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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, May 5, 2014

A Quick Run through Windmill Nursery

The other day after work I got to drive over to Alison's House to collect a plant (Erythrina crista-galli) that our pal Loree sent  from the Portland area bloggers' plant exchange for me.  Alison's garden is looking especially gorgeous right now  and I got to see her new greenhouse and "Alison's Folly" with my own eyes.  Her whole new front yard is fab!  It would be a shame to be so close to Windmill Nursery and not stop by for a visit even if there was less than an hour before they closed. Here's a quick spin through some  of the nursery.  (Visit many previous visits here.)

If I had a bigger garden, I'd grow Ekianthus  because they have such cool flowers.  This one, E. campanulatus, is sweet!

So nice to see Pernettya mucronata 'Rubra', one of my favorite shrubs for sale.  Beautiflul evergreen leaves, pretty pure white blossoms and truly beautiful big purple berries all winter long.  Mine is blooming now and still has berries and often hangs on to the old berries until new ones start coloring up.  This is a great small shrub with year round interest.  Every garden should have at least one!

The sight of a nursery overflowing with plants is one of those sights that makes gardeners very happy!

I rounded a corner and what to my wondering eyes should appear but this plant that Alison and I were so excited to find in Portland.  Maybe ten minutes from Alison's house, here sat several Alstromeria 'Rock n Rolls.'  Such nice foliage.  Sure hope it proves to be winter hardy here.


 Aren't Calceolaria calynopsis fowers fun?


 Cute animal plant pots!

Windmill has moved the arid plant section from an area further from their little indoor jungle  and along a weathered wood covered wall .  I like it back here and think that the plants go very well with the wood!



These huge Kalanchoe thyrsifloras from Monrovia are making an appearance at several nurseries recently.  So tempting.

So is this Opuntia microdasys which is Latin for looks really cute but will irritate the hell out of you if you get at all close to it.  I'm convinced that they can throw their glochids.  Once I dragged a hose by one and  it picked up a nice collection of glochids which my hands found.  Much as I like the way these look, I'm staying with Opuntias that are glochid free, well with the exception of the ones I already, ouch dammit, have.

I forgot the name of this but the rule is, "If it looks weird, it's probably a euphorbia."  so we'll go with that.

 Bright yellow variegated leaves and nearly magenta flowers.  Love this plant by Crayola!  Bougainvillea something like godthatsbrightiea

This little box of happiness just arrived.  Aren't these cute little Rex Begonias? 

Painted Paradise Impatiens.  What nice foliage.  

Speaking of foliage, these seasonal pots were very handsome without flowers.

there are some flowers and there will be more but they're not necessary for the success of the compositions.

On the way to the check out counter was this rather large fairy garden display with a poster advertising a make and take fairy garden workshop.  These things are so dang cute and a great reason for grown ups to buy doll house furniture.

From right to left, Birdhouse, UHO (unidentified hanging object) and possible addition to someone's hanging pot collection.  It wouldn't hold much soil but tillandsias would be happy to live there.


Obviously from a shop in Portlandia as someone put a bird on it. 

Made it to the front desk just in time for the "We'll be closing in 10 minutes, please bring your purchases to the counter at this time." announcement.  

In the display garden, the tulips were wondering what the heck was going on with the weather.  We had record breaking heat for that day in May (84 degrees F)

Still looking fresh and happy, they were real troopers!

Dig the cool red flame on the inside of the petals and the red line on the outside.  
 Getting a plant from a friend, a visit to another friend's garden, and a nursery visit was a pretty special way to end the day but, being greedy, I decided to drive home through Puyallup and check out a park that my pal, Vicki, told me about.  Tomorrow, we'll explore it together.


30 comments:

  1. The little Calceolaria Pocketbooks are charming to see, the animal pots a real giggle but I could really go for a Rex Begonia or two. Seasonal pots have come a long way since Mr. Loran used to pot up a few coleus, ferns and blooming things for Mother's Day boxes.

    My fairy garden phase ended in 2008 when the dog developed a fondness for chewing on ceramic bits, but it was a fun project. I still bring out my glass piano to set on a patch of moss to photograph once in a while.

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    1. Rex begonias are such wonderful foliage plants! You should get a few, they'd love you.

      Your story about your dog chewing on your fairy garden bits made me laugh! Thanks!

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  2. Thanks for the tour around Windmill Gardens, it's been a while since I was there at the nursery. I occasionally eat at the cafe there without even entering the nursery area. They have such a great display garden. How funny to find that Alstroemeria there! Well, we know where to get one if ours die. It was great to see you that day, and thanks for the kind words about my front garden.

