Vassey's Big September Sale Starts Today!

Each year at this time everything at Vassey Nursery is thirty percent off and selected pottery and gift items are 50 percent off!  Here's a bit of what I saw on a Sunday afternoon visit. See previous post here for more info about the nursery.

Cannas, dahlias, and fancy leaved geraniums (pelargonium) make handsome bedfellows.

Rodgersia 'Bronze Peacock' 

How can it be ornamental kale/cabbage time again already?

My head's still in the hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer!

They were just starting to put things out in the 50% off area.  I lusted after these last year but now that they're half the price, I might grab a few unless you beat me to them.

Does anyone need a silverware flower to add to her collection Linda?

Love the church steeple candle lamps!

Plant stand anyone?    See all of those boxes in the background?  They're full of stuff for the sale that wasn't yet unpacked.

Solar powered glass path lights.

So much cool stuff.  Let's take a look at some more plants.

Campanula 'Pink Octopus'  brings back fond memories of when I first saw this plant at Heronswood many years ago. 

The nursery is packed with a great selection of conifers, deciduous and evergreen shrubs, and, well, everything!

Callicarpa bodinieri v. giraldii 'Profusion'  or as his friends call him, Profusion Beauty Berry just starting to color up.

I'm liking the way the cranberry drapes over pots.

Here are some more examples.

Shady characters wanting a good home. 

If your garden, like mine is a little light in the late summer bloom department, now is a great time to visit nurseries to see the many remedies for that problem.

On the other hand, with so much beautiful foliage, who needs flowers?

She's very tempting.  Since everything will be on sale, will that make her a cheap woman? 

I was very excited to see a lily blooming now but in reading the tag, it said that Lilium 'Red Velvet' blooms earlier in the year.  These must have been kept refrigerated to make them bloom later.   Still a stunning lily color, especially when backlit by the late summer sun.

Speaking of gorgeous color, the dark foliage and vibrant red bloom of Hibiscus 'Midnight Marvel' is pretty swell!

The Vassey sale starts on a Friday and goes through October 2. I usually  high tail it down there from work on the first day of the sale.  Will I see you there?  Also, don't forget to check out the Odd Plant Show and Sale put on by the Cascade Cactus and Succulent Society at Sky Nursery in Seattle on Saturday and Sunday!

Far Reaches Farm Part Two

Join me as we continue our stroll through the horticultural wonderland of Far Reaches Farm.

Berberis jamesiana dripping with fruit which turns bright salmon later in the season.  It looked pretty spectacular already and fortunately there were a few on the tables for sale.

I'm guessing that this is  Clematis tibetana subsp. vernayi - Black Form.  "This Steve Hootman collection from China is one of the most asked-for plant in our gardens.  A tremendous number of small nodding closed lantern-like flowers adorn the plant most of the summer.  Why would you want a clematis with small flowers that scarcely open? Because they are BLACK! The long flowering period allows the flowers to mingle with the silken shimmering seed heads which is a show sublime.  A superb introduction.  One of our favorite minor features of interest with this plant is watching the bumblebees forcing their way inside the flowers."

The sunny bog.

Always nice to see our native Xerophyllum tenax.

Hey look, they're adding a new pond and waterfall near the house.

An Eryngium bloom.  Looks like 'Big Blue' to me. but may be another variety. 

Crocosmia looking especially happy.

Peony seed pod. 

Kelly knew that I wouldn't remember Lapageria rosea (even though Evan has posted about his several times) so he kept repeating, "The national flower of Chile."  Bless his heart.  I swear that next time I get to go into the greenhouse with Kelly that notebook and pen will be in my pocket! 

You know it's a great plant if you can't decide if you like the flowers or foliage better. Tremacron aurantiaca

"Is that sizemoreae?"  the begonia lover whose specimen croaked squealed.  Yes indeed it was, the very one that Dan Hinkley found and there were some rooted cuttings.  I hate to be that person who begs to buy plants but sometimes one's lust gets the best of one.   Look at the great texture of those leaves!  The picture doesn't adequately show how wonderfully hairy they are.

Hey kids, look at all of those seedlings of Sinopanax formosana or formosanus depending on whose tag you read.  Anyway, those who've drooled over the large specimen at Windcliff  will be delighted to know that there were some of these on the sales tables as well.  I would have snapped one up had I not just begged to buy a cutting from Mr. Hinkley earlier in the day.

Doryopteris pedata.  Danger keeps saying that ferns are the new succulents.  Works for me as I've always loved them.

This shy little flower is that of a rare vine whose name I've forgotten. 

After our walk through the greenhouses, it was back to the tables to admire more flora.

