The last thing I want to do nowadays is look backwards on this year! But, it wasn’t all bad and every year I take a moment to celebrate the plants that gave me the greatest joy over the growing season! Some are old favorites, some finally worked after years of trying and some are plant lusts I’ve dreamed of owning over the years! All are a reminder that this year hasn’t been a total s***show!

Here they are in no particular order! Enjoy!

Why it’s on the list: My queen returned to her former glory this season after a couple of off years! Magnificent!

Why it’s on the list: She’s an untidy and scraggly mess but when she is in full bloom, KAPOW!

Why it’s on the list: The single greatest plant purchase I’ve ever made. Stunning orange lanterns lighting the way to spring!

Why it’s on the list: The favorite of all my kniphofia – and there are many! It had a very good year.

Why it’s on the list: This combination just floored me. Give me all the kniphofias and eryngiums please!

Why it’s on the list: She NEVER disappoints! Another fabulous show this year.

Why it’s on the list: I want ALL the martagons (and I’m working on it!) This one really hit its stride this year!

Why it’s on the list: I just love this little weird guy and how it works and weaves its way in the dry garden.

Why it’s on the list: Because practice and patience does pay off! Third time really was a charm! SWOON!

Why it’s on the list: Little bright buttons of love that last and last and last and last! I want them everywhere!

Why it’s on the list: This is just one of many varieties of sisyrinchium in my garden. They provide endless amounts of bright blue and purple happiness all season!

Why it’s on the list: if you know me then you know orange is my jam. I’m not sure you’re going to find a better orange in a plant!

Why it’s on the list: I’m obsessed with plants that look like weeds. Plus, take a look at those flowers up close!

Why it’s on the list: I’m collecting agapanthus and this was my first, is my most reliable and most unusual. It’s getting a little out of control, though.

Why it’s on the list: Camassia is spring to me. Big blue floral sparklers of spring.

Why it’s on the list: A plant lust from a garden tour years ago finally come to life in my garden!

Why it’s on the list: Love, love, love these little beauties I’ve coveted in fellow blogger’s gardens for years. They had a very good first year!

Why it’s on the list: Because I can’t grow Lobelia tupa in my garden to save my life!!!! Lol, but, honestly, it’s gorgeous and I got it to survive a winter for the first time!

Why it’s on the list: I know it’s common as dirt but, come one, that color, that bloom time and every yellow swallowtail for miles wants a piece of it!

Why it’s on the list: This plant brings back memories of my childhood in New Orleans and I’m so excited that it seems to be thriving!

See you in 2021!

Last weekend would have been my HPSO (Hardy Plant Society of Oregon) Open Garden. It was a beautiful weekend and I was pleasantly surprised how many of my favorite things were reaching their peak just when I thought they might be! If you’ve ever hosted an Open Garden before, you know how rare it is to get the weather AND your plants to cooperate!

I thought it might be fun to jump on the virtual bandwagon and try my hand at a video tour of my front gardens. Since the garden beds are situated like peninsulas, it’s impossible to get a picture of what they look like so I think the video does a good job of capturing everything quite nicely.

The first video is of the two garden beds on front of the house and I included some pictures of a few of my favorite things!

This video is the hellstrip between my driveway and adjacent street. I’ve included some pictures, as well.

This is my shade/fern garden. It’s only a few years old so there isn’t a lot of height and the video didn’t seem to work. Here are some pictures instead.

The last part of my garden, the back yard, is currently not cooperating and will not be featured in this blog. Should it decide to get its act together then perhaps it will be featured in a later post.

I hope you enjoyed the tour and my shoddy camera work didn’t make you too woozy!

Happy Gardening and stay safe, happy and healthy!

 

 

 

 

There is not much happening in the garden at the moment. One thing for sure is I have a lot of work ahead of me once spring comes around! Here is a quick snapshot of the few blooms around Mardi Gras Gardens in mid January.

The grevilleas are definitely the stars of the show right now and are providing the hummers with winter sustenance. I don’t think there has been a time where I’ve walked by G. ‘Neil Bell’ and not seen one.

I’m guessing the mild winter so far has kept the leaves from dropping off my witch hazel but I don’t mind the color contrast at the moment.

This clematis is a favorite of mine and I’m looking forward to it maturing.

I have about a dozen hellebores throughout my garden but few of them have opened past the bud stage. I am in love with this H. ‘Silver Veil’ (those leaves!) and will be looking to add more to the garden this year.

What few hellebores that are opening are looking a little worse for wear like this one with all the rain we have had.

While today might feel a little bleak, there are signs of fabulous things to come!

Thank you to Carol from May Dreams Gardens  for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!

