Valley Nursery, Another Saturday with Alison.

On Saturday, Alison and I set off on another adventure, this time to the Kitsap Peninsula where we attended a plant sale at Heronswood and walked the grounds, were invited to visit Sally Priest at her nursery,  visited Celestial Dream Gardens,  Far Reaches Farm, Had dinner at at The Public House Grill, which I highly recommend,  and ended the evening walking around a few gardens and a couple of beautiful Victorian Homes.  I had a marvelous time   Since, after deleting many images, I still have over 500 pictures, I'll  do a separate post for each of our stops.  Today, Valley Nursery in Poulsbo. 

 

Valley Nursery has a nice selection of sculpture, pots, water garden plants and supplies.  This is the first time I've seen wood carvings used with water.

 

It's interesting but water flowing over wood worries me.  Will it last?  Was it treated with something?  What kind of maintenance will this require?

I prefer water flowing over rocks.  What do you think? 

 

 

Love this and wish I had a place in my garden where it wouldn't be swallowed up in greenery.

The folks at Monrovia have released Melianthus major 'Purple Haze' for which Alison and I both fell!

Clematis 'Josaphine' is glorious!  Mine is currently blooming and Alison just planted one so this beauty stayed at the nursery. 

Mangave 'Bloodspot' looking quite handsome!

Speaking of handsome, I think this might be Agave 'Cornelius'.  Beautiful but since Sally Priest gave me one  that looks simliar but not exactly the same,  It got left at the nursery.     The label said assorted succulents or something equally informative.  This is rare for Valley whose plants are mostly very well labeled. 

Here's this fabulous Sansevieria masoniana that seems to be following me, wearing down my resistance.  But a houseplant?  Nah.

Aloe plicatilis  is calling my name but I'd like to find a smaller (cheaper) specimen!

The chubby leaves of Graptoveria 'Opalina' are adorable and the color is stunning!

 

 

The young cones of Blue Magoo Engelman Spruce are vibrant!

Eight foot specimens of  Acer campestre 'Carnival'  looking ravishing but unfortunately a little too big for this trip.  One wouldn't want to fill the car at the first stop!  This is one of Barry's favorites and seeing it always makes me think of him.

 

Speaking of plants that make us think of others, here's some plant porn for Scott, the king of grasses.

The plant find that really made me happy was this Stachyurus chinensis 'Joy Forever.'   I'd seen a couple of small rooted cuttings of this at the Bloedel Reserve sale a month ago.  At $25.00 for a small pot, I had to think hard about it.  I finally decided that I'd be foolish and buy one but when I went back to the vendor, they'd been sold.  I did a cursory walk through the shrub area at Valley and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a gallon pot of this plant for only eleven dollars.  Sigh...

Loree would be as sad as I that they keep this glorious Agave americana  mediopicta 'Alba' hidden away in the employees only area.  "Small is the worth of beauty from the light retired" and all! 

Crassula adromischus cristatus.  Such a sweet plant!

 

 Another favorite of mine is Aeonium 'Sunburst'  What's not to love?

You can see that there are a lot of cool plants at Valley Nursery!    A fun non-plant surprise was the fact  that all the Gnomes with their pants dropped were gone.  The scary part is that they had all been sold and are now living in gardens somewhere.  Another fun find was these cool plant stakes.  Made of solid metal, they feel and look like they're built to last and are a fun and colorful way to mark rows of vegetables.

Here's a clever way to re purpose unwanted flatware.

This event looks like fun!  I've a feeling that Sally Priest of WeHop is working with the nursery on this.

As I recognize some of her plants

 and style of combining plants.

Valley always has fun surprises like this cute puppy sculpture.  They also have real bathrooms which makes them a perfect first stop after driving for a while! 

Hope you enjoyed the first stop on our adventure and will join me tomorrow  as we attend the Heronswood Sale!



Visiting Valley Nursery

Last weekend we went on a little nursery hop on the Kitsap Peninsula.  It's a beautiful drive but we only had time to visit three nurseries this time as we lingered and enjoyed something special at each of them.  First up was Valley Nursery in Poulsbo.  This is a full service, large nursery with lots to see and buy.  There are always some imaginative and interesting planted up containers for sale.  What fun hostess gifts these would make, they're less expensive than a bottle of wine, and last longer than cut flowers.  Fun!

 

One surprise was that talented photographer, knowledgeable plant person, author of Rainy Side Gardeners, funny lady, and friend Debbie Teashon, is now working at Valley.  This was only a surprise because someone doesn't keep up with facebook the way he should. 

 

Grevillea 'Ned Kelley' was tempting as I love it but killed mine this winter by bringing it inside when it got cold (good) and then forgetting to water it until it was mostly brown (bad.)  I'll have to love you from afar Ned, as I'm clearly too neglectful a plant parent to deserve you.

Some of the staff were taking turns having their picture taken standing on the bench on the right and peering into this dracaena.