Now that I've looked at more images of Lomatia ferruginea, I wish that I'd thrown it in my cart. Perhaps a return trip is in order. 

Gentiana cephalantha var. cephalantha  "Distinctive perennial likely either G, dendrologi or G. officinalis.  Thriving in a grazed grassy bank in an vast area of ecological malpractice and abuse in Sichuan.  We considered this a mercy collection.  More curious than beautiful, big evergreen vaguely tropical leaves and clustered pale whitish flowers."  Gotta love that description!

Thanks Kelly and Sue for creating such a marvelous garden and nursery for us all to enjoy and thank you especially for the tour of your greenhouses.  It's always a thrill for me.

Wednesday Vignette

Not really a vignette today but  our inimitable host, Anna at Flutter and Hum, is quite forgiving of rule breaking.    On Monday, on a walk through the park, I noticed the first few maple leaves had started wearing their warm fall colors, just a few, mind you, most foliage is still fully green.  As luck would have it there were some on the ground.  While I intend to join Loree in raging against the dying of the light and remain in a bit of denial about summer coming to an official end at the autumnal equinox in just two weeks, I'm also a fan of autumn's riot of warm colors, sounds, feelings, and special aromas.

I've already started drinking pumpkin spice flavored coffee, an abomination in the eyes of many coffee purists.  While corn and peaches are still plentiful at the local produce stands, apples, pumpkins and gourds are also beginning to make an appearance.  It's a time of gathering in and preparation.  I can almost smell the fragrance of bulbs waiting to be planted.  Who can resist those little promises of a spring that waits to be?

 Ready or not, autumn is arriving soon in a garden near you unless you live in the southern hemisphere where spring is imminent.  (Lucky you!)  So here's to the festival of autumn and all that goes with it!

Far Out Fun at Far Reaches Farm Part One

It will come as no surprise to you that I, like all gardeners, love nurseries, garden centers, a plant section at a grocery store.  You know, any place that offers the object of plant addiction.  Sometimes drinking ripple from a paper bag has to suffice, other times, we're lucky enough to sip forty year old scotch.  How lucky a lush am I to live in a region rife with horticultural explorers, fine breeders and growers?  Today we have the pleasure of visiting Far Reaches Farm, the nursery of Sue Milliken & Kelly Dodson who are all of the aforementioned. So, don your smoking jacket, fetch a brandy snifter, and prepare to sample some fine cognac.

Do you also get a bit giddy at the thought of  visiting nurseries where you know you'll learn something, see plants new to you, and get to chat with the people who discovered or bred them?

 Tables overflowing with fabulous flora.  

  Roscoea purpurea f. rubra syn. 'Red Gurkha'

"Fantastic Roscoea only discovered in the 1980's  in Nepal and still scarce as hen's teeth in the nursery trade and always commanding very high prices.  Why is this so good?  It represents a color break in Roscoea with large red flowers which resemble some exotic orchid except this is easier to grow!  It's a show-off plant for sure.  In the trade as 'Red Gurkha' but recent nomenclature based on determining that this represents a naturally occurring variation of the species in stable wild populations in Nepal eliminates the perfect clonal name which everyone is still going to use."

Roscoea 'Family Jewels' hybrids

"We have not named many plants despite many opportunities to do so but this is one we are fairly puffed up about.  We love Roscoea for their durability in the garden and their exotic, almost orchid-like flowers.  We were pleased to offer the famed red-flowered Roscoea purpurea f. rubra known as 'Red Gurkha' for the first time in the US whose flowers are indeed luscious and our only quibble is that the plant is a bit short.  We wanted to get the vibrant red tones of Red Gurkha carried on into a sizable flower on a taller plant with ideally some color to the foliage.  We cranked up the in-house hybridizing using a number of parents and one cross in particular showed excellent promise.  The next year saw us focus on replicating that cross with good success and the resultant seedlings were lined out in our trial bed two years later.  We were able to judge that bed with a dispassionate and calculating eye when every plant came into flower and the resultant evaluation received a positive check mark on the new category we had to create of Hell, Yeah!!!  Vigorous plants with foliage variously shaded in coppery hues and flowers that defy easy description.  The flowers in mid to late summer bewitch with prism jewel tones of ruby and amethyst which shimmer with an entrancing depth of color.  This is a seedling group and not clonal so there is some small variation but pretty darned consistent.  We hope to sell enough to defray chiropractic shoulder treatment from repetitive injuries stemming from patting ourselves on the back."

My picture didn't capture the delicious color of this.  I got the one in the background with the cinnamon-colored stems and undersides of the leaves.  It's quite a looker!

