Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Still life with Space Needle (The Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2012, part two…the plants!)

During the NWFG Show we stayed in a hotel near Seattle Center and the Space Needle. Naturally I wanted my plant purchases to benefit from what natural light was available so I lined them up on the window sill. Then I noticed the Space Needle peeking out from between them.

I don’t know why but I’ve never lost my joy at spotting the Needle. Even when I lived in Seattle I’d turn a corner, see it and smile…it’s the man-made landmark equivalent of Mt Rainer to the south. Naturally I couldn’t let this photo opportunity pass by undocumented.

My purchases at the show included a Banksia marginata (from The Desert Northwest, so glad to see some of Ian’s plants at the show!)
Grevillea ‘Poorinda Leane’
Grevillea victoriae
Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)

And a couple of Euphorbia tirucalli (Sticks on Fire) which were too short for their own window portrait but you can make them out in the group shot if you look close.
So that’s what I bought, but of course I came away from the show with several new plant crushes. In the display gardens I fell for Salvia apiana, or White Sage. This plant has been on my Annie’s Annuals wishlist for awhile but this is the first time I’ve seen it in person.

Grevillea x gaudichaudii, love those leaves! I'm afraid this one is going to be hard to find.

This one was labeled as Pyrrosia sheareri but the photos I see when I look up that name don’t entirely jive with what I saw at the show. Now granted of course the lighting made it impossible to really see the plant.

What do you think?
Sophora microphylla, again bad lighting for taking a picture but this one was a beauty.



An entire container planted with Yucca aloifolia ‘Purpurea’ makes a statement doesn’t it?
So much so that I almost missed what was right next to it, a Euphorbia I’ve never heard of Euphorbia characias 'Portuguese Velvet'
Beautiful, and evidently I’m not the only one who thinks so, click here to read the description Kelley of Far Reaches Farm wrote for this plant.

At first glance I thought this was a baby pink Kniphofia (try not to be scared by the glowing Zebra).

But it’s not. The kind fellow manning the booth (from the Buchart Gardens) told me it’s name, which I promptly forgot. I believe it’s a bulb from South Africa? (*update it's Velthemia capensis, more info here*)

Every year I’m tempted by this Erica ‘Winter Fire”
Every year I manage to pass it by.

Here I thought I had discovered a new Acacia, but it was labeled simply Acacia pravissima. The stems look so much darker than the ones I’ve got...striking!

A little succulent eye-candy in the Monrovia booth.
And finally I would be remiss not to mention the fabulous seminars I enjoyed at the show. I learned about building vertical succulent gardens with Robin Stockwell from the nursery Succulent Gardens. I heard Dan Hinkley talk about survivors at his garden in Indianola, WA (and a few of his plant hunting adventures) and Lucy Hardiman discuss winning plant combinations.

On a whim I decided to attend the lecture by Stephen Orr and was I glad I did, he was an excellent speaker. He touched on subjects from his book Tomorrow’s Garden as well as from his “day job” as Editorial Director for Gardening at Martha Stewart Living. When recounting his travels in preparation for writing the book he mentioned a visit to Portland, and noted that here people seem to garden with an eye towards the street. Making a garden with the purpose of sharing it, instead of hiding it away in the back yard. Since he was speaking in Seattle this wasn’t a lame attempt to earn points with the crowd, in fact he expressed concern that Seattleites might hate Portland, a "rivalry" kind of thing. Much to my relief the crowd assured him that wasn’t the case. When talking about the new issue of MSL and a story he did profiling three popular garden bloggers he asked “what is it with garden bloggers?” every garden blogger offers you a cocktail when you visit their garden! What can I say, we are an entertaining bunch! In case you haven’t seen the new issue of MSL that he was referring to it’s worth checking out…after all Martha is on the cover with Agaves!

23 comments:

  1. Oh wow! I could stop there or write a massive book of a comment.

    Those concrete planters! Stephen Orr! Vertical succulent planters! Purple Leaf Yucca! Space Needle!

    "Gardening to share" really has my imagination working too.

    I haven't really purchased magazines since dropping my subscriptions a few years ago, but this issue of MSL is one I'll pick up next time I see it.

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    1. You are definitely creating a garden to share!

      Speaking of dropping subscriptions I just tossed my Gardens Illustrated renewal notice in the recycling. It was hard but $50 for a magazine (beautiful as it is)...I just couldn't do it.

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  2. I would love to meet up with you at next year's show and make the round with you. You pointed out so much that I missed. Although I did see the succulents in the Monrovia booth, I wanted to take them all home, but they weren't for sale. I was tempted by that Erica too. The pink Kniphofia look-alike is Velthemia Capensis. Christina Salwitz posted a close-up of it on Facebook.

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    1. Thank you for the identification on the Velthemia. I can be pretty A.D.D. at shows like this bouncing from one space to the next...sizing up that I don't like something and moving on quickly, then getting completely captivated by some small detail only to bounce back to the previous garden because I spotted something I missed. Are you sure you'd want to make a round with me?