 

Over the past few years, I’ve wrapped up the gardening year with a “Best of Season” list featuring some of my favorite performers.  With every spring comes expectation, hope and anticipation and in a blink of an eye it’s over with a few dreams realized but a few hopes dashed, as well!  My recap blog has become a great way for documenting this roller coaster ride and and a telling commentary on my ever-changing taste in “favorite” plants! Here’s who made the list this year (in no particular order).

1. Feijoa sellowiana –

Why it’s on the list: Because it’s a survivor! I’d just about given up hope on this guy after each winter seemed like it would be the last. This year my patience was rewarded with several beautiful flowers and lots of new growth so I’m feeling confident it’s here to stay!

2. Kniphofia ‘Safronvogel’

Why it’s on the list: If I was ranking, this one would be a contender for #1! The almost luminescent apricot flowers burst forth in early summer and continue through the season. Kniphofia ‘Safronvogel’ is a prized member of my fairly large kniphofia collection.

3. Dierama drachomontanum

Why it’s on the list: I heart dieramas…BIG TIME! It took three years but this was the season I finally got to see this beauty in my garden. Not your mother’s dierama, this species has upright flowers rather that the more well-known pendulous “Angel Fishing Rods” and stopped me in my tracks in the display garden at Joy Creek Nursery

4. Lupinus albifrons 

Why it’s on the list: This plant shares a central theme with several others on this list – planted it, killed it, planted again, killed, ahhh, third times a charm! I could care less about the flowers because I’m obsessed with the silvery foliage! Full transparency, I’ve only managed to keep this alive for 8 months but that is about 5 months longer than any of its predecessors! Bonus, it is still looking glorious in late December!

5. Lilium martagon ‘Russian Morning’

Why it’s on the list: My experience with planting martagon bulbs has been a crap shoot. It seems with every two varieties I THINK I’ve planted I get one that is correct and the other is a surprise. While I was disappointed not to have the Lilium martagon ‘Album’ I expected, this beauty made a fabulous consolation prize!

6. Eryngium varifolium

Why it’s on the list: Eryngiums are another obsession of mine as documented in I’m the Mardi Gras Gardener and I have an eryngium problem. or one of my earliest posts Something Wicked This Way Comes…. where they were featured fairly prominently. E. varifolium has been a proven winner in my garden and this year reached almost two feet high with its magnificent barbed bracts! I love the contrast to the soft veiny leaves.

6. Eryngium aff. latifollum

Why it’s on the list: This eryngium was a clutch the pearls moment at Cistus Nursery several years ago. This majestic specimen maxes out at over six feet tall! This is a pollinator magnet and attracts the broadest array of anything else in my garden.

I think every gardener secretly likes to have their signature plant, you know, that one plant very few of their plant nerds friends grow and this is mine. I even squealed a bit when I googled it and found my blog on the first page!

7. Loropetulem c. ‘Zhuzhou Fuschia’

Why it’s on the list: How could it NOT be on the list with this flower power! This is another plant that I’ve watched struggle wondering if each year would be the last. Planted in a very open location in my front garden, it makes for a stunning display in late winter and early spring but also a target for the brutal winds and cold. It took about four years for the leaves to finally become the beautifully rich burgundy color they were when first planted rather than the weird green you see below in the picture.

8. Morina longfolia

Why it’s on the list: This wicked little beauty packs a bunch with its spiky leaves and dares you to get up close to see just how pretty it is! Bonus points for the unusual factor!

9. Eupatorium fortunei ‘Pink Frost’

Why it’s on the list: Joe Bye Weed + variegated = LOVE! Every once in a while I get lucky and find a plant that does exactly what I hoped it would. As my romance with sanguisorbas faded and I hastily ripped out a large Sanguisorba ‘Pink Tanna’, I needed a replacement for the spot that would provide the breezy movent I loved about sanguisorba but without the horrible floppsies after it got too tall. Enter Eupatorium fortunei ‘Pink Frost’ and its sturdy, tall stems and fabulous variegated foliage and lovely flowers.

11.Dahlia ‘Karma Fox Orange’ and Dahlia ‘Karma Lagoon’

Why they are on the list: This is the year I figured out how to grow dahlias – in a container! After years of rotted out tubers and floppy flowers, I had developed quite the distaste for dahlias and decided they were great as long as they were in someone else’s garden. This all changed when my twin sister moved in and she kept harassing me why I didn’t have her favorite flowers in my garden. During an early season visit to Garden Fever  I saw them roll out their first batch of dahlias and went crazy for the colors. I’d been waiting to find something for my sister’s patio and I knew these were the answer! She was thrilled and these babies lasted from April to November!