The plant that many of us fell in love with when we visited Bella Madrona during the Portland Garden Bloggers' Fling, Itea ilicifolia.  Speaking of flings, Far Reaches Farm is a sponsor of the 2017 GBBF in Washington D.C.  Seems that Tammy, our Washington host had just talked with Kelly over the phone the very day of my visit.  Thanks Kelly and Sue, for supporting this fun event!

Treasures in the shade house.

Oh, to have space for another tree.

Looks like it might be a bit tender too.

In the shade garden, a polygonatum with purple stems. 

Maianthemum oleraceum in fruit.  "Perhaps the penultimate perennial in our shade garden. This Asian False Solomon Seal species reaches the pinnacle of expression in this pink-purple flowered form. In time, this will develop thick stems variably black or green and less commonly coated in a subtle pale peach fuzz of small hairs. These impressive shoots arise from the soil in spring as if the imaginings of some wild fever dream about asparagus. At full maturity which will take some years, these will be pushing 6' in height and when in flower will render even the most consummate gardener speechless. (David Culp, author of 'The Layered Garden', was not without speech when he dropped to his knee upon seeing this blooming but the words were disconnected and for the most part unintelligible. He said almost a year later in conversation "You know, that was was just one of those moments in your life"). The large panicles of small pinkish purple flowers appear usually the first week of June for us and own the shade garden. We have many striking plants in the garden but when Martha Stewart Living wanted to know when to come out and shoot the garden, we said "First week of June - Maianthemum oleraceum will be blooming". These are young plants at 3-4 years old and will have stems perhaps the diameter of a pencil. It will be a few years before these become contenders for the best thing in your garden but if ever a wait was worth it, this is that wait."

Ajuga incisa 'Bikun' has pretty foliage but when it produces cobalt flowers, stand back, it's incredible!

Gentiana asclepiadea (guessing)  This garden and nursery are so rich with unusual plants and Kelly and Sue so knowledgeable that my small brain often forgets some of what it hears.  

And yet another gorgeous tree!

Great combinations in the borders abound. 

Love this use of allium seed heads. 

There's more to come from this visit to plant nerd heaven.  Stay tuned for part two!

Fortunately, Far Reaches has a fabulous website from which even those not fortunate enough to shop at the  nursery in person can order online.  

In A Vase On Monday

In my neighborhood, little surprises often show up in the parking strips, on the steps, just about anywhere. For instance, a hundred or so pieces of some sort of black clay ware showed up earlier this summer.  It looked a bit interesting and as I was picking it up to take it to the trash, I noticed a price tag.

At some point, someone thought it was worth a thousand dollars.  While being broken, it had no value, what could it hurt to see what it might have been?  Who doesn't like a puzzle?  Down to the glass/craft room in the basement it went a few pieces being glued together every day or so until my niece visited and we decided it would be fun to get it done all at once.  She's much better at spacial relationships than I so the help was welcome.   Here's what we came up with.  Sort of interesting, no? Have you any idea where this might have originated? The geckos make it seem a little southwest Native American to me.

There were some missing pieces.

 Because of our haste, some didn't fit together perfectly but we were able to see what the object once looked like.  A wise person would simply enjoy the exercise and dispose of the vase but no one ever said I was wise.  Alison, the niece, and I thought it would look interesting to cover the cracks with gold seed beads, use red mirror on the inside of the openings left by the missing pieces, and create some sort of new thing. I'll keep you posted.  By the way, the vessel has a rounded bottom and is sitting on a plastic container for stability.

So, what's this have to do with In A Vase On Monday, the meme tirelessly hosted by the creative and wonderful Cathy at Rambling in the Garden you may ask?   Well, a basket arrived on the back steps the other day which immediately went into a box to donate to charity.  On my way out the door, I grabbed it thinking that it would be perfect to hold cuttings while out hunting for IAVOM.  There's not a lot blooming in my garden right now that's vase worthy.  However, the hydrangeas are taking on those lovely muted tones and cried out to be brought inside to be dried so the found basket got filled with them.

I had in mind a couple of thrift store vase find vases for them but the stems were a bit short and kept flopping out of both of these.

The smart answer would be to wire these short stems to bamboo sticks so that they'd stand in the vase.

 Too lazy.  Besides, it's Labor Day so the hydrangeas decided that they'd be just as happy and beautiful staying in the cutting basket.

Happy Labor Day and unofficial end of summer.  (Yes, summer continues until the autumnal equinox but the media is all abuzz with end of summer talk and we all know that summer fashion is now over and, unless you're Coco Chanel, white clothes  vorboten until Memorial day.)

Thanks, Carol for hosting this addictive meme!