Loree Bohl's Blog

We're back at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden for the second half of my visit last June, 2023. If you've read any of my previous posts on the RSBG you know it's not just Rhododendrons—there are a whole lot of ferns there too, including many pyrrosia. This pyrrosia planting in that hollowed out log is one of my favorites.
This one is nearby...

I can't give you definitive ID on either, which is both frustrating (you'll see a lot of things in this garden that are rare in cultivation and thus hard to find) and fabulous (cool new plants to lust after!)
Speaking of cool, don't we all want a moss-covered fallen tree stump to plant up with treasures?

Rhododendron calophytum var. calophytum

Rhododendron glischrum ssp. rude (seriously)

So fuzzy!

So colorful...

Why plant just one scheffflera (maybe S. delavayi) when you can plant three?

Pyrrosia sheareri in the lower right hand corner.

This is one of the entrances to the stumpery section of the garden, that's a tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) on the left.

Cyrtomium (a genus of about 35 species of ferns), but I'm not sure which ones.
Scenes from the stumpery...

Cardiocrinum giganteum

Pretty fantastic aren't they?

Lonicera crassifolia blooming on the stump.

Ferns and ferns! (one of them a fabulous pyrrosia)

Yes, that one...

Blechnum penna-marina (Austroblechnum penna-marina, alpine water fern)

Cardiocrinum giganteum on the right now. I might be repeating myself/my photos from the opposite side, but when it's all this beautiful, who cares?



Onoclea sensibilis, the sensitive fern



This wall-o-rhododendron is R. williamsianum. Look at that mass of foliage...

And then consider that I have two of these planted in my small garden. (Oh my!)

Towards the alpine rock garden now, on my way to the exit.

And just one more photo, of what might be Adiantum pedatum ‘Imbricatum’. Hope you enjoyed this walk around the RSBG, if you're coming to the Puget Sound Fling in July you'll be visiting the garden yourself!

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

On my way back to Portland from the Vancouver BC 2023 Study Weekend event I made a stop at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way, WA. I tend to visit the garden in February (on my way to the NW Flower and Garden Fest) and in the fall when I visit Seattle friends. Summer visits are rare...
I have absolutely no idea what this green flowered beauty is, it's located on the pathway to the garden entrance.

A flower close-up.
Inside the garden now, Rhododendron yuefengense (I think?)
Rhododendron 'Ever Red'

Aka Rhododendron 'Ever Lusting After' (cause I can't seem to get my hands one, or at least one that lives long enough to be planted in the garden)

Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilim

A late June visit isn't prime rhododendron bloom time, but since I love this genus for the foliage, not the flowers, it was a great time for me to wander the garden. Rhododendron proteoides...

Rhododendron alutaceum var alutaceum

There were many handsome specimens that I didn't get the name of, that won't stop me from sharing their photos...

Maybe Rhododendron thayerianum?


Love this cement or hypertufa container.

I have no idea what this adorable little guy is.

I'm pretty sure the plant in the 12:00 position is a cassiope.

Check out that foliage! Who needs flowers? Who wants flowers? Not I...


Colorful tomentum and foliage pleats, I *swoon*...

Visiting an old friend, Dryopteris polylepis...

And meeting a new friend...

Dryopteris decipiens (I have no idea what the green fronds are)

Maybe Rhododendron macabeanum?


Rhododendron cardiobasis


On the ground plane is Blechnum chilense aka Parablechnum cordatum, the Chilean hard fern.

An entire sea of it! (I love it so)

Rhododendron fortunei ssp. fortunei

Maybe Rhododendron 'Golfer'?

I couldn't manage to pare down my photos to a quantity fit for just one post, so we'll be back at the RSBG on Friday!

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Winter was not kind to the area just south of our front door. The main issue was the near death of the Feijoa sellowiana (pineapple guava), the leafy shrub in the large container. Photo from last September...
It may have recovered, but this was the fourth or fifth time it's completely defoliated with a winter storm. I planted it as an evergreen, I wanted an evergreen. It was time to cut my losses. This photo is from February 10th. I'd cut back the plant, but not removed it from the pot. that was going to be a job! The brown leaves at the front of the container belong to Loropetalum Jazz Hands (a mini fringe flower), I'd left it hoping it would show signs of life, but no.