 

They showed me that the excitement was this - it was about to bloom!  For some of you, this may be a regular occurrence but in these parts, it's unusual. 

 

 

Another fun event was Dan Hinkley's talk about his favorite plants for this climate.  Being a Monrovia-sponsored event, he spoke mostly about many of the "Dan Hinkley, Plant Explorer Collection" released by Monrovia but also threw in plugs for some of his other faves.  The nursery was very well stocked with the Monrovia offerings and it was interesting to watch the attendees of the talk march out and stock up on the plants about which Mr. Hinkley so entertainingly spoke.

 

Disporum longistylum 'Green Giant' has white flowers followed by blue/black berries but the emerging foliage is very decorative by itself!

To see more of the Hinkley Collection, go here.

 

Remember the pictures of Magnolia 'Blushing Belle' from our Vassey visit?  Here's one at Valley that's just past her prime.  The watermelon pink color is still lovely.  Here are some images of the thing in full bloom.

One of my Yucca Gloriosas did this beautiful color shift this year; others in the same bed did not, nor did any of my Y. 'Bright Star' that have in the past.  Many nurseries have Y. 'Bright Star' in the same size and color intensity this spring.  All from one big grower?  Anybody know the secret of the beautiful pink color shift?  I've heard that it has to do with cold temps and light exposure.

This bromeliad really wanted to come home and join the collection in my music room but (O.K. they're all plant rooms now but have been given names to differentiate which plant room is which.)  Maybe this should be the bromeliad room with the instruments in it.

Xerosicyos danguyi looks like one of those plants that would be happy baking in a sunny window and growing over the years to take over a room.

Here kitty.  We'll name this one envy.

(Because it's green.)

Warning!  Broken pots should be repaired, half buried in the ground or discarded immediately  or dwarves, elves, leprechauns, lighthouse building fairies or other garden pests may take up residence and you'll have to decide on a method for dealing with them.

Won't this look great when it's completely rusted?

Repurposing of garden tools?  Looks like they may have been made just for this but there are some interesting ideas for do it yourselfers who have broken tools.  Who says that gardeners don't have hang ups?

 

Visit Valley's site here, see previous posts about them here and have a happy new week wherever you are!  

Playing With Friends at Valley Nursery

On Saturday morning, in with the clouds and a nice bit of refreshing rain blew a couple of bloggers you may recognize.  I was so excited to see them that the only picture I took of them both is blurry. Loree (Danger Garden) and Alison (Bonney Lassie) and I had planned a trip to Valley Nursery, Windcliff, The Brindley Garden, and Far Reaches Farm.  Loree started the day at 5:00 a.m. in order to arrive at my house at 8:30; Alison lives considerably closer but the arrival of friends in the garden is always a reason to celebrate. 

Perhaps my Trachycarpus needs another limbing up.  On the other hand, it's not really a jungle unless a palm frond or two thwacks you in the face. 

Alison at our first stop, Valley Nursery in Southern California  Poulsbo.

It was delightful to see a substantial number and variety of cacti and succulents offered.  Seems that there was recently some sort of event or class about using these plants outside in our area.  In addition, there were protea, leucadendron, and other tender offerings.  Sounds like the work of Petula Plants, plant brokers who supply plants from growers in California to nurseries in Washington and Oregon. I appreciate Valley's willingness to bring in so many fab plants not often offered in these parts. 

Danger flirting with some man (gave)

Isn't he handsome?

Furcraea macdougalii

Clever use of picket fence.  

Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Culs'

Thrilled to see so many Tephrocactus articulatus var. inermis available.  

Alison did more than just flirt with Senecio stapeliiformis; they went home together.  We'd never seen one in bloom before.

So many plants, so little space in my greenhouse. 

The purple-potted hardy agaves came from The Blooming Advantage in Cornelius, Oregon.

Labeled "Peanut Cactus."  Echinopsis chamaecereus?

Cleistocactus  winteri, Golden Rat Tail Cactus.  

A box of small and medium cacti came home with me. Many were labeled "Cactus, Assorted" which used to irritate me but of late I enjoy the challenge of finding plant names. 

Meanwhile in the jungle...

Stenocarpus sinuatus looks a bit like an oak but has fabulous red flowers. Since it grows to 30 -50 feet, and is only hardy to 50 degrees, one would need a sizeable conservatory to house this bit of wonderfulness.  On the other hand, it is very slow growing.

Monstera deliciosa in bud and fruit (below)

Someone's a little grumpy about the tropical/desert invasion.  Getting his machete out, he cleared a path to the more climate-appropriate offerings.

At 50% off, it was tempting to take home a hanging tuberous begonia or two to enjoy for the rest of the season.  the tubers, after all, could be started again next spring.  Nah, my garden needs fewer of these.

Sedum trees, what a fun idea.

Visiting Valley is always fun and, like most things, it's even more so with friends (plant addicts.)