Friday, November 28, 2014

Daphne x houtteana is my favorite plant this week (plus a wrap up of all November’s favs)…

This is Daphne x houtteana, but it could have just as easily been Daphne houtteana because to be completely honest - I'm not sure what the difference is and I certainly didn't care which one I ended up with. All I know is I wanted that dark leaf daphne. And once I got it, I nearly killed it.

After finally deciding I needed this plant bad enough to pay the crazy prices being asked for it ($35, $49, and up) do you think I could find it? Anywhere? After months of looking? No. So I'd finally given up on it when, then, months later while at Youngblood Nursery on business, what should I discover they just happen to grow? Yes indeed. So I bought it (at a nice price), brought it home and planted it. And then got busy and forgot about it. And things grew and it got lost...until that one day in September when I remembered, hey, what about that dark leaved daphne? I uncovered it to discover just a few leaves remaining. It looked nearly dead. It needed serious TLC, and that's why it's now in a driveway stock tank where I can keep an eye on it.

The new growth emerges green and then turns dark. I am thrilled it's putting out new growth, proof it lives!

Maybe someday it will look as good as this one I spotted years ago at City People's Nursery in Seattle (while my crush was still developing)...

Youngblood says: "Deep purple-black foliage sets this variety apart. Lightly scented purple flowers in late spring. Give full sun for best color. Daphne laureola X Daphne mezereum. Semi-evergreen. Zone 6-9"...to that I will add that it likes even moisture and should reach an eventual height of 2-3 feet.

Now if I can just find the perfect spot for it come spring.

This post begins the new "month-end" (last Friday of the month) wrap up of favorite plant posts. Earlier in November I posted about our Yucca rostrata collection and the Daphniphyllum macropodum v. humile. What plants have stood out for you during this "game changing" month of November? (game changing = in my part of the world there's no denying winter is ready to pounce at any moment - in other parts of the world it's now time to plant and play in your gardens!)

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the day we Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. This year brings a first for me, I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my parents in my home! They've never been able to travel to visit us during the holidays and so this is an extra special holiday for me.

I've also never joined in the fun that is "Throwback Thursday" and so in the spirit of the holiday I went looking for an old Thanksgiving photo I could share...I believe I was just a little over 5 yrs old, and I'm posed in front of the portrait door (an amazing amount of family photos were taken in that spot) at my grandparents. My outfit was a school project, and not terribly PC I'm afraid. I do remember that clay beaded necklace I'm wearing, a fine art project with straws and clobs of colored clay...

To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are surrounded by those you love, be they family, friends, or furry critters.

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

A stroll around the Kennedy School gardens...



The name is no doubt familiar to those of you who attended the Portland Garden Blogger's Fling, or even to those of you who followed along at home, reading posts about the event. I'm sort of embarrassed to admit it's been awhile (maybe even since last July) that I took a nice long walk around the gardens. This was our ultimate destination the day Lila went on the walk I mentioned here...

A shot for all of you who like the 'Spider's Web' Fatsia, personally I still don't understand the attraction.

This trellis though, I love it.

And I still miss my dearly departed Brachyglottis greyi.

Looks more like spring than mid-November, post storm.

That's more like it!

This looks positively winter-ish to me, sort of cold and bare.

I thought perhaps their tetrapanx would benefit from a micro-climate with the building some what wrapping around it. No such luck.

Another year with unsuccessful blooms.

I'm still considering adding a Rhododendron stenopetalum 'Linearifolium' to my garden.

And this beauty has got me reconsidering Euphorbia 'Tasmanian Tiger.' 

Love those hips!

And how I would love a smaller version of this to act as my Christmas tree.

Eriobotrya japonica

Something is missing! Uhmm. Maybe a huge mahonia? What was there...

A new crop of catkins are forming on the Garrya elliptica.

And there's one last bloom trying to open on the callistemon (C. sieberi, I believe).

So much color!

Can anyone tell me the name of this fern?

Mahonia gracilipes

Such a cool plant.

As is Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress.'

The spikes!

I hadn't noticed Agave 'Mateo' here before.

And there were several echium seedlings that shrugged of the recent cold.

Another empty hole! If I'm not mistaken there was a lovely Agave parryi here, in fact I spot a tiny pup. I wonder what happened to it?

At least the nolinas and A. ovatifolia are still there.

But wait just a moment! Look what Lila has spotted...

Check out this beauty!

A variegated Agave parryi, when did this happen!

And there are so many pups...

Achingly beautiful.

One last glance back at the spikes...

They put in a kitchen garden, nice!

I need to get back in the habit of walking this garden every couple of weeks. There is so much to see!

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Curls and Color...

Let's take a quick trip back to California! Our first stop is at Cactus Jungle - a fabulous (spiky) nursery in Berkeley. Our curls start on the barbed wire at the entrance, but that's not really what I want to show you...

It's this! The curls of a very sexy Agave salmiana 'Medio Picta'...

An extremely gorgeous agave. I wanted to take it home, it wanted to come home with me. It was a match made in heaven.

Well, sort of.

More curls!

These belong to Albuca spiralis..."Rare bulb from South Africa with curly leaves. In habitat the bulb remains below ground. Generally hardy, but keep dry. Will get 8" tall. Cute green-yellow classic Hyacinth-like flowers. Early spring flowers are replaced by the corkscrew leaves in summer. Very good draining soils"...

It stayed behind too.

Color! Oh my, color! A pink house with yellow and orange trim, you don't see that everyday. Yes I had to pull over and take a closer look (and okay yes, it was all about the agave).

Walking back towards the corner. I wonder if they have a roof deck out over the garage?

The grevillea bloom matches the house.

But this is the traffic-stopper, well for me, most probably wouldn't even give it a second glance.

The mama plant was taller than me (at 5ft 3in) and there were oh so many pups, one even came up at the base of the stairs. Poor thing's been stepped on...

As you probably noticed in the first photo the lower leaves have been cut back in deference to the sidewalk users. I wonder if, when it finally blooms, it will be allowed to complete it's life cycle or be cut back to keep the intersection safe?

We move on. Now we're in Oakland at The Dry Garden. There will be a future blog post on this amazing nursery but for now, there are curls.

Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls' to be exact.

"hey this looks safe, nobody will mess with me here..."

So many curly agaves, so little space in the car (and money in the wallet)...