Riz and 'The Giant'

The last two weekends have been such a whirlwind of wonderful experiences and stories I want to be able to share, but it's that time of year where I'm overwhelmed, overworked, and, often times, OVERDOING IT!


One story deserves special recognition as it relates to a post I wrote several months ago about my
"Plants That I Want" list, based on the Plant Delight's Nursery catalog.

So, at the recent Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Spring Plant Sale down in Portland, Oregon, I happen  to run across a plant that I've been so intrigued by and been very tempted to just cave and own.

It's an Epimedium dubbed, "The Giant" being offered by extraordinary plantswoman, Diana Reeck of Collector's Nursery in Battle Ground, Washington. She had only 5 plants in one gallon containers all from a division she received from Epimedium authority, Darrell Probst, who discovered and collected it in China about a decade ago as an unidentified species. It was first offered for $500 for a small division, then it came down to $300, then Plant Delights has it for $150 for a small division.

Diana with 'The Giant' in full flower tempting every plant collector who admired it and aggravated whether or not it was worth it.

And looking at the price tag, I knew there was no way I'd be adding it to my humble box of luscious goodies from other vendors even thought it's the cheapest I've seen it.

Already, three had sold or been picked up leaving this and another specimen for me mull over and wonder if I can justify its purchase and addition to my collection.

I agonized about it all day. I was even trying to pollinate it with another Epimedium, I was so obsessed.!!

I talked to other growers and sought their thoughts and opinions and I even posted the photo above on Facebook, which totally drew up so many hilarious and serious comments about this one-of-a-kind plant.

 

    You get it and setting for mac and cheese for the rest of the month for meals.

     You buy it and then give it to me :) 

    Get 10 friends to buy in, like on Lotto and then "decide:" how to divide it up!!!

    Thats a sale price for that! in 5 years they will be at home depot for 7.99

    This wasn't on April Fool's Day that you saw this by any chance?

    Buy them all here is my wife's credit card number: 8907 4568 93345

    security number?

    or--support The Hardy Plant Society and suggest they hire you as a speaker, this plant in payment

    Buy it and never look back.

    802

     

    Around here it's beans and cornbread if we overspend on plants in the winter. In the summer I don't worry so much because the veggie garden will feed us.

    

    ok CONFESS! what happened in the end?....

    He would have spent the money on something anyway...oh and just in case you did buy it, have I told you lately how gosh darn handsome you are? Why you are just the nicest person... (thinks to self, he might have some babies in that pot...never hurts to grease the wheels...)

    Did you buy it Riz ?

      

    Sing a song, Riz! You will lure other shoppers to their table to see where that amazing 'voice' is coming   from and help build their sales up. Then they should offset your spontaneous concert with a mark down on the Ep and it could be a win-win

    Think of it as an iEpimedium.... It's easier

     

    So, Riz, did you?

 

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So, I kind of left people in suspense to this point. A few have claimed that I did get it, but.....

Sigh..... here are photos that have been circulating around the online forums so you can see just how REMARKABLE this Eppie is: Photos courtesy of Mr. Philip MacDougall.

Double sigh......


R

A musical tribute to AGAVE!

Oh my. Is this what I'm in store for at next month's Hardy Plant Study Weekend or is this exclusively an Oregon thing?? haha

What a fun time! I'd lean more towards having a real live band, but this was pretty cute:

The Overwhelmed Gardener. Part 2 Florabundance

Another weekend plant sale, this time I'm actually vending. It's the night before and here I am making last minute signs and labels for this weekend's Florabundance Spring Plant Sale.

I don't know if it was the high of last weekend's Hardy Plant Society of Oregon sale and the visit to Cistus and all, but I'm not all that looking forward to this sale. I'm not sure if it's the 60/40 split that's really bugging me or my limited palette of plant material to offer; perhaps it's both.

