Aristolochia gigantea (I think) is my Favorite Plant...This Week

At Watson's the other day, a large deep purple flower caught my eye from across the nursery.

The hand written tag just said Aristolochia - Dutchman's Pipe.  

Is this but interesting or what?

 Wikipedia says, "Aristolochia is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the namesake (type genus) of the family (Aristolochiaceae). Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse climates."

An image search yielded a lot of interesting-looking plants sharing this name.  Take a look here if you're interested.

Hardy only to zone 10, this one isn't destined for my garden.  

The $68.00 price tag for the large specimens means that one's not going to be in my greenhouse either.

However, I found quite a few much more economical sources online.  

Seed us quite inexpensive so if I remember, I'll give it a try next summer. 

Have you grown this plant?  What was your experience?

The favorite plant meme is hosted by Loree at Danger Garden where, on the last Friday of each month you can see a round up of  faves. 

My Favorite Plant...This Week. Can You Guess?

Last weekend we visited Well's Medina Nursery (more on that in another post) where I met my new plant crush.  Look at the new bronze-tinged golden foliage and the zowie red new stems.  Can you guess what it might be?

Does this image of a mature leaf help?

 Here it is looking all dramatic this evening.

Have you figured it out yet?  Maybe this has been around and you already know what it is.  In addition to this foliage, it also blooms.

This image by Susan Bailey was borrowed from the JC Raulston Arboretum website. You've probably guessed by now.

Did you guess?  My favorite plant...this week is Camellia x williamsii 'Golden Spangles'

If you guessed anywhere in the first four pictures, you deserve a pat on the back so go ahead, reach around and do that right now.  If you didn't guessed when you saw the bloom, give yourself a hug.  If you didn't know after you saw the tag in the last photo, perhaps a visit to the eye doctor is in order and seriously, let's not do any driving for a while o.k?

The Favorite Plant...This Week meme is sponsored by Loree at Danger Garden.  Visit her blog to see her favorite and to find links to other bloggers' faves.

May your weekend be filled with great garden adventures.  If you're in the area, The Rhododendron Species Garden annual Spring sale at Weyerhauser in Federal Way starts on Friday at 3:00, The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Spring Plant sale, Hortlandia, opens on Saturday at 10:00 in Portland, and the Northwest Perennial Alliance Sale is on Sunday at 9:00 in Seattle.

A Podophyllum's Progress - My Favorite Plant...This Week.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have a major crush on Podophyllum, especially Podophyllum delavayi.  Previous posts here.

Late last winter, I took a deep breath and sawed in half the roots of an especially crowded pot  of  P. delavayi.  Here it was a couple of summers ago.

It could have been sawed in quarters and still been fine but  I was being cautious.  To my surprise, both halves fairly quickly filled out their pots, bloomed and set fruit as usual.  I smeared the ripe fruit around on the soil in the fall and today there are seedlings in both pots.  They'll be left to do what they will but this fall, the fruits will be spread on flats of soil and late next winter, I'll be dividing these pots again. Maybe I'll be brave and throw one in the ground. 

Here's the other pot also with seedlings. 

Years ago, I had a large beautiful pot of P. 'Kaleidoscope' which I thought should be set free in the ground.  After it was planted, it slowly died and never returned so I'm wary about planting these in the open garden.  

This P. delavayi was planted in the ground at the same time as the previous ones in pots.  It was lovely for a year but the next year was nowhere to be seen.  The third year, it came back and here it is emerging from the ground again this year.  How can a plant simply not grow for a whole year and then come back like this?

For several years there was a large pot of P. 'Spotty Dotty' in my shade garden.  Last year it decided not to grow but look what I discovered today.  Is this a seedling from the original plant or was there a viable bit of root in there?

This one soldiers on even though it's leaves have become a bit deformed.  Thinking that it might be some sort of fungus, I treated the soil with a copper fungicide before the foliage emerged.  We'll see how things unfurl.

 In the pot ghetto, there is another that grew beautifully for two years but  there's no sign of it this spring.  I've learned to simply wait and see what happens.  Crazy plants these but I love them!   Loree at Danger Garden hosts the favorite plant meme and rounds up all of the favorites at the end of the month.

Random Friday

Some random shots from the weekend past.  First up are a few pictures from Furney's Nursery in Des Moines.

Love those Trachycarpus fortunei and dig the great purple foliage on the rhododendrons in the foreground.

A sure sign of spring is the appearance in stores of summer-flowering bulbs for spring planting. I decided to try a few things that I hadn't grown before and that might like to grow in a warm greenhouse along with the tomatoes.  I got a couple of Tuberoses (Polianthes tuberosa,) some Gloriosa superba (Gloriosa lilies,) and some Nerines for fall color outside.

Another sign of spring. Aren't the green markings on Galianthus beautiful?

"There's always an Agave" as Loree says.  Here are some lovely Agave schidigera 'Shira ito no ohi' whose label says it's hardy to zone 8.  Perhaps with really sharp drainage and an umbrella over it for the winter.

 Tibouchina's saturated purple flowers and red fuzzy buds were tempting!

Sleepy kitty on an overstuffed chair made me smile.

Now we have my favorite plant...this week - Moss and Lichen.  They grow so well in our climate and beautify just about every surface that doesn't move. These were spied at Jungle Fever Exotics Nursery and Dig.

