What's Up With Petula?

No, not that Petula, silly, this one:  "Petula spcializes in plant procurement and wholesales to independent garden centers and horticural professionals.  We believe in spreading the wonder of plants: experimenting with new ways to enjoy them and sharing our discoveries."  Petula's plants ride on WEHOP (Western Horticultural Products) trucks.  Both are plant brokers but while WEHOP is now focused on supplying growers and nurseries with liners, (trays of very young plants that are grown on before being offered for sale to the public)  Petula brings larger, fully grown plants from the same growers in California (San Marcos, Monterey Bay, Four Winds Growers, The Good Earth, Euro American Propagators, Little Prince of Oregon, and Premier Color Nursery.)

On June 23, I had the opportunity to attend Petula' Test Garden 2015 Summer Kick Off.  This year's test garden is located in a public plaza in Edmonds, and is stunning!  The event took place from seven p.m. until sunset and there was free gelato!  Here's some of what I saw:

Glowing in the evening sun were roses in sunset colors like this one, another beautiful orange, and a lovely yellow.

 Walking by on the sidewalk, one might think that this was an exuberant municipal planting. 

But if you slow down a bit to notice some of the plants, you'll see that there are unusual gems (for this area)  in every bed like the fab. Gompherena 'Pink Zazzle'  in this bed.

I love this one but haven't seen it in a lot of nurseries here yet.  

Then again, I seldom look at annuals so maybe it's been there.

 

Lepisium cruciforme surrounded by fab foliage!

Teucrium chamaedrys 'Summer Sunshine'

Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor' 

Although their goal is to be plant free (I know, crazy, right?) Petula brought a few plants...

Here Tonya (creative genius behind Petula) pulls a pot from the van on the street.  Hey man, wanna  see my plants?  

Euphorbia 'Firesticks are very tempting but I already have some.  Agaves vilmoriniana, "Baccarat", and 'Cornelius Variegata' all looked so good but already exist in my collection. Kicking myself for not getting another Cornelius as they are so gorgeous.

Nice Furcraea gigantea 'variegata' and lots of little succulents.  The oh-so-silver Maireana sedifolia (Pearl Bluebush) in the middle came home with me!

 Meanwhile, back at the garden.  Leucadenedron 'Ebony' cavorting with petunias.

The warmth, the lovely evening and plantings like this might whisk you away to California for a while. (Much cheaper than plane tickets!)

Mangave 'Macho Mocha'

Agave americana Var. medio-picta 'Dwarf Alba' and Echeveria affinis.

Here's Maireana sedifolia again singing the blues with a chorus of sherbet-hued happy petunias.

Joined by another beautiful Leucadendron 'Ebony'

Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira'  Can't wait to see the electric blue blooms!

Phylica arborea dancing with Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls', Aeonium 'Cyclops', Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 'Desert Rose', and others.

Crassula perforata 'String of buttons Variegated'

Osteospermum 'Blue Eyed Beauty'

Cynara scolymus 'Emerald'  (Artichoke) Can you imagine how fab the purple bloom would look with the orange Cuphea 'Vermillionaire?'

Purple and white: a classic combination. 

Phormium 'Sea Jade' is a lovely thing!

In addition to the Maireana Sedifolia, I came home with the following:

Turns out that Petula is the wholesaler bringing the tentacled pots to the PNW.  Tonya had a few in her van which I couldn't resist. like this one and the Rhipsalis which will be planted soon although a crazy carniverous plant might make its way into this pot instead. 

 The  Sansevieria cylindrica also came from the van and will be planted soon!  I already had the matching purple tillandsia and the head. 

I was given this Kalanchoe synsapala, the Walking Kalanchoe.  Let's see if it grows legs!

It was starting to get darker outside, time to pack up the treasures and go home but first, a nice scoop of green apple gelato for the road!  It was as delicious as the demonstration gardens which you can visit personally at Hazel Miller Plaza, 5th & Maple, downtown Edmonds.  You can also follow the garden's progress on Petula's blog.

 Thank you Petula and Tonya for this delightful evening, the beautiful demonstration garden, for dragging plants and tentacled planters along in the van, and for the delicious gelato!  

WeHop and Petula; Our Kitsap Nursery Romp Continues

It's always a treat to visit WeHop, the gang of bloggers that I was a part of that descended on Western Horticultural  Products were in for a special surprise this time.   We were greeted by beds filled with fabulous color.

I never grow tired of looking at echiverias!

On the grounds of this business, also the site of Sally Priest's own home and garden, there are greenhouses that have served WeHop's needs and those of Sally's other business which creates truly unusual combination plantings in big blue pots that adorn various areas of Poulsbo's downtown. 

Sally's garden also contains some of WeHop's products that Sally is running performance trials with.

And all around are large pots with combinations of plants that are relatively new to being used this far north. Really, if you're going to use plants as annuals, they might as well be interesting, right?

Loree listens as Sally tells us about the pots in Poulsbo.  I got a list and hope to get over there to look before too long to check them out.  Notice Sally's top.

She dressed to match one of her two dogs.  Mr. personality plus had us throwing a stick for him for quite a bit of our visit. What a cutie!

One very special surprise was the delicious lunch that Sally had prepared for us!  Thank you so much, Sally. This was totally unexpected and very kind of you!

Anna, Debbie, Alison, Loree, and Laura hear Pirate stories.

Now they're joined by Tonya and Sally.

Echiveria flowers are almost as interesting as the plant itself.

The festivities are being watched over by this stone-faced fellow.

Aeonium 'Cyclops' (guessing)

We saw Synadenium grantii 'Rubra' planted in several places in the garden and were enthralled by it!

It's quite lovely with the sun shining through it!

A new annual  for next year is  hybrid Gomphrena 'Pink Zazzle'  This annual with it's fuzzy leaves and zingy (I know it's not a word) flowers is sure to be a big hit.  Ask for it (nag) at your local nursery.

Cute idea that Sally came up with.  Inexpensive votive candle holders into which the 2" pots of succulents fit perfectly are caught in chicken wire affixed to a brightly painted window sash. 

Sempervivum (always alive) such a wonderful name for a sweet group of plants more commonly called Hens and Chicks or something else.

Guardsman, one of my favorite phormiums looking quite handsome in front of a chartreuse window.

More gorgeousness.

Dramatic and dangerous Dyckias.

Another surprise was exemplified by this bridge leading to closed gates bearing a sign that reads "The Future"  we can see glimpses of pots back there but  because of the distance, there's  a sense of something wonderful and mysterious to come.

Tonya (Sales and Plant Stories)  and Mike (The Driver with Lots of Ideas) Cole and Sally (Sales and Plant Whispering) are forming a new company called Petula.  Check out their website at http://www.PetulaPlants.com .  It seems that WeHop, the company that trucks plants up from growers in California will be concentrating on liners to be grown on by those in the nursery biz while Petula will be bringing in finished plants ready to plant.  The same truck will deliver WeHop and Petula products.  Petula will also offer marketing  and a variety of other ideas to nursery owners.  Very exciting for those of us who love finding unusual plants in nurseries.  As the picture suggests, the future looks bright.

Thanks Sally and Tonya for such a great time at your place.  We all wish you well with your new and exciting business!