Thursday, April 29, 2010

Gardenpalooza plants

I just realized that a month has gone by. I had said I would write about my plants from Gardenpalooza in a couple of weeks. Sorry about the delay! Spring is so busy that times slips away...
It seems this year that I purchased several tropical and temperate plants. I purchased way too many to go over all of them but I will high-lite some of my favorites.
Burl from Rare Plant Research is one of my favorite people and nurseries. He got alot of my money this year.
Gluacium Flavum is a great zone 7 perennial with bright orange poppy like flowers. The 'horned poppy' is so named because of it's seed pods. They are long, semi-curved creatures that do indeed look like slender horns and appear after the plant has bloomed. Quite a conversation piece. Yellow is the usual color but the orange one (which I bought) is much more dramatic to me when it blooms against the grey/blue foliage.

Aechmea blanchettiana looks like a bromiliade on steroids and is a member of that family, with the exception that it is terrestrial which simply means it grows in the ground and not up in trees. I have had this one before but for some reason...even in my greenhouse, it expired this year. Not to worry...Burl had more! I love this plant because in the full sun during summer it takes on a wonderful reddish orange tone to it's massive leaves. A stunning specimen indeed.
Many years ago we were filming with Dan Hiems at his home. In the ground he had a hardy Schefflera (a houseplant commonly called umbrella tree). The name is Schefflera delvayi. Even though I have seen this plant outside and winter hardy, having lived in Ft. Lauderdale Fl and knowing the difference in climate from here to there...I just can not get myself to plant it outside...so it in went in the ground in my greenhouse. At 50.00 bucks a pop I am not taking any chances!

Edelweiss Perennials is a wonderful nursery owned by a great guy named Urs. His plants are consistently beautiful and well grown. From him I bought Hellebourus abruzzicus. This new found introduction was found in the Abruzzia area of Italy, it has amazing deeply cut leaves. The flowers are pretty but the foliage is it's true glory.



I also got a great Pinella 'Gold Dragon" They grow into sturdy stands of long tongued (10") 'jack in the pulpit' type blooms, plus the color of the flower and leaves is a chartreuse yellow color. Great for highlighting a shady area.


Leonard from Dancing Oaks hooked me with the Tulip 'Fire of Love' His tag on it said 'with leaves like this who needs flowers?'. I couldn't agree more.





For the life of me I can not remember where I got this last plant I will tell you about. It's name is Salvia Chiapensis. The Family Saliva is huge. There are so many different plants with an array of colors and fragrances. This one was a new one for me and although it can grow natively upwards of 6000 ft in the mountains of Mexico, I planted it in the greenhouse. We are a lot more wet than Mexico and cold and wet is totally different than cold and dry. As with so many of the Saliva's this one promises to attract hummingbirds. It's beautiful tubular shaped fuchsia colored flowers do seem to be exactly what the tiny fowls enjoy.
So there you have it. A short list of a few of the plants I got at Gardenpalooza. Sorry it took so long...
Happy Gardening,
William

1 comment:

Sarah said...

William,
Sean McMillen has Schefflera delvayi growing in the garden at his nursery, Hana Farms, in West Linn...it seems quite hardy. A great plant for the tropical looking garden.