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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.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Hortlandia 2015

Hortlandia is the name of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's spring plant sale.  To find out more about the sale, the vendors, and the HPSO, checkout the website here.

What could be more fun than going to Portland to experience the largest plant sale west of the Rocky Mountains?  Going with two knowledgeable, kind, and downright funny plantspeople!  It's funny how people who are passionate about plants and gardening never run out of  things to discuss.  While our time at the sale and visiting nurseries (posts to follow) was enjoyable, my favorite parts of the day were the rides down and back.  (Thanks, Alison, for driving!)  We didn't stop gabbing and laughing for long, especially when we were driving to a nursery and  the lady in my phone said, "Your destination is on the left."  On the left for probably a mile was a large cemetery.  Was the phone trying to flout it's superiority to organic life forms by pointing out that we'd end up in a cemetery?


We arrived at the sale thirty minutes early and got a great place in line.  


I didn't take a lot of pictures this year as there were so many plants to see and once we'd made our rounds for an hour and a half, the crowd became quite dense making it difficult to photograph things without being in the way.

Solanum quitonse seedlings.  I've got a couple older plants in the greenhouse that look a bit bedraggled after the winter.  They usually bounce back once they get their roots into new soil and spend some time outside. The plant with orange thorns on the right is Solanum pyracanthum.

Interesting combination.


Gentian.  One of the few true and beautiful blues of the floral world. 


Watch out, these are carnivorous plants!  Luckily, thy prefer smaller snacks than humans...for now. 
 Succulent treats.

This Haworthia pretty much glowed.

Labeled "Milk Cactus," it must be a Euphorbia.


Another Podophyllum beauty.  


 Trillium grandiflorum flore pleno.  A thing of beauty!  I'm still nursing along my 4" pot!



Can you believe it?  The Bovees have been at this since 1963!   What a grand way to spend fifty-two years of one's life!


Acres of Acers.  Don't remember the name of the vendor but think that would be a good name for a nursery specializing in maples.

Hardy palms and a couple of yuccas.  One of the plants jumped off the table in an apparent suicide attempt.  One wants to look away but can't stop looking.  Soil, pearlite, broken limbs.  Although it looks horrific, a full recovery is predicted.

Epimedium something or other.  Wikipedia says that common names include  horny goat weed, rowdy lamb herb, and  randy beef grass.

The educational tables containing foliage and flowers from local gardens are a favorite part of many sales!
 Other highlights of the show included running into and chatting with a lot of Portland area bloggers!
Here's my haul this year.  I was especially happy to find Aeonium tabuliforme, that flat as a pancake Aeonium on the right, as I'd not seen it for sale in the area before.

28 comments:

  1. A packed plant sale is a successful one! And very nice plant haul too!

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    1. Hortlandia always seems to be quite successful! I was pretty happy with my plant haul.

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  2. That was such a fun day trip, and you're right that the people made it so! I saw a woman with one of those orange thorny Solanums, and asked her where she got it, but then couldn't find it. I knew there was a good reason I love Epimediums, with common names like that. I'll go for horny and randy anything.

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    1. Jungle Fever and Dig usually have the orange thorny Solanums. They're probably pretty easy to start from seed as well. Re: your last sentence - That's why you're so popular with the boys!

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  3. Looks like it was lots of fun! I probably would have grabbed those carnivorous plants!
    Thought you would like to know I finally got my hands on some spanish moss (yeahhhh!!!). And guess what! They are re-opening a long forgotten tropical greenhouse here too :) (Doing a happy dance).

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    1. Hooray for finding Spanish moss and the re-opening of a tropical greenhouse! Great day for you!

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  4. Nice haul! And I'm so glad I got chat with you all for a bit.

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  5. OMG! you must have been hung over the next day with scenes overload.
    The pancake Aeonium is amazing, plus it uses all 5 vowels. As I looked it up online, I came across another cacti, Aloe polyphylla (spiral aloe), I first thought it was a photoshop trick... the things I learn from reading your blog are endless.
    My garden will not be without an Epimedium, it became a favorite dependable plant, and with it's heart shaped leafs - you got to love it back.

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    1. No hangover the next day. As a plantaholicic, I've built up quite a tolerance for such things! Aloe polyphylla is gorgeous and can be hardy in our zone but has very specific needs - Large root run, perfect sharp drainage, and very little water in the winter. It's not very forgiving if you get the formula wrong. Great plant though!

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  6. I still haven't made it to that sale (head hanging in shame). Neat look at it through your lens :)

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    1. Someday you'll go. Or not. It's not a requirement but it is a lot of fun!

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  7. They always say that the stock is replenished for the second day of the sale but it is becoming clear that swimming through the crowds on the first day is the only way to see (buy?) the best stuff. You did good.

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    1. I often wondered about that. Certainly more stock is brought out on the second day but if a vendor only has one or two plants of something, they're put out on the first day and gone in the first hour. On the other hand, I'm over needing the most unusual, rarest, newest plants available.

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  8. Sorry I missed it. Next year I'll remember to keep that weekend open!

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    1. Even better, if you join HPSO, you can volunteer to work the show and you get to shop before they let the public in. I seriously considered doing this partly to be able to get better photos.

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  9. You know how to have a good time!

    That particular Aeonium will reseed quite easily.

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    1. I do indeed!

      Good to know about that Aeonium! I'll collect seeds and make lots of them!

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  10. That looks like a lot of fun! So many spectacular plants...so little time!

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    1. So little time and so little space in my small garden!

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  11. Boo! Hiss! You and Alison and all were having such fun and I had jury duty.

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  12. Cool stuff. I'm about plant -saled out for this season. Everything is planted except vege garden seeds and seedlings. That will happen next week. Then we'll be in maintenance mode.

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    1. I went to the sale thinking that I didn't want to see another plant but, as you can see, some came home with me anyway. I have lots of plants to get in the ground or into bigger pots and the greenhouse needs to be emptied of a lot of plants. Thankfully, I have a whole Saturday coming up that will allow me to play in the garden from dawn to dusk! Hooray!

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  13. Oh, look at all those nifty succulents! I chuckled at the results of the plant's apparent attempted suicide. Looks like a fun event!

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  14. Looks great! I will have to put this on my garden bucket list.

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  15. Wow, Peter, so many plants and colors!
    I love this Gentian of beautiful blue,is very bright.

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  16. How I wish I could have been there. I see you bought one of the Gentians but you resisted the lovely Rhodohypoxis sitting next to them. I love the flat Aeonium. Is that a Trillium at the back of your box? Oh, what fun.

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