Florabundance has always held a special place in my heart as it was the first plant sale I ever took part in and I've known some of the vendors for many many years. Many have really seen me grow up at this plant sale and over the years, many have looked forward to my unique selections of plants. I guess I feel like I wasn't able to reach the standard I set for myself having visited many nurseries. The quality of my plant material should be much better!

In this tough economic climate, I guess the 60/40 split (60% to the vendors and 40% to the Arboretum Foundation) has really gotten to me. When I first started, it was a fairly reasonable 70/30, but now it seems like all the hard work in propagating and growing on these plants is essentially a huge donation of my time every time I take part in a plant sale here in the Puget Sound area. While I fully support these organizations and truly glad that the funds go towards programs and causes I care about, I'm losing money and not really progressing or moving forward with my life and business as I'm not really able to save up and allocate funds towards travel, for example, or a collecting expedition abroad. Heck, I don't really have any funds to even think about pursuing an advanced degree like I always say I'll do, but haven't really made a serious effort to either take a class or check out schools and programs I might be interested in enrolling.

Instead, I'm struggling to make sure I find work and keep a small nursery alive in the hopes that things I grow and produce are sold. I know I haven't been the best businessman and I've relied on these plant sales to get me out there, but I've come to realize that I really can't continue this.

Something has to change. As much as I love this plant sale, the wonderful people I get to see, and the great assortment of plants we offer to the public, it's getting harder and harder each year.


R

The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's AMAZING Plant Sale

My oh my, what a great weekend! Long drive down, but so incredibly worth it. I've heard so much about the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon and their well known plant sales I made sure to come down to not only check out the sale and buy a few plants, but to also pay my friends a visit.

One of the most "put together" horticultural organizations (from what I've heard), the HPSO shared the Oregon Expo Center with a large indoor garage sale and gun show. Luckily, they weren't all held in the same hall so avid gardeners could safely and obsessively shop for some of the finest plants I've ever witnessed in one plant sale.



It was a true horticultural show with cut specimens of plants on display, a information booth staffed by professional gardeners to offer their advice to anyone who may have a question or need a quick recommendation for a plant and the volunteer effort was outstanding overall.

My friends at Cistus Nursery got me in early so I had an opportunity to shop before the hoards of crowds, but I spent that morning taking photographs, a few video clips and ooh'ing and ahh'ing at the wonderful things I witnessed.


The crowds were crazy, as they should be, but even with the best of the best flying off the tables, there was still plenty of fabulous selections even for the most discerning gardener who might have arrived later in the day.


There are some really hardcore shoppers out there, but for the most part, there are no old lady fights or such similar quarrels.


There's no doubt that the plants took center stage and the compositions some of these vendors put together were just exquisite!


Anything with gold foliage showed remarkably well and the two of these paired together was quite dramatic (golden-leafed flowering currant and a deep blue PC (Pacific Coast) iris hybrid!


Speaking of PCIs, this one was a stunner! Still kicking myself for not buying it. Oh well, next time. This one's called 'Drip Drop'.


One of the rarest plants to be offered at this spring's sale is the double flowered Trillium grandiflorum. These were selling for $75 for a single-nosed rhizome.


Now, I've only seen variegated horse chestnuts in books and on the internet, but to see it in person and realize that it actually exists was thrilling. This selection is aptly dubbed 'Lunar Patches'.


Over by the Cistus Nursery tables, swarms of people drooled over the many wonderful things they offered.


Nursery manager Nathan Limprecht shows owner, Sean Hogan, just how many tickets he's acquired as each one represented one full box of plants in the hold area!! You can see it in their faces, it was such a fun time for everyone.



One of the highlights of their superb selection is their batch of the elusive, hardy and rare Schefflera delavayi. Sure, you may be paying $32 for a one gallon pot with, essentially, a seedling with just a few leaves, but the wait for this extraordinary plant has been so long, it was just exciting to see it finally out here for people to plant.

Remember what this plant will look like:




So, here's my humble haul. Got a few things for myself and few things for clients.



I went nuts on a few Epimediums, got some Melianthus and ferns for a client....
sigh...more pics own my Flicker page.