Southlands in July

Before heading out to Stanley Park last weekend, I decided a trip to Southlands was imperative. My dear friend Becca, who works there, was celebrating a birthday and so I had extra incentive to stop by for a birthday surprise. And boy was it a good day! I don't remember there to be as many agaves and plant lusts any other time.  And like most trips, I started my rounds in the happiest place of all, the agaves.

Why didn't I get this 'silver surfer' agave? I don't even remember. sad.

Perhaps it was that there were just so many of these little guys I didn't even know where to begin.  This one comes with a pup... and maybe a pet spider.

If you couldn't already tell, I'll have to be making a return agave trip.

Thankfully this brahea armata was tagged as not for sale... otherwise I might have had to break the bank.

But some plants require breaking the bank.

Oh how I wish I could tell you all I bought the big agave medio picta alba....

But I did get this little one!  It spoke to my heart.... it said "looouis I belong with you!"

Ouch! This is what I'm talking about! I love seeing opuntia.  The only problem is that I rarely see labelled opuntia! hmmm... any opuntia experts have an ID?

My secret wish is to have my very own opuntia ID"ing" angel on my shoulder.  One that would whisper into my ears ... "it's hardy, it will grow for you, you should buy it!"

Moving outside I was blinded with colour.  It's as though the phormiums have secret abilities to lure me.  It's always the color that stops me.  Then the form.  Then imagining just where it belongs in my garden.  And before long I consider not buying one, but all of them!  Thankfully with an agave in one hand and camera in the other I walked right on by.

But there were more.

and more.  "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming ...."  In other words, don't stop, keep walking.

Oh those canes... EPIC!

And what's this? A dwarf olive!!! And a beautiful one at that.  This might be worth a trip back for.  Imagine a beautiful terra cotta with a somewhat weathered look and this amazing little plant.

I can see it all now.  This is truly an inspired display.  Am I in Vancouver or Italy?

Moving to the shade section... Of course they would have plenty of dicksonia antarctica to tempt me with.

What's amazing is how Southlands provides equal pottery lust as plant lust.

Spotted - Scheffleras.  It says schefflera taiwaniana 'yuan shan' but I'm beginning to think it may be another variety.  Anyways, if anyone in Vancouver has been lusting after a schefflera, Southlands has two left!!

Remember me saying I needed more yucca 'bright star' in my life? Well this one definitely came home with me.

Air plant heaven.  Southlands always seems to have the best display of tillandsias around.  I wanted to bring them all home.  They are just so wonderfully creepy.

I should warn anyone that visits Southlands, it's impossible to leave without buying something.

I'm not a bromeliad whisperer ... yet.  I can see some major bromeliad purchases in my near future after walking through this greenhouse.

And I'll certainly be coming back for one of these wonderful hibiscus standards.

There can be some serious strategy in leaving some plants for next time.  That is, you guarantee next time comes quickly because you absolutely must have it!

I don't know that I have ever been to a nursery as beautiful as Southlands.  Everything is a feast for the eyes.

I could have filled that nursery cart many times over!! Next time. (I say that often, eh?)

Stanley Park

Summer is here in the PNW!! There is a change in the air. Not just being warmer, but in peoples spirit. Everyone has a look and sense of euphoria. I headed out to Stanley Park on the weekend to take in the sun, people watching, beach and great gardens!

Aeoniums were planted all over!

I love these black ones especially with the nice yucca gloriosa in the background.  These were taken in front of the restaurant at the Malkin Bowl.

Succulents anyone? I don't think I have ever seen more echeveria in my entire life.

 They almost look like a blanket of snow - the only kind of snow I like, blankets of pale icy blue echeveria!!!

Phormium surfer I believe....

Danger! I think I shrieked when I saw this pair of epic agave americana (you can faintly make out the one in the background).

This guy had been largely de-spiked... too bad.

I'm always amazed at how good the zone 8/9 plants looks at stanley park.... sigh.

What do you suppose this is supposed to be?

Succulent art of some kind.  I was enamoured by all these wonderful echeveria.

