at what point do you realize you have a problem?

I was thinking about this as I looked outside admiring my purple cordylines.  At what point do you realize you have a problem?  How many cordylines do I actually have?!  My initial response - to myself that is - was one of a qualifier. "Yeah but you see..." and thats when I knew, I have a cordyline problem.  But really, whats not to love?!

It's like they sing when planted in and amongst the greens and blues of the yard.  Maybe my real problem is for Kiwi plants in general.  Tree ferns, cordylines, flax - oh I love flax - and hebes are all favourites.  I wouldn't go as far as to say that my yard is predominantly Kiwi, but my plant family tree is definitely part Kiwi.

So how many cordylines do I actually have? Twelve... I think.  There used to be at least another half dozen purple cordylines but winter took care of those.  Maybe it's time for green?  Or how about a nice cordyline torbay dazzler?

Work in progress

So I talked about taming this jungle right?! Well work is in progress.  It started not with the Ivy but with extending and re-vamping the planting space that was already there.  On friday the new palm went into place. and I really can't even believe that it wasn't there all along!  It made the lonely smaller palm look like it really belonged where it was.  Before it felt like an abandoned palm in a jungle of ivy and weeds.  I always say palms look better in 3's but two will have to do (for now) in this planting space.  If the weather ever clears up the blues will really come out in those yuccas and agaves.

Here's a shot of the new palm.  I got this trachycarpus fortunei with my 32% off coupon... and best of all it was a bargain price to begin with.  So it kind of sealed the deal for me.  (please ignore the white pipe protruding from the ground... it is apart of a long term project of lighting the entire garden)

 You can see some of the new plantings here.  We brought in a bunch of manure and dug it in under the new palm to give it a bit of a boost.  There's still a fair bit of planting space both behind the old palm and all around the new one.  The yucca filamentosa in the first picture might go or get moved to the back to make room for something epic! Any suggestions?  I'm really concerned that I need some good contrast going on.  Every part of me is tempted to plant new zealand flax but I'm trying to think of a truly hardy alternative.  Like I said it is still very much a work in progress...

foliage follow-up

I never know which plants to highlight for a foliage follow-up.  But there are just certain ones that demand your attention.  Yucca gloriosa variegata comes to mind.  This has become a new staple for me.  A "go to" plant so to speak.

I know this one is on the verge of being bloom day esque but I couldn't resist.

Leccino olive ... is that what I think it is?

Yucca rostrata 'sapphire skies' is my newest plant love!

I love how when the sun hits them, they glow!  The only problem I foresee is an insatiable desire to purchase more and more of these gems.

Making its second foliage follow up appearance is this wonderful variegated hosta.  I don't know what the variety is called but it is one of the most vigorous in early spring for me.

The Shefster loving his new home. Sometimes I have to pinch myself... do I really have one of these?

Bananas are starting to put on some good size.  In a few short weeks this will look like a jungle.  Another must have plant for a PNW garden in my opinion.

Who could resist these luscious leaves?  If you are really adventurous you can even try cooking with them!

I can't say enough about Fatsia Japonica.  Not only do they look ultra tropical, but they are also super low maintenance.  Few plants looks this good year round.

Why do I only have one bamboo?!? I forget how much I love this thing.

These things are getting huge.  They kind of remind me of dino food.  If I were a longneck dinosaur - like Little Foot in The Land Before Time - I would munch on hostas for a snack!

up to no good again ...

Being up to no good is fun... fun when you are at a nursery.  Like most days off, I woke up scheming.  It started with my usual route, straight to Cedar Rim Nursery.  The yucca rostratas were calling out to be adopted by a good owner.  Worried sick about all the humans that would plant this treasure below the soil level or in full shade or something I knew I had to rescue one.  But then I got to walking around the nursery and I found a yucca rigida drowning in a waterlogged pot, wrongfully labeled as a rostrata and crying out for an intervention.  So on the cart it came at a bargain price.

The yucca rigida shows some signs of damage but I'm hoping it will make a nice rebound with summer and some better growing conditions.

This yucca rostrata seems really healthy.  But what is with all the rostratas being planted below the level of soil/mulch in their pots? I really don't get this.  I feel as though it will encourage people to transplant it the same way. hmmmm? I have not come up with a name, any suggestions?

I guess I should consider this phase one part A of my dry bed project.  I realized something very important.  I simply could not enlarge this space before revamping the existing garden space.  That would just feel wrong.  Believe it or not, all that was here was a small bunch of iris and some baby yucca filamentosa weeds.

All this planting had me inspired.  That and seeing danger garden's rhodo removal transformation I grabbed the saw and attacked an ugly rhodo.

The carnage!!!!

And what's better is I had a 32% off coupon for a nursery I just discovered by chance the other day.  And they are open late to boot! A couple hours later and a really bizarre palm tree packing job and this monster palm came home.  It will have to wait a couple of days to get planted but I'm pretty excited.

It's hard to tell, but this palm is around 7-8 feet to the top of the fronds in its nursery pot.

Counting down to summer

The countdown to summer is on and I for one can't wait. This "spring" - if that's what we call it - has been rough on my garden fervour. With all the rain and cool weather things have been feeling quite neglected. The weeds are a little larger than normal, the grass seems to get a little longer, and I have been curled up inside by the fireplace with blankets. But I feel as though I owe everyone an apology.  You see, I bought a solar lantern the other day which I'm sure is the reason why we have seen so little sun.  Maybe we all need to do some umbrella shopping? That is sure to bring out the sun!

Just one more week until calendar summer!! We are almost there! If we can figure out how to get the weather to cooperate we will be set.

Lovin' Loquats in the PNW

I am so excited this year about Loquats.  It's rare for me to find a tree that I love this much and then find out its hardy.  You see I have a natural affinity to zone 9 and 10 plants.  It always starts with my plant radar going mental.  I usually spot something in a nursery, heart racing I speed walk over to it, look at the tag and what do you know "USDA zone 9-10."  With the loquats, it almost feels too good to be true.  But then I run into specimens like this one in Port Coquitlam BC and I realize, they really are hardy.

This stunner of a loquat is growing in an exposed area right at near the edge of the driveway.  The google street view from a few years ago shows it with some minor damage to the foliage but it has obviously grown out of it.  What's odd is that loquats are still somewhat rare in nurseries in metro Vancouver - it baffles me!

Here's my little loquat enjoying some sunshine.  Despite the cool weather it seems to be pushing out  some new growth and settling into its pot nicely.  Seeing more and more loquats around looking so good makes me think I should find a nice place to plant this guy as a permanent fixture of the garden. #weekend projects

Can this jungle be tamed?

I don't often share any pictures from this part of the garden for a reason.  This is what ivy does when left unchecked in the PNW.  Mixed with blackberries and some other weeds that die off and look horrendous in the summer sun, something needs to be done.  If you've been following my recent nursery escapades, I've been considering taming the jungle for a nice dry garden bed.  With all that green it's hard to believe but this area is actually quite dry and bakes in the summer sun (if it decides to show up this year).

I would love to add a couple of nice yucca rostrata, a few agaves that deserve more sun than they are currently getting, dasylirion wheeleri (?), maybe a chamaerops humilis cerifera, sedums, and other drought tolerant plants.  It will have to be done in stages.  But it's time for phase 1.