I finally tackled the stump removal a few weeks ago. Andrew was willing to get involved, but I needed to remove as much soil as possible first. Hours of digging, cutting roots, more digging...

The final removal called for tipping the container on its side (as much as we could in the tight space) and rocking out the stump...

Empty! I also removed several Calluna vulgaris in the area, they'd become overgrown and ugly, only the one on the far left was allowed to remain.

Sadly there was agave damage. I tried so hard to make sure the big Agave 'Baccarat' remained flawless, but two tips were damaged when the pot was being rocked on its side and the stump pulled out. Dammit! Thankfully the damage remains pretty invisible unless you look close. 

Unfortunately it does make those leaves susceptible to rot, I'll be watching them.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to put in the container: various shrubs were considered, removing the container and planting something in the ground was a possibility. Of course I thought about an agave, and came very close to planting it up with an Agave ovatifolia to mirror the pair on the other side of the porch. In the end I decided on a Yucca rostrata. There are three other Y. rostrata in the front garden (and a Y. linearifolia) and I love the look. I was hoping for one with a small trunk, but I fell in love with this one at Cistus. 

It's on the verge of trunking, and since the others around the front garden already have trunks of various sizes I thought it would be fun to watch this grow and catch up. I took advantage of the extra space in the container—and used some thin-rocks I'd scored on our neighborhood Buy Nothing Facebook page—to underplant with some rock-garden-ish plants.

Various sempervivum, opuntia cuttings, and a Saxifraga 'Whitehills' fill the spaces around the rocks—rocks which are much larger than they appear here, they are buried in the soil and pea gravel. They help to raise up the small plants and provide their roots with a nice drainage run down between the rocks.




I couldn't resist the dark tint to the sea-thrift, Armeria maritima 'Rubra'.

This is the first time I've grown this plant and hope it will like these conditions (in case you're wondering, yes, pink flowers! But I've made peace with those in the front garden).

I'm stopping short of calling this rock-filled planting a crevice garden, even though I did create crevices and plant them. I don't think nine rocks make a crevice garden.

Draba hispanica

Looks like one of the sempervivum as decided to bloom.

Maihuenia poeppigii on the right.

One Armeria maritima went in the ground in front of the container, joined by the Digitalis ferruginea (rusty foxglove) I brought home from my visit to Old Goat Farm, you can see a couple in the background, upper left.

There are lots of sempervivum in the ground around the area and I am thrilled it looks like Acaena inermis ‘Purpurea’ (the small purple leaves) might finally be taking hold in my garden. I've tried this plant in so many places!

In a large metal pot to the side of the profiled container is a Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Chirimen' and more sempervivum. I thought the conifer was dying when I saw the brown bits, but no—those are pollen producing cones. Oh so much pollen!

The tall oddly shaped plant in a container on the far left is a Microcachrys tetragona, the Creeping Strawberry Pine from Tasmania. The container on the far right holds a Helleborus 'Red Sapphire'. The small agaves in containers were in the shade pavilion greenhouse over the winter, the other containers will all stay in place throughout the year.

I quite like how the reworked area has turned out, and I know our mail carrier much prefers the easy access to the mailbox (the glowing metal box next to the front door), and not having to fight through the branches of the Feijoa sellowiana. It will be interesting to see how fast (or not) the Yucca rostrata grows. I have a friend (the one who engineered this caper) who has a few big boys growing in large pots so I know it will be happy for years.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

The Ketchum garden was another one of last June's Study Weekend stops that everyone was talking about ("have you been to the...?" "what did you think of the...?"). Because I'd heard the buzz I was prepared for the crush of visitors. The garden was packed, but somehow I managed to not get people in most of my photos.
The front garden included water and a bridge to the front door...