I'm thinking it's some kind of possessed clown.  It's creepy but a twisted side of me likes it.  If I envision the smily face to be mountains, the nose to be the sun, and the eyes/brows to be the clouds it almost becomes an even more epic landscape.  hmmm.. this could be a fun game.

I could literally spend hours exploring the gardens of Stanley Park.  Unfortunately we had some sort of schedule to keep.  Next time.

I absolutely need these!!! Prickly flowers... does it get any better?

fern lovin'

Recently, I find myself in a rather happy kind of place.  You see the sun has been shining, temperatures hot, and an overwhelming sense of happiness that it is now summer.  With all the happiness of summer I am left with one emotion ... love.  I love summer.  So its no coincidence that I can't help but share my garden loves.  Today, ferns.  Either I'm super PNWesterner and it's just in my dna, or there is something extra special about these wonderful plants.  To me, they are both lush/tropical, and rustic/woodland all at the same time.  Whats not to love about that?

Dicksonia Antarctica has to be one of my favourite of all the ferns.  Tender in our zone 8 climate but well worth it.  This one I got at the Pacific Northwest Palm and Exotic Plant Society plant sale a while back has the longest fronds of any Dicksonia Antarctica I have seen for a fern of this size.  Maybe it will be a vigorous grower for me (wishful thinking I know).

Ferns ferns ferns.  They pop up everywhere in the yard and I never really seem to mind.

One of my favourite things is watching the fiddle heads develop and unfurl like this one.

Slowly the small and compacted little fiddle heads turn into graceful fronds.

Hopefully one day my tree ferns will look like these ones (Pooh Corner - Disneyland).

Or these beauties planted along side chamaerops humils (Disney's California Adventure Park).  It just goes to show their versatility to be grown in both sun or shade.

Keeping with the Disney theme, "FERNS are friends, not food!" Well fiddle heads are, but I've never been able to eat them for the reason that I feel as though I'm killing a fern.

Yucca love

I love yuccas! Yes, I said it.  A few years ago I would have told you that I really really liked yuccas.  But my affections have grown for these wonderful plants into an outright obsession. I find myself doing late night yucca searches.  Sketching plans of where a perfect yucca might go in the garden.  The obsession has even grown to consider cross country shipping of the perfect yucca rostrata.  While I once thought of this as the year of the agave, I think its safe to add yucca to that title.  I hereby declare this the year of the agave AND yucca!

I'm not exactly sure which one this is.  It looks somewhat different than most yucca 'color gaurd' that I have seen around.

These things send out maybe 50 new yuccas each year all around the base. Its hard work to keep them tamed but soo worth when you get to enjoy this in the summertime!

Yucca gloriosa recurvifolia 'bright star.'  I am hoping for good things with this one  After one winter in the ground it looks pretty good.  From what I have seen they get some brown spots during our cool wet winters.  But after seeing large ones in pictures from So. Cal I am super excited!

I love how different all the yuccas are.  I don't know where I would be without my yucca gloriosa variegatas.  For me, this is the new "flax."

And the new to me yuccas .... Yucca Rostrata!

yucca rigida... this one is recovering from being in a water logged nursery pot.  It was more of a yucca rescue and with some nearly 90F heat this weekend I'm hoping this guy will be happy.  (look two more yuccas filamentosa have sprouted up in the last couple weeks ... They are everywhere!)

And lastly the dynamic duo... Yucca rostra 'sapphire skies.'

Olive blooms... finally.

First off, happy 4th of July to all my American friends!!! But you see July is the special month and need be celebrated everyday.  It always starts with the Canada Day shibang, Birthday week - sometimes month - of course, the 4th, the sunshine month (therefore the happy month)... I think you get what I'm saying.  But boy oh boy, July came in with a bang this year.  I think the weather is officially bi-polar.  I spent my birthday inside commiserating over the torrential downpours, wind, and highs of 68F.  I think the coldest it has ever been.  But then, like a glimmer of hope, the clouds broke and shone down a garden surprise.  My Arbequina Olive tree that has been "about to bloom" since March finally bloomed!  So I frolicked through the overgrown wet grass to gaze upon its beauty.

I just love the dark almost blue green of the older growth!!

And the tender new growth coming along nicely.