Friday, June 11, 2010

Color!

With all of the grey rainy skies we’ve been dealing with lately I’ve found myself especially enjoying whatever little bits of color I can find. Luckily I’ve found several.Starting with this Embothrium coccineum or Or Chilean Fire Bush, growing at Kennedy School. Isn’t it amazing!? It stopped me in my tracks. Literally.
And their Glaucium comiculatum (I think) is just starting to burst into bloom…interesting how it coordinates with the red paint on the curb…
Back home and no particular order…Vibrant horsetail against an orange/red pot.
Kniphofia blooms.
Kalanchoe luciae on the patio.
And in the hanging pot both taking on color with what little sunshine we’ve had.
Agave bovicornuta with its bright orange claws.
Bright blue Ceanothus blooms.
Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow', the last fading orange blooms.
Blue agave from New Mexico in an orange pot.
Rusty orange Daylily bloom.
The acid green yellow of Euphorbia Excalibur.
Colorful Sempervivum.
Purple yucca.
Lewisia (just keeps on blooming! A very hard working little plant for under $3)
Echeveria hybrid ‘afterglow’ saturated with color.
Aeonium Schwarzkopf…
Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' actually starting to get leaves!
Sambucus black lace.
Kangaroo paw blooms…why can’t these be hardy?!
Ensete Maurelli. Love love love these leaves.
Un-named Aloe, which keeps getting more and more vibrant.
Curiosity got the better of me and I had to calculate the numbers on this unscientific survey:
Color from flowers = 41%
Color from foliage = 59%

14 comments:

  1. Wow, that Blue agave is hot! Especially against that fire orange pot!

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  2. Love it all..and please advise, the black step pot in the dandy agave/orange pot pic..Bauer ?

    KS

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  3. I've seen horsetail 2 different places recently. It's really a cool looking plant!

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  4. Laura, 'hot'...'fire orange' I like the way you think!

    ks, no, but I thought it looked like it too! I bought it (and a couple others) and Lowes this spring. Dirt cheap!

    MT Julie, it is! Just be careful where you plant it because if set free in a moist area it can take over!

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  5. The embothrium is gorgeous. For that stunner I'd gamble and say Hinkley's wrong about growing it here. The bovicornuta must be a challenge to protect in winter with those spines. Wonderful color, Loree.

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  6. I love the photos! BTW, what is the plant behind the kangaroo paws? I saw one for sale at a target and it was just labeled as landscape succulent.

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  7. Denise, I've been looking but I am yet to find one in a nursery. I bet the secret is to buy them when they aren't flowering. Once they are in bloom they probably fly off the shelves! You should definitely try it!

    Rainforest, It's a Squid Agave, or Agave bracteosa. It has turned out to be super hardy here in Portland.

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  8. Love the leaf to flower ratio. Go leaves! The grey skies make for some terrific photos. You must be loving this sunny weekend. Is it my imagination, or does the first sunny day seem to make everything put out a little growth spurt?

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  9. AnonymousJune 13, 2010

    Great color indeed. Love those margins on the Agave bovicornuta.

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  10. I love your color and your percentages, Loree!

    That embothrium is fabulous. Ketzel Levine just wrote about it in the Oregonian Homes and Gardens email of the day and I had to find out more. Seems a bit large for my place, but what a stunner. I hope Xera will grow it and Cistus will have it at some point.

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  11. AnonymousJune 13, 2010

    Loree, I wounder if you could get a tip cutting on the Embothrium. Love the silver crinkly foliage on the Glaucium.

    Might I make an observation? Green is also a color so foliage 100%, flowers 41%.

    Great post!!

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  12. I've been watching those Embothrium at Kennedy, too. There are more at various McMenamins gardens - the intrepid gardeners there know a good thing when they see it. They sourced them from wholesalers but about ten years ago, you could get (expensive but well-grown) one-gallon pots at Gossler Farm in Springfield, OR. Might be worth checking their online catalogue...

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  13. Oh, ps... both Sean Hogan (in Trees for All Seasons) and Roger Gossler (in The Gossler Guide to the Best Hardy Shrubs) both write about Embothrium - and both have a ton of experience growing the plant. Any questions? Ask our *local* experts - we're lucky to have them...

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  14. Megan, I was loving the sunny weekend...now I am praying for a repeat.

    faroutflora, thanks...me too!

    MulchMaid, I saw that too. We need to hear from Ketzel more often! I miss her.

    Grace, oh gosh...if I included green then I would be in serious trouble!

    Kate, agreed, our local experts are amazing! We are very lucky here in the PNW...

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