12. Salvia argenta

Why it’s on the list: I should write a blog called “To all the plants I’ve loved and lost” and this one would have a starring role. Like the Lupinus albifrons, it took several tries to finally get to see this stunner in my garden! Ironically, I think I dug it out and tossed it in the yard waste bin this fall because I’m not sure constantly babying those leaves is worth the short life of the flowers. At least I can say I did it once!

13. Kniphofia thompsonii var snowdenii

Why it’s on the list: I collect three plant species: Eryngium, Dierama and Kniphofia. I get teased for being slow at plant sales and nurseries because I’m usually making sure I don’t miss one of these that I don’t already have in my collection. Kniphofia thompsonii var snowdenii is the reigning favorite in my kniphofia collection and the one you will find all throughout my garden. I love the unique shape and its bright flowers in my favorite color!

14. Kniphofia pauciflora

Why it’s on the list: This is a second attempt at growing Kniphofia pauciflora after buying a mislabeled plant last year and I’m very happy I gave it another try!  The open and airy flower structure and solid yellow color making this unique kniphofia a new favorite in my collection!

15. Allium ‘Summer Drummer’

Why it’s on the list: You never know when garden inspiration will strike. I discovered these majestic alliums during a trip to Argyle Winery with some fellow bloggers and knew I had to have them in my garden! Even though it was late in the season, I lucked out and found some bulbs online and was able to get them in the ground in time. At about six feet tall, it’s amazing how sturdy they are and how perfect they remained throughout the year!

While only six of the ten bulbs produced for me, they were magnificent. I could not believe how sturdy and strong they were and have already multiplied nicely in just a year!

16. Sanguisorba minor ‘Little Angel’

Why it’s on the list: I’ve had a brief and torrid love affair with sanguisorbas. However, I quickly realized I have little tolerance for the floppy and messy ways of the taller varieties and narrowed my collection to just a couple ones of smaller stature. Smaller doesn’t necessarily mean lesser because this Sanguisorba minor ‘Little Angel’ has won my heart in big way.  This sanguisorba has incredible staying power and its dark burgundy flowers make a wonderful contrast to the fabulous variegated foliage.

17. Khiphofia ‘Shining Scepter’

Why it’s on the list: This was my first kniphofia and is one of the first plants I  purchased in 2014 at Xera Plants as fully immersed myself into gardening. The Kniphofia ‘Shining Scepter’ below is the second one I’ve added to my garden. I needed an early summer bloomer as a backdrop until the Inula magnifica becomes the star of the show in this part of the garden and it did not disappoint!

In 2014, my backyard was a blank slate but it took just two years for it to start taking shape as shown below in the side by side pictures.

18. Pennisetum macrourum

Why it’s on the list: This is another example of a plant that performed exactly the way I had hoped.  After months of searching for ideas for a focal plant for the raised bed in my front garden, I decided to try this Pennisetum macrourum. I’d seen it in full maturity at my friend and fellow blogger, Patricia’s (Plant Lust) garden and she talked me into trying it during one of our blogger plant swaps.  I’d developed a love for grasses over the years (see Smokin’ Grass! ) and thought its showy, tall, sturdy yet billowy seed heads might be the prefect solution!

While it took a decent part of the summer to fully realize, my patience was rewarded with exactly what I was hoping for! Much is said about the seediness of this plant so it may not last long but its brief time in the garden was just what I needed!

19. Echinacea pallida ‘Hula Dancer’

Why it’s on the list: This is a plant lust spanning 5 years. I’ve coveted this plant in my partner’s garden from the moment I saw it in 2014 and quickly realized it was impossible to find in a nursery! But after four years, thanks to the generosity of fellow blogger, Scott Rhone Street Gardens and Matthew The Lents Farmer, I was gifted divisions from their own gardens! While I was only rewarded with one flower from each due to poor siting, I am confident that future years will be more fruitful.

Echinacea pallida ‘Hula Dancer’ in the garden of Matthew Hubbard.

20. Parahebe perfoliata

Why it’s on the list: I gave this plant a job to do in my hell strip and it did not disappoint! I needed something that was going to give me year round structure, unique foliage and pops of blue flowers in the spring and I was so happy I peppered these throughout my entire hellstrip. I was surprised how quickly the new growth regenerated and that the flowers kept going and going all summer if I dead headed them! The maintenance was little tedious but I feel it was worth it!

21. Fabiana imbricata ‘Violocea’

Why it’s on the list: This was my first year participating in the Hardy Plant Society’s Open Garden Program. This Fabiana imbricata ‘Violocea’ was by far the most asked about plant in my collector’s garden. As I mentioned earlier, its fun to grow things not often seen in other garden and I love that the HPSO Open Garden program provides a way for us gardeners to share our little treasures with each other.