From our event booklet: "My collector's shade garden is nestled in front of a conifer forest which offers and aura of serenity. The entrance garden features a large natural pond, which adds reflective light, movement, and sound...This garden reflects the juxtaposition of plants, shrubs, and trees with texture, size, shape, and colours. My favorite plants are Arisaemas, Podophyllums, Calycanthus, Magnolia 'Woodsman', Moon maple, and 'Koto-no-ito' maple."
It's not every house that you access via a bridge...

It was all very green and lush.



Such an unusual and substantial garden wall.

And then I looked up...

And back down...

Love the varied trough styles.

And the foliage, such great foliage in this garden! Impatiens omeiana



Podophyllum for the win! I do not for the life of me know how I managed a photo with no shoes in it. I remember standing here in this pathway waiting, waiting, waiting to be able to take a shot and move a few feet. There were so many people!

Podophyllum difforme 'Starfish Strain'

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty'

And another Podophyllum difforme 'Starfish Strain' 

Rhododendron williamsianum

More orchid foliage (Cypripedium formosanum) this may have been THE plant of the weekend!

A great rhododendron with tomentum covered new foliage.

This charming small greenhouse was along the side of the house as you made your way back out front.

Rabbit's foot fern living up to it's (common) name.

Another trough planting.

And just like that I'm back at the front of the house, the entrance that doesn't involve a bridge over water...

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Spring is doing its best to try and make me forget about the damage of winter. I appreciate the effort and I'm enjoying the heck out of it. But I'm still feeling the burn! That said I want to share with you some of the good things happening in the garden right now.
New growth on the daphniphyllum is always bright and gorgeous. Below is the variegated plant, Daphniphyllum macropodum 'Ki Midori Nakafu'—the leaves start out chartreuse and as they mellow the variegation shows up.

And this the straight up Daphniphyllum macropodum...(no variegation).

Another shot of the variegated version, with flowers (they never get much better than that). I had a third plant, non variegated, but was in a container and it looks like the winter storm was too much for it. Bummer.

Doing my annual cut back on the Akebia longeracemosa 'Victor's Secret' (it wants to own the entire garden, plus the one next door) I noticed the fantastic lichen on the fence. 

The fence was built in early 2014, and I still think of it as new. In reality 10 years have passed.

Here's the akebia. I love the foliage almost as much as the flowers (which are on the way).

In the same general area is the Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida’ (Cutleaf Emperor Oak), also dating to 2014 for when it was planted in my garden.
This entire area was newly planted that spring, and then the 2014 Portland Fling happened that July. I look back on how new everything was then and cringe at the fact almost 100 people were here to see the baby plants!

Speaking of baby, the new quercus foliage is adorable, covered with peach fuzz.
One of the mahonia that is recovering from the winter die-back, M. x media 'Marvel'...

Neither of my Schefflera delavayi missed a beat over the winter, and the new growth is always spectacular. 

Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron' with a pyrrosia planting that spent all winter hanging on the fence, except for the week of horrid temperatures when it was tucked into the greenhouse.

Another view of 'Night Heron'.

Fertile fronds of Struthiopteris spicant, aka Blechnum spicant, aka deer fern.

I'm so thrilled that my Convallaria majalis 'Aureovariegata' (variegated lily of the valley) is bulking up. Thankfully the foliage is more important to me than the flowers, as I have only two stems of blooms.

This photo is a couple weeks old now (taken 4/14) and things have already changed, but I love the combo of new fronds on the Adiantum venustum (Himalayan maidenhair) with the Veratrum californicum and Podophyllum peltatum.

Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern) with it's spectacular brown outline—which only lasts a few days before it fades to green.

The fine black lines of Adiantum venustum fronds.

New pyrrosia leaves/fronds are adorable, don't you think?

Paris quadrifolia

Epimedium × rubrum, this plant looked great even after the winter storm, thus I added five more to the garden.

Clematis 'Pixie' blooms.

Blechnum penna-marina, aka Austroblechnum penna-marina, aka alpine water fern

Magnolia  laevifolia

Such a fabulous small flower.

