Plants, Plants and More Plants (and Cats)

I was recently lucky enough to be a "Flinger" at the annual Garden Blogger's Fling, which was held in my city of Portland, Oregon. For three and a half days, more than 80 bloggers from all over the U.S., a few from Canada, and several from across the pond (U.K. and Spain), and I cavorted through some of our area's finest gardens (both public and private). And, of course, we hit the nurseries!

Chickadee Gardens was a stop on the tour so I did take one day from touring to play hostess. The garden was in tip-top shape; we've been planning this for six months, literally. Every nook and each little cranny was fluffed, primped, watered and loved - with not an inch of soil to spare. No room for anything else!

However, you might ask, what was I doing while touring nurseries with my fellow Flingers? Buying plants, of course. I figured: Hey, I live here, I don't have to deal with shipping, so why not? I was swept up in the moment, to say the least.

Besides, at the big Fling banquet dinner on Saturday night, I won a fabulous door-prize, a Hover Dish planter from Pot, Inc. Yup, the coveted dish was mine - I could hardly believe it! It's what I drooled over the most in the fabulous lineup of gifts donated to the Fling. My version of its life-story is that it was lonely and needed plants right away.

So, all of that explained, let's review some of my purchases, look a few plants currently blooming in the garden and become fuzzy and warm about the cats. Yes, the cats, too. Why not?

 First up is the Hover Dish planter from Pot, Inc., a company out of Canada. This thing is powder-coated steel with a drain hole and a swivel hook. In other words, WELL-THOUGHT OUT and just beautiful. The orange, after all, was meant to be!



There it is on the shed; a great match.


 My plant selection is courtesy of my friends at Xera Plants. A couple Muehlenbeckia astonii, a Passiflora biflora vine as an annual accent, some Sedum palmeri and album "Murale'. Nice....and I am so fortunate to have had help from the fab Xera folks!


 It took the place of the above planter that was moved to the other side of the shed to fill in an area desperately in need of some greening up.




 Moving on, while at Cistus nursery, I found this Yucca pallida, one I have been looking for. I especially went for the wavy glaucous leaves.


 While at the Lan Su Chinese Garden I spied this jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides 'Tricolor') and lo and behold, they had it at Cistus. Happy! Shade area so it likely won't be covered in blooms. That's ok with me, I like it for the evergreen, variegated foliage to eventually soften the edges of the fence.


  Although difficult to see, there is a new plant in there, a Verbena officinalis ssp. Grandiflora 'Bampton' also from Cistus. It has dark foliage and the little blooms seem to float in the air.




I found all three of these at Westwind Farm Studio's plant sale, all of them for $8. This made me very happy. I bought a few things from Seabright Gardens, Pomerius and others, but have not photographed them yet. As they settle in, they will surely show up in future posts.


 Now for a few more plants blooming or otherwise interesting in the gardens right now....and of course, the promised cat photos. It's a veritable grab-bag this week! Grab-bag!!
 I did not buy the 7-Up plant or Stachys albotomentosa on the Fling, but right before it. I chose the pot from some of my late Grandmother's garden possessions, so it needed something festive and fun. It really does smell like 7-Up. Really.


 Close up of its bloom.


 Bloom of an Echeveria nodulosa. Quite charming.


 Blooms on the Chilean glory vine.


 Not the showiest things in the world, but interesting. Heuchera 'Marmalade' blossoms with the Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca' and others in the background.


 A cat's view of the garden.


Speaking of cats, here's Lucy watching bugs.


 Lucy!


 Hobbes!




 If you see the curl, you know it's Hobbes. His tail is always curled like this, unless he's sleeping. Crazy, lovable Hobbes. It may be upside-down but it's appropriate for him. Trust me.


 I do enjoy the oranges.


 Some eco-roof action!


 Lucy on the go. The red drooping flowers to the right are Gloxina or Sinningia sellovii, purchased at the Canby Spring Garden Fair from Secret Garden Growers. Pretty cool plant, I have to say.


 The Asclepias speciosa is done blooming and its seeds are coming. If you want any, let me know in the comments below and I'll gladly mail what I (will) have later this fall. Of course, we might place them in your house late at night so they take over your body when you go to sleep . . . and so the Invasion of the Body Snatchers continues! This is according to my husband, the movie-watcher!


 Like sparkling jewels, Sempervivum arachnoideum, also from Xera. They are really filling in nicely.


 Front walkway with Callistemon pityoides 'Mt. Kosciuszko' from Xera in the foreground.


 The front walkway.


 Some of my favorites for foliage color.


 More orange fun.


 I leave you with an image of the Podophyllum pleianthum in the shade garden.

Whew! That was a tour of a lot of plants. Just wait until we get into the gardens I visited on the Fling. There were images I would not have believed had I not seen them for myself. I will share them in the coming posts, savoring each photo as I re-live the tour that was an honor and a treat.