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  3. okay, so that Grevillea x gaudichaudii is amazing!! But I think I would spend most of my time poking through those succulents at the monrovia booth! Why is it I always fall in love with the pricy plants in green monrovia pots?!?!

    Also, it sounds like such a good point Stephen Orr made about gardening towards the street. We are guilty as charged up this way. Most people plant their backyards quite nice with little attention given towards the street. It actually makes things quite depressing sometimes. I often dream of tree lined streets in established neighbourhoods with striking and beautiful plant displays. (sigh)

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    1. That's one thing my street sorely lacks...trees. There are a few but then there are other yards that are NOTHING BUT GRASS...all the way to the curb. Luckily two of our neighbors have signed up with Friends of Trees, so four yet to be identified saplings will be planted soon. It's a beginning.

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    2. we have a bare street too. in our backyard some of the trees are about 100ft tall so it actually a bit jarring. For now the perfect street exists in my mind! That is exciting to hear about some more trees going in for your street. This might sound corny, but to me, that's magical!

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  4. I have that 'Persian Velvet' Euphorbia. It usually generates a few seedlings. If I find some, I will bring them to the plant swap. Any idea why Alan & I both get get that HTML gobbledygook in our titles since you switched format?

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    1. Thank you!!!!

      No idea, I'm not that HTML savvy, unfortunately. I wish I could fix it. I have seen it on other blogs too so I don't think it's just an issue with mine.

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  5. Part 2 of your blog is as great as part 1. I always enjoy reading about plants people buy because in the truest sense of the word, we vote with our wallets. I will read up on the banksia and grevilleas you bought.

    As for that Velthemia capensis, I just saw one at Sierra Azul Nursery in Watsonville, CA (post coming up at BambooandMore.info). Didn't buy it but should have. I have a feeling if I ever went to South Africa, I'd probably never want to come back.

    As for planting with a view toward the street, we did that four years ago (we live on a corner lot) and our yard gets a lot of attention. We've inspired a few other homeowners in our neighbor to make their front yards more of a focal point, which has been very gratifying.

    Gerhard
    :: Bamboo and More ::

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    1. I'd be right there with you about a trip to South Africa. I went to a lecture a couple years back given by a nurseryman who had just returned...omg!

      Don't you just love it when you see people stop and point at your plants? It's the one time I wish I was a plant tagger, so they could find out what it is without my having to run out there in my pj's and scare them.

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  6. I get some euphorb seedlings in the gravel garden that are progeny from Portugese Velvet -- it's such a leap over the regular characias and easy to spot. Really enjoying the reporting!

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    1. How come I've missed this Euphorbia up until now!?

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  7. Every year I debate whether I should go to this show...but always figure I'll just go to the Portland one the following week, rather than drive 3 hours there and back...maybe next year I'll bite the bullet and just go. That's an interesting comment by Stephen Orr...and I agree...it's one of the things that really sold me on moving to Portland when were visited years ago...I just loved how everyone gardened all the way out to the street.

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    1. Well I'm certainly not going to argue against your going. It's a fun experience that you should do at least once! Since the show is so much bigger than ours there is also a lot more "fluff" too (jewelry and scarves)...but I do wish they would spread them out a but. A week or two in between would be nice.

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  8. I'm gardening to the street right now but hadn't thought of it in those terms. I like it. Isn't that a dreamy cover for MSL? Love your space needle shot!

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    1. Actually you're right, the cover is quite dreamy...literally! I wonder if it was just a hazy day or of Martha requested a special lens?

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  9. Thanks for the tours Loree ! I swear I will make it to this show one of these years , but will content myself with the SFO version this year as usual. The lighting ! It's just as crappy at every garden show I've even been to. Nothing looks more jarring than a flash photo at a gardenshow.

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    1. Agreed...I did resort to a flash though to try and capture the Sophora microphylla flower.

      (guess what! I think I *might* be going to the SF show!!!! Yipee!)

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    2. Oh and when you do make it to the Seattle (or Portland) show someday I hope we can meet!

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  10. I have tried Salvia apiana outside twice and it does not want to live through a winter. It is a fussbudget. In theory it ought to be hardy but I guess it really needs good drainage.

    I also want to say that I really like the association of Martha Stewart with the word "arsenal".

    Thanks again!

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    1. Well that's not good news! But thank you, I hate to kill plants if I can avoid it.

      My husband said something similar when he saw the cover of MSL!

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  11. Great write-up! I attended the show too but on the weekend so missed Mr. Orr. I attended some other seminars on growing food that I really enjoyed. Your pics are wonderful, much better than mine as I found lighting and lot of people a bit of a challenge. My most favorite thing is that you created a scenic photo from the hotel using your plants and the Space Needle! Too Cool!

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