What the Heck? It's the Glass Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Valley Nursery in Poulsbo is a perfect stop on the way to Heronswood sales.  Valley opens at 9:00; Heronswood at 10:00 and they're only a few minutes from each other. At this time of year,  nurseries aren't usually very crowded right at opening so on this particular day, it was surprising to see the parking lots almost completely full and the place buzzing with people.  Asking another patron if there was a special event of some sort going on I was enthusiastically informed that this was the day of the Glass Pumpkin Patch.  I'd heard about this event at a local nursery but never checked it out, after all, I've seen a lot of glass and expected a few glass pieces to be scattered around sort of like this:

Who would expect to be wowed by the number and variety of pumpkins offered?  An entire area of the nursery contained table after table of glass pumpkins.

Every shape, size, and color of pumpkin seemed to be represented.  Black with dichroic is especially fetching.

Don't be frightened, glass ghosts are really quite friendly.

Orange for traditionalists.

 For the more adventurous...

For Seahawks fans.

How exciting to know that these were all made within short walking distance of my house.

This event has quite a following and even has a signature pumpkin each year. 

There were quite a few autumn/Halloween-themed non pumpkin items as well. 

Loved this gold iridized number.

These  reminded me of the orange balls on the backdrop of the Sonny and Cher Show. 

A few signature pumpkins from years past. 

A black and white affair. 

I'm a patriotic person but this pumpkin color scheme didn't really speak to me. 

What fun to see all of these variations on a theme.  

Pumpkins as far as the eye can see.  So many gorgeous pumpkins; how do people choose?  

What an unexpected treat!  May your weekend be filled with equally delightful surprises. Remember, the Glass Eye Studio fall sidewalk sale is this Saturday  from 9:00 - 1:00.  Twice a year, this wholesale glass producing studio is open to the public and sells their wares, including items imported from China at half of their regular wholesale prices.  Prototypes for possible future items are for sale and seconds are dirt cheap.  In addition, artists affiliated with the studio set up their own tables and offer their wares at prices far below what they'd have to be at a gallery.  Y'all come!

Summer Lovin' at Far Reaches Farm

Okay,  it was more plant lust than love but in any case, I got to spend a lovely warm summer day poking around nurseries and gardens on the Kitsap Peninsula and Port Townsend, home of Far Reaches Farm.

Even if you can't stroll by the sunny sales tables or meander through the greenhouses containing shade-tolerant treasures, you can still order plants online.  Truth be told, I just got a plant in the mail from this nursery yesterday.

Monardella macrantha 'Marion Sampson' is lovely growing in this boat-shaped pot. 

Like Maurice Chevalier, I love Paris.  Hopefully someday mine will become this full and happy.

Sunny weather makes the plant mobile want to hit the road.  Unfortunately, mid day in bright sun isn't the best time to take pictures in the striped shade of the  Far Reaches lath house.

What a sweet hydrangea!

"Coveted hybrid Mayapple nearly impossible to find.  'Red Panda' is a seed strain from the O'Byrne's with some variability but this form from Nita Jo Rountree is the best that we have seen.  Large copper leaves in spring which become infused with green as the summer wears on and very good red flowers in spring.  Moist shade in rich soil = Pandamonium."  Kelly Dodson 

This is the plant that arrived at my house yesterday.  

Speaking of love, check out  those deeply incised Schefflera delavayi  leaves.  

I know the name of this one, really I do.  Hopefully it'll come back from the far reaches of my mind before the "publish" button gets pushed.  If not, feel free to remind me. Diphylleia cymosa!  Thanks Alison.

Angelica 'Ebony' "The darkest foliage on any Angelica.  I googled it and got an interesting hit on an escort in London with ebony skin named Angelica.  The plant may actually be darker, costs quite a lot less and I'm sure easier to keep happy.  Biennial so plant the seeds that form after the lovely pink flowers." K.D.

Frolicking fancily with Ebony's foliage is this beautiful Clematis.  ('Alionushka'?)

With a spokesbird like this, the Impatiens rothii practically sells itself!

Sales pitch.

Kelly and Sue were excited to share the story of their discovery of this glorious polygonatum.  This globe-trotting pair of plant explorers were on a little road trip near Leavenworth, not all that far from home, and were exploring an area slated for excavation of some sort when they found this solitary specimen.  (They'd cleverly distracted friend and fellow plant explorer, Sean Hogan, who was with them.)  It makes one wonder how many living things exist that we've simply not encountered yet.  Hopefully they'll be able to propagate this and it'll be offered for sale at some later date.  They already have that grape-purple polygonatum and now this...  What was that tenth commandment again?

Briggsia speciosa

Gesneriad

Far Reaches open days are winding down for the season and will cease by the middle of this month but there's still a bit of time to take advantage of the 20% off sale at the nursery.  

Wednesday Vignette

Oh my gosh, how can it be October already?  These two are alarmed.

Some of us are no longer surprised by how quickly time passes.

Both are part of the ghoulish seasonal presence at Watson's Nursery.

Wednesday Vignette is hosted by Anna at Flutter and Hum.  

Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine

Once again our hearts break for the victims of a senseless act of violence.  This morning at 9:00 church bells will toll once for each of the dead, a reminder to pause, ponder, and pray for everyone touched by this and all violence. 

I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me,
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord,
for they rest from their labours.
Even so saith the Spirit, for they rest.

Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine;                                         Let eternal light shine on them O Lord,
Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,                                             With thy saints in eternity.
quia pius es.                                                                         For Thou art merciful.

Requiem æternam dona eis Domine,                                  Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.                                                    and may light perpetual shine upon them.

English text from the Burial Service,   1662 Book of Common Prayer 
Latin text from Missa pro defunctis

In a Vase on Monday - Embracing Autumn's Mess

In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Click here to visit her blog and see what others are plopping in a container today.

Summer packed up and left taking with it seemingly endless hours to spend in the garden each day.  Autumn is slowly making itself known with rain, cooler temperatures, shorter days, and the beginning of another academic year and my return to the jobs.  The garden has become more overgrown without being trimmed back regularly for more than a month.  The fall plant migration has slowly begun.  As the collection of tender plants has grown in both size and number the migration is no longer a simple matter of bringing a few things inside all in one day  but has become a Rubik's-Cube-like puzzle of re arranging indoor spaces to accommodate everything. Is it worth the effort to keep two large Trevesia palmata?  How many abutilons  will make it inside this year?  What about all those gorgeous Cordylines?  Is it time to test their hardiness by leaving some outside?   Can I bear to keep only cuttings of Begonia 'Gene Daniels' and Begonia luxurians and let the huge plants go?  Where did all of these plants come from?  Seasonal decisions clutter my mind as fallen leaves and drooping foliage obscure paths.   Both mind and walkways are increasingly filled with cobwebs. It's truly a messy season. 

This container, a gift of an old college friend years ago, has been calling out to be used. 

Cuttings made between hauling plants around on Sunday afternoon,  Hydrangeas, Lunaria annua, seed heads of Iris foetidissima, Clerodendrum trichotomum, Fennel, and various grasses, crowd and spill out of the container, refusing to stand up straight in the middle, reflecting the chaos that is my garden at the moment. 

Joining the autumnal crowd is a thrift-store ceramic pot on the left that reminds me of a burst seed pod, a pod by an Oregon artist couple and a glass pumpkin.  Happy chaotic autumn!