Cool little trumpets or are they tiny alien life forms? 

This light green stuff is a favorite as it covers some deciduous  trees and makes them glow in the winter against the more somber greens of Douglas Fir and cedar.

 In some parts of the world they try very hard to emulate the moss covered surfaces which we have everywhere.  How lucky we are to live where we do!

To learn more about our "Mossy Paradise" and see some great pictures, click here. 

Happy weekend!  

My Favorite Plant(s) ...This Week

My favorite plants...this week are three dwarf conifers that came from Lael's Moon Garden, one of the few plant vendors at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show.   While I think that miniature gardens are sweet, I simply can't pull it off in my garden as diminutive plants tend to get lost in my "exuberant" (randomly planted plants jockeying for positions in the sun) plantings.  However, the stairs from our back porch to the garden are fairly narrow but I still like to have some sort of potted plants on either side.  This summer, potted miniature hostas and coleus did the trick but now they are a little, um, dormant or dead.  Enter the dwarf conifers!

First up is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'White Pygmy' which grows one to three inches a year, is hardy to -20 F, and likes sun to partial shade.  Tiny white-tipped, bun-shaped plant.

It maintains it's shape without pruning and will have a more open growth habit in less sunny locations.

Our next contestant is Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Butterball' growing one foot tall by one foot wide in ten years, hardy to - 20 F. I have to include this description from Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery: "Bright, lemony yellow tips give this dwarf, globose Hinoki Cypress a fresh, cheery look. The vivid coloring contrasts beautifully with naturally darker inner foliage. Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Butter Ball' is distinguished by its consistently rounded habit and very dense, slow growth. Use in containers, rock gardens, and evergreen collections."  I'll be looking for opportunities to use the word globose!  Interesting fact:  the American pronunciation is glahb ose (having the shape of a glob?) while the English pronunciation, which is how I thought it was supposed to be pronounced, is globe ose. (having the shape of a globe.)

The third is Athrotaxis cupressoides or Tasmanian Cedar.  I liked the almost succulent look of this and when the nice lady from Lael's said that it was her favorite of the plants that they'd brought, that clinched the deal.

According to the tag, "A small slow-growing upright conifer with rich green foliage similar in appearance to the giant redwood, sequoiadendron giganteum.  Dull sun, well drained soil 5' x 2' in 10 years.  Hardy to 0 degres F."  So far, so good, but the interweb has pictures of this getting huge over a great number of years.  Mine will most likely be in a pot until one of us dies so I don't have to worry about placement in the garden. 

I'm joining with Loree at Danger Garden in posting a favorite plant this week.  Click on over there to see what plant is her favorite this week!  Hope you have a great weekend.  Molbak's is having a 40% off sale on Hellbores but I haven't visited Vashon Island for a long time.  Decisions, decisions.

Nandina domestica 'Moyers Red' Is My Favorite Plant...This Week

Looking for a jolt of bright color in the winter?  Nandina domestica 'Moyer's Red' might just be the answer.

Upright, multi-stemmed, broadleaf evergreen shrub with green, dissected, bamboo-like foliage that changes to bright red in the winter.

Clusters of small pink flowers in summer are followed by clusters of bright red berries that persist into winter.

 Grows to 6' tall by 4' wide.  Sun to filtered sun.  Well-drained, moist soil.  Moderate water use.  Hardy to zone 6.  For more information, look here.

I'm Joining with Loree at Danger Garden in posting my favorite plant this week. 

Looking Up

The drama of  lichen-covered branches is changed a bit when they're photographed with a flash at night. Here are some spotted at the Bellevue Botanical Garden.

The tree almost appears to be covered with snow.

Looking up at another location, I saw a lovely specimen of my favorite plant...this week, a cultivar of Magnolia grandiflora (could be 'D. D. Blanchard' or one similar.)  I love the glossy, leathery evergreen leaves with the cinnamon colored indumentum. 

In spring and summer, the tree has beautiful fragrant white blossoms.  Unlike most of the deciduous magnolias which cover themselves with bloom for a shorter period of time, this southern lady (the tree is also known as Southern Magnolia) puts forth a few blooms at a time over the entire growing season.  Often thought of as a symbol of the southern states of the U.S. as it is native to that part of the country and a a prominent feature in their landscapes.  I understand that one needn't have a veranda nor sip mint juleps to enjoy this tree. It may help to watch this video though. 

In fall the blooms are followed by typical but interesting Magnolia cone-like structures.  For an interesting blurb about the primitive magnolia family, click here.

So, fairly low maintenance, slow growing, beautiful foliage perfect for holiday decorating, enticingly fragrant flowers, interesting fruiting structure...What more could you ask for in a tree?  I'm thinking that it's time for me to add one of these to my garden.  The slow-growing part is attractive because I'll be dead by the time the tree has become big enough to be a problem.  On the other hand, there are some smaller cultivars which might make more sense to select for my urban space.

For those of you in the south, is it o.k. for a Yankee to grow this?  I've heard  that you're still sore over that "War of Northern Aggression" (1861 - 1865) and I don't want to go rubbing salt on any wounds.  

For more information about hardiness and  culture, look here and here.  

Joining with Loree at Danger garden in posting a favorite plant...this week.