Thank you for reading and until next week, happy gardening!



Comments

  1. Oooh, I like that front walkway! I didn't get to see your garden on the Fling (I wasn't with the group on Saturday), so I'm looking forward to seeing others' posts about it. This is a nice preview.

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    1. Hi Alan...thank you! I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to come by, if you are ever in Portland again, you have an open door here :)
      I will start posting about the Fling next week...looking forward to your posts too and I love your blog!

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  2. Thanks for this delightful and colorful look at your garden. Looking forward to more of your posts about the Fling.

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    1. Hi Alison, you are so welcome! I will start posting about the Fling next week, so stay tuned! Hope to see you soon!

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  3. Lucy and Hobbes looks gorgeous! And nice to see shots of your fab garden again, looking even more vibrant now.

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    1. Aaaaaw, thank you! Lucy and Hobbes are definitely my garden buddies. Thanks for your kind words....any more development of a future Fling in your neck of the woods? :) I would SO come to that!!

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  4. It was such a treat seeing your garden on the Fling, Chickadee! I love your plant combos, use of color, and sense of fun. I'll be posting about my visit soon.

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    1. Hi Pam, it was great treat an honor to meet you! Thanks for your kind words, I will watch for your post. Thank you thank you :)

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  5. Absolutely beautiful! I just loved your garden. But my dog Lucy would have run all over everything and smashed it to bits with her waggy tail and long Basset body. Your Lucy looks less destructive. :o)

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    1. Aaaw, thank you Mariposa!! Ha ha...yes, a Basset would likely wag her way through the garden, mine is a bit of a dainty one :)

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  6. I love seeing the catties out and about in the yard! Man, everything looks so healthy and happy!

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    1. Kitties! The world revolves around kitties, kittehs, catties and The Furry Ones. Indeed.

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  7. You and that planter were meant to be. I'm so glad you won it! And your babies are so cute. Sigh.

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    1. We are a match made in heaven, I agree! I'm sooo grateful to have it, that thing is the BEST. BABIES!! Fur babies. They are sweet. Come over and visit them, they loooove attention.

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  8. I have to say, getting to finally meet (and pet) your kitties was the highlight of the Fling for me...if only I could have snuck one of them in my bag at the time, I would have :-)

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    1. Aaw, Scott, that's sweet of you :) If they ever go missing, I think I'll do a Rhone Street drive-by...hmmm.... good to know :)

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  9. I bought that Yucca pallida at Cistus when Gerhard, Mark, Gaz, and went back out on Monday. Love it! So glad you won the hover dish planter...

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    1. Great, you saw it too! I love it and hope I don't kill it...I think I need a bit of Danger spiky plant growing advice....

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  10. I kept thinking "how will she improve on perfection?" but I guess we will always find a place to squeeze in a few more plants. Your use of sempervivums encroaching on paths is going to find its way into mine.
    I think every person that toured your garden took some version of that podophylum shot.

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    1. Ricki, you are too kind :) My motto is "just one more", I'm sure many others have the same motto.

      Yes, the podophylum is something else, it used to have huge hostas next to it ( I didn't like them, I inherited them from the house) so replaced with smaller versions that will take some catching up...but we used to call it the Jurrasic Garden because of that.

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  11. Being a Portland native, I'm anxious to see your posts from the tour. How have I not been to one?! I'm in the Montavilla neighborhood and will be opening my garden for a tour for the first time ever on the 17th. Can you say, neurotically freaking out and buying annuals to fill in holes, much? :) It's gonna be fun, though. I believe the majority of the six gardens on the tour are mostly edibles. Including the Vestal Community and School Garden.
    Anywho, I love the photos of your front walkway. And the cats, of course. So sweet. Annnd, I'd love some seeds if they aren't all spoken for!

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    1. Hi Mindy....they will be coming! Next week is a post about Pomarius nursery, a fabby place that every Portlander must go to. Wow, sounds like a fun tour you are on...what is the tour title? Can anyone go? I'd love to see your garden! Freaking out is normal, believe me. But in the end, we're all gardeners and all just love seeing plants and meeting plant people, I am always overwhelmed with kindness of strangers when they come to our garden. I'll get you some seeds, too - send me your address and I'll drop some in the mail. Good luck on the 17th!!

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    2. The Facebook group that it started with is called Green Gardeners of Montavilla. It's a closed group, but the info is also on the Montavilla Neigborhood Association page. Here's the link to the Garden Tour post with times, a map, etc.: https://www.facebook.com/events/494396007363223/
      YES anyone is invited! Our house is at 10:00 am. That would be so fun if you could make it! If not, my address for the seeds is on the map. :)

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    3. Thank yo for the info! It looks wonderful, I'll try to get out there! I will wait for the Asclepias to go to seed and then send you a bit of a few things all at once.

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