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!  

Northwest Flower and Garden Show - More of Those Great Display Gardens.

Here are some images of gardens that I didn't get images of for my first post and gardens that I wanted to explore further. 

ART-itecture for Urban Wildlife was o.k. from the front but had some interesting touches that couldn't be seen until one walked into the garden to explore.

These steel planter boxes had tall backs and could be used on the ground to create a quick fence.

Delightful tapestry of mostly succulents.

Awakened Inspiration had a lot going on including this fountain surrounded by glass balls floating on the edges that were propelled by swirling water to gently bump into each other adding an interesting element of sound to the garden.

 The elegant travertine patio set in a French pattern is at the top level of this garden which has steps down into a sunken area. The paintings are done on tin and are meant to be used outside.

 

 Lesiurely Morning in Mexico City had some of the only palms in this years show.

Green roofs with cacti on them.

Another bowl of swirling water fulled with glass balls gently clanking against each other.

 I feel warmer just walking through this garden!

 

Here's a wider shot of "MOFA - Museum of foliar Art" created by West Seattle Nursery and Big Trees, Inc.  " Your garden as a museum? 

The concept is boldly executed here, with 'plants as art' - three living walls (each with a different style) presented as 'paintings,' a large topiary as a 'sculpture' and many smaller farmed 'works of art' consisting of plant material."

West Seattle Nursery is carrying the grids that you see partially exposed that allow you to create a green wall by simply buying the size grid you want and plopping in any number of pots to make a wall in minutes.  Interesting.

"The moss mobile owes its inspiration to alexander Calder, originator of this kinetic art form."

Homage to Vincent van Gogh's  "Starry Night"

"No Stress Allowed - A Sanctuary of Tranquility for Everyday Life"

"The Poetree:  Rhythm and Rhyme in the Garden"  

"This small, moonlit garden's centerpiece is a sculptural "poetree" hung with poems.  The poethy is the work of high school students involved in Hands for a Bridge, promoting dialogue and understanding through artistic esxpression.

"Peace in Motion - Sanctuary of Peace"  It's fun to take pictures of this one.

No time for plants?  Grow some blown glass balls.

 

More details from "The Art of Zen - Find Zen in Your Own Backyard." This one was as much fun to walk through as it was to see from a distance.

 

"Nature's Studio: Arouse|Evoke|Create|Grow|Chill"

Hobbitesque cupboard.

 "Monet Dreamed Here"

Clever plant labeling for the theme of the garden and the show.

Alison and I saw some of these cool Allium seed heads in Linda and Tom Reeder's Garden (her blog is here.)  They come from Gardener's Supply Company and can be ordered online.

"Darwin's Muse - Art Imitating Life" more pitcher plants.

"The Art of Retreat - Two Generations Define Their Own Garden Studios"

 "This mother-daughter design team brings their special perspectives to this 'dual generation' garden."

Forgot whose gate this was but isn't it purty?

"A Conduction of Vigorous Immersion: Seattle's Best Artists Enhance Your Flow"  These were the folks with the stairs that became a ramp and the part of the deck that rose up to become a table. Here we see fire and water together in this water feature.  Notice the rock wall behind.  The water flows in columns in front of the rock wall, splashes down creating a little fog that rises out of the slats in the deck under which the water is flowing before it exits from the round pipes.

That's about it from the demonstration gardens for this year.  Stay tuned for the Ikebana show, tons of fabulous vendors and to see what I dragged home from the show!

And whatever you do, make plans to attend the show next year!