22. Lillum martagon ‘Orange Marmalade’

Why its on the list: It’s an ORANGE MARTAGON! Come on?!?! In all seriousness, it took a couple of tries to get this one after what I thought were bulbs for this ended up being another Lillium martagon ‘Claude Shride’. I’m excited to see it take off in the coming years!

23. Crocosmia ‘George Davidson’

Why it’s on the list: I’ve added many crocosmia over the past couple of years but this Crocosmia ‘George Davidson’ has been with me since the beginning. While it’s not the showiest or most unique, I do love the shorter grassy-like leaves and solid golden flowers with their staying power and reliability. Every garden needs its work horses and this is one of mine.

24. Symphytum x uplandicum ‘Axminster Gold’

Why it’s on the list:  I am definitely a flower floozy but I have an equal love for foliage  and the texture and interest they bring to the garden so when I espied this Symphytum x uplandicum ‘Axminster Gold’ during a tour of a fellow blogger’s garden, I knew I had to have it! Bonus points for the variegation!

Although not the star of the show, I do thing the flowers are pretty cute!

25. Mathiasella bupleuroides

Why it’s on the list: This plant is a fighter. Even after I dug it up, this Mathiasella bupleuroides came back the next year bigger and better but still took several years to produce its first flowers! This summer I was finally rewarded with these fabulous, alien-looking flowers that kept coming and coming all season!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! Just a few more months until we get to do this all over again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you know me as a gardener, you know I have an obsession with eryngiums. Some of you even have witnessed a “clutch the pearls” moment where I’ve seen one in a garden or I’ve discovered another treasure to add to my collection! Once I graduated out of the Home Depot years of plant shopping, this genus became one of my favorites (it was part of my Holy Trinity) and my love for them has increased exponentially. You can always find me digging around in the “e” section of the perennials at any nursery hoping to find one I’ve never seen before!

I’ve been wanting to feature my collection on my blog for some time and I’ve been waiting for just the right time of the season.

This Eryngium agavifolium was my first eryngium. It was gifted to me by The Lents Farmer about 5 years ago. Since then it was provided multiple offspring throughout my garden but it seems happiest in its original spot.

This Eryngium lattifolium is my pride and joy. It checks off every box of weird, wacky and dangerous which are my favorite elements of a plant. At its peak it will hit about 7 feet tall! SWOON! A special thanks to Cistus Nursery for this bizarre and beautiful eryngium!

This Eryngium ‘Blue Sapphire’ is a scene stealer!

Can’t wait for this to put on some size. So pretty!

There’s always room for an eryngium!

Praise be! I thought I lost this one but as a wise man once said “Plant’s want to live”. This Eryngium maritimum is one of the most unique in my collection and I’m on the hunt for more! Oh those blue/green leaves!

If you are looking for an architectural plant, this Eryngium varifolium is for you! But watch out! It’s a feisty one!

This Eryngium p. lesseauxii’s home has turned into a shade garden so I’m happy for it’s single flower stalk this year. Eryngium’s don’t seem to like being moved so I bought another one for a more sunny location!

I have killed more Eryngium bourgatii’s than I care to remember. I finally splurged this spring and bought one in a gallon container and it looks like I may finally have one survive!

I bought these two Eryngium “Big Blue” at the same time as the Eryngium bourgatii. Oddly enough they don’t seem very big or very blue but we will see how they mature.

Remember the “clutch the pearls” comment I made earlier? Well, at our semi-annual blogger swap this spring the wonderful Bonnie Lassie had brought a couple of Eryngium “Neptune’s Gold” – in gallon pots! I’ve killed more Eryngium ‘Neptune’s Gold” than I have Eryngium bourgatii so I was over the moon to see such large, healthy specimens! Thank you again, Allison! It is very happy!

I have yet to have the pleasure of seeing this Eryngium proteiflorum flower. It’s in a bad spot but I’m hoping for the best. It’s beautiful anyway, right?

This little guy packs a big punch! If you plant Eryngium venustum, make sure you give it some space because it’s leaves are vicious.

What a difference placement in your garden can make. I have had this Eryngium yuccifolium in my backyard in clay soil and partial sun for 4 years and it has always formed this perfectly well-behaved and today clump with 2-3 foot stalks.

Fast forward to last year and this one was planted in full sun with crappy soil and it skyrocketed into a gangly tower of goodness!

My Eryngium ‘Jade Frost’ is a victim of my cramscaping days and has to stretch for the light that it craves. After several years, it’s leaves have finally all reverted and lost all variegation. I’m not sure I’m ready to replace it.

A special thank you to Tamara at Chickadee Gardens for the seedling of Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Wilmott’s Ghost’. Fingers crossed for its survival! I’m very excited to see Eryngium amethystinum mature but I think I’ll try to move it before it’s too late because it’s not getting enough sun.

Next up….Kniphofia madness!