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    1. It's always nice to see you and your beautiful garden. I'm way behind but am looking forward to having more free time to play outside! Since that Alstroemeria is a Monrovia plant, I'll bet it will become a much more common sight 'round these parts but we'll always have the fun story about discovering Portland Nursery on Stark Street to go with ours!

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    2. BTW, the Alstroemerias are gone already! I popped into Windmill yesterday, and there is nothing amongst the Callas but Callas.

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    3. That was fast! Wonder if they'll be able to get more?

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  3. Your comment about the alstroemeria--that was me last year--running around to every far-flung nursery on day #1 of the growing season searching for plants I HAD to have and, by the end of the season, they were turning up everywhere. :-)

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    1. It usually goes that way. Before tissue culture, and other modern technology, it could take many years for a new plant introduction to become widely distributed. Now, with the exception of some specialty plants, it only takes a brief time for a plant to go from rare to covering the tables at the box stores. Oh well, plant availability is a good thing!

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  4. I have Alstromeria in the garden, planted by the previous owner or possibly a volunteer. Sadly, I found out they are rather thuggish. Would that be true for this amazing looking variety, Alstromeria 'Rock n Rolls?

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    1. Mine aren't too thuggish but I'm kind of mean to them. Sometimes variegated varieties of plants are a bit weaker than their non variegated parents but the pots of Rock -N-Roll are pretty packed with plant so it's possible that they're also rather exuberant in their growth. Time will tell!

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  5. Oh yes that little hanging container is terribly cute, but since I just learned I've got another one on the way (more on that another time) it's good that it's a hundred and forty or so miles north, one only has to many places to hang things...

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    1. You have one on the way? How special and unexpected. We're all waiting with bated breath for the details. How does Andrew feel about this? BTW, I know someone who'll be headed your way in a couple of weeks so that pot could be delivered to you with no problem!

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  6. I'm a little in love with that green ceramic bird feeder with its own bird attached. I think Alstroemeria 'Rock & Roll" are headed toward the same kind of overexposure recently experienced by Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame.'

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    1. I hope both plants can hold up to all the hype! Although I love that Alstroemeria and finally bowed to the pressure of seeing it everywhere and bought some Digiplexis. Yes, I'm weak.

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  7. The alstromeria 'Rock n Roll' are really show stoppers. I have seen them on blogs here and there but when I saw one in flesh last week I finally understood why the rage. The foliage is electric! I'm wondering if I need to try one.

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    1. The answer to your plant question, "To buy or not to buy..." is always yes, yes you should. People seldom regret buying a plant but frequently feel remorse for not doing so. If you find that you have too many plants, you can take your extras to a plant exchange or give them to gardening friends. Besides, the foliage of 'Rock n Roll' is exceptional and you'll look forward to its return for years to come!

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  8. I love all the variegated foliage, one of my obsessions. Too bad Alstroemerias are not more hardy. The Enkianthus is surprisingly hardy. I like the animal pots, very cool. Thanks for the nursery tour, maybe someday I'll make it up to Puyallup.

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    1. Oh Hannah, there are some wonderful nurseries around these parts! Alstroemarias have been mostly hardy for me but I'm not sure about this new guy. I think I'll put him in ground and see what happens.

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  9. Windmill Nursery is one of our favorite places.

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    1. One of the things I love about all of our great nurseries is that they are all so different. I've never met a nursery that I didn't like for one reason or another!

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  10. I am forever jealous of all the nurseries you have in the PNW. I'll trade you our traffic for more nurseries!

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    1. Why thank you for your offer friend but no thanks! Maybe you should start a cool nursery there to get the ball rolling. Better yet, you could just move here!

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  11. Looks like a great nursery. I love the Enkianthus and the Pernettya!

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    1. It is a great nursery. We're very lucky to have so many in the PNW!

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  12. Those Calceolaria remind me so much of lady slippers. Never heard of glochids, but thanks for the warning.

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    1. They are pretty cool looking! Glochids are those sweet looking furry tufts on many opuntias that don't hurt at all when they're going into your skin but irritate the heck out of you until you pull them with tweezers or used duct tape if there are too many to pull individually. Often they're too small to see without a magnifying glass. Fun times!

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  13. Such a wonderful nursery, Calceolaria flowers were one of my faves when I was a kid.

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    1. The flowers appeal to the kid in all of us, I think.

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  14. Nice place. Did you already have the Alstromeria or did you buy this one? Or are you waiting to see if it really is winter hardy?

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    1. Alison and I each got one in Portland when we were there as they were in lots of nurseries there but hadn't yet made it up here.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.