum, or other succulents, just make a hole in the mat with a sharp implement and push them in through the outside.

Jasmine's  tropical perfume wafting over the place whispered "summer's almost here" to me.  I've been hearing a lot of voices in my head theese days.

Traveling inside to the house plant department, I saw these. 

 It's getting pretty dangerous in here!

 Cute combination.  Love the unlabeled  plant in the back!

 I was sorely tempted by this Agave lophantha 'quadricolor!'  This plant always reminds me of Loree because I bought one to give her before I met her for the first time but decided on a different plant instead.  Mine must have been too wet before I brought it in this fall because it died this winter.  While it's a striking plant, it doesn't do a lot of growing in our cool summers.

Another temptation!  Aloe dorotheae

 Graptosedum 'California Sunset' had me swooning over those gorgeous colors and cute chubby foliage.  I may have to go back and get one. 

 Sorry, couldn't help myself.

 

Here's what came home with me. 

 Home Depot is very close so I decided to see if I could find some of the mismarked Yucca gloriosa variegatas that I read about here.  They were there, cost 6.95, and the tag read Yucca gloriosa.  They left off the variegata part but at least they weren't  labeled Yucca filamentosa like the ones in Portland.  Why the difference I wonder?

I'm kind of nuts about this plant right now as I've a few that I planted about  eight years ago that have grown into stunning plants that look fabulous all year.  The variegation becomes much more pronounced with age and I want to add a few more.  Hooray!

Bark and Garden Part Two

The truly impressive assortment of  conifers and broad leaved evergreens alone is worth a visit to Bark and Garden Nursery but add to that the array of perennials and it's a must see nursery.  (This feels a little like one of those Ronco commercials, "But it also makes hundreds of julienne fries in minutes.") Anyway, they also have a great selection of indoor and semi hardy plants including some of my favorite echiverias.  There were so many beautiful Hellebores that they'll get their own post. 

Here's a glimpse of some of the indoor offerings:

Mine seldom look quite this good after spending the winter inside.

 These cacti are in 4 inch pots, are reasonably priced and each pot is labeled with the botanical and common name!

Can  someone explain to me the neon grafted cactus thing?  When I was a pre teen I thought they were really cool.  At the time I had black light posters in by bedroom and had painted the walls dark purple so my color taste was questionable to say the least.   Do cacti naturally occur in these colors?   How do they dye them?  are they grafted to keep them from reverting?  Do they live very long? I've never seen one that was any larger than these.  I want to know but not badly enough to bring one of them into my house.  The larger question is, why do they do this?

 

Doesent Notocactus scopa look soft and sweet?

Hirsute cacti always make me smile.  Does that fir protect them from the blazing sun or some sort of insect pest?

This barrel of fun almost came home with me but then I remembered that I have a couple of plastic ones in the attic that don't mind our soggy winters at all. 

When Hairy

 Met Wooley (Espostoa melanostele aka Peruvian Old Lady)

 The spikes of Devil's Tongue Cactus  look like some sort of sea creature.

 

This variegated opuntia was tempting but it looks like it wants to grow in a hanging planter.  Unfortunately I got rid of all of my macrame plant hangers and the ones made of tiny sea shells too. 

That's real live sun shining on this echiveria.  Spring is coming soon!

 I never tire of echiverias and aeoniums.  Just one zone higher and we could leave them in the ground all year.

 Fortunately most years they don't so much mind spending the winter inside.

 

These are about five feet tall and are the largest Aeonium arboreum I've seen but then I don't get out much.

 This beautiful blue fern likes sharp drainage and is marginally hardy here.  The one I bought last summer came inside this fall,  has gotten very little water, and is looking as fresh and happy as when I stuck it in the dark cramped winter digs.  You should buy one!

 

 Asplundia or Jungle Drum looks interesting but since I kill house plants it's probably kindest that it stayed at the nursery.  There was a nice variety of tropical leafy things in the houseplant section that all looked happy and healthy.

 

 

I've killed this before by leaving it out all year and it's width makes it  difficult to bring in for the winter.  It's on the sale table, though and spring is coming so it would only need a space for a few more weeks.  Maybe if it's still there when I go back.

 What collection would be complete without some really big succulents.  Some for inside

And even more for outside.

 

 It does look like a recent shipment from one or two growers but it's still exciting to see more of the hardier agaves offered. 

Did I mention that the sun was out?

It was so warm in this house that the vents were open and the fans were pulling hot air out.  I took off my coat and enjoyed a little artificial summer.  If there had only been a chaise lounge and a mojito nearby the fantasy could have been complete.

 I'm so excited to have finally visited this nursery and to add it to my list of regular places to haunt.  It will be interesting to see if they keep up this level of plant offerings all year.  Happy Monday all ja Hyvää maanantai, Satu!