Speaking of small flowers, Saxifraga × urbium 'Aureopunctata' is sending up tiny little flowers all over the garden. Hundreds of them. I am trying so hard to like them and not be annoyed by them. Somedays it works, others—not so much.

Aquilegia viridiflora Chocolate Soldier’

Pacific Coast Iris hybrid ‘Wildberry Shortcake’

Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Rainbow' (L) with the blooms of Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Series' (R).

That lewisia again.

And another, so VIBRANT it wants to break the camera every time. NoID.

Last shot, this from inside the house. I cut back my Rhododendron laramie in February, it was leggy and suffering damage from the winter storm.. Naturally I stuck the bits I cut in water, and what do you know, they've pushed out new foliage. No roots, but definitely responsible for weeks of "in a vase" enjoyment. Plants are amazing!

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

We took down the walls of the shade pavilion greenhouse on April 21st, or as Andrew had taken to calling it, the plant fort. It's such a good feeling, Having all of the garden open again, even if it looks a little empty under there...
Photo from last summer, to show the way I like to see it.

As we were working Andrew caught site of a funnel (used as a planter) that I'd stuck into one of the holes on the metal top of the step, that's when he said the words that I've used to title this post "No. That is not a funnel holder." (I'd been walking around looking for a bit of ground to push it into, where it would be out of the way, and I swear there was a light bulb above my head when I dropped it into the step hole).

I don't think he was so much opposed to the idea of a funnel, as he was anything that would obscure the step. What he wasn't factoring in was that I'd successfully grouped plants at the edges of the step last year. Nobody tripped, nobody was hurt...

Why should funnels be any different? (2023 version above, 2024 as it is currently below).

So in case you didn't get where I was going with this, I'm all in with funnels as planters on the step. It's just too perfect!
There's one filled with a begonia that I received as B. sp. UI64 Michael Wicledon Collection that has been bumping around the garden for a couple of years, it's not fully hardy so it spent the winter months on my desk in the basement.

Hosta 'Cameo'—a miniature hosta with a mature size of  just 4" x 8"—was already in another funnel planter. It spent last summer tucked into a fluted planter with other shade lovers (this planter).

Since two funnels didn't seem quite right I decided to take the cactus that had been in my original funnel planter out (the step [aka funnel holder] is not in a sunny spot, so not suitable for a cactus), and put in something new, a semi shade lover. Three seemed like the perfect number. This one is a vintage motor-oil funnel with a flexible tube attached to the bottom. After years of being used as a planter the tube had rusted and was ready to break apart with just a twist of my wrist.

I looked around at my assembled crew of possibilities (all the plants I've bought that don't yet have homes) and decided this sweet little Pyrrosia davidii from Far Reaches Farm was just the thing.

Once I'd planted it up and grouped the trio for their photo-shoot, I realized there was a already a third; this one much larger (too big for the step holes) and planted up with a Pyrrosia polydactyla. That funnel is tucked into a very heavy metal base Andrew found for me.

So, back to the funnels in the step—the step which is NOT a funnel holder.

I love them.

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Back in January of 2023 I wrote about visiting the Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop's Close for what I feared might be the last time. The property had been put up for sale and it looked prime for a developer to buy the large parcel and divide it into smaller lots. Thankfully (surprisingly) that's not what happened! From the Spring 2024 edition of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's Quarterly magazine: "Elk Rock Garden is the legacy of Peter Kerr, a grain merchant originally from Scotland, who moved to the land in 1893 and purchased it in 1905. The 1916 manor house was built for Kerr and his family on a site selected for its Mount Hood view. Although Kerr hired John Olmstead of the Olmstead Brothers landscape architecture firm to evaluate the site and Portland’s first superintendent of parks to develop a planting scheme, it is understood that Kerr largely followed his own inclinations in creating what now may be the oldest private estate garden in the Pacific Northwest. It features an extensive plant collection, including rare and native trees, shrubs, and perennials, many of which are labeled. A winding stream, edged with lush plantings, ferns, and moss-covered rock, is a particular highlight."
"After Peter Kerr’s 1957 death, his family made an endowed gift of the estate to the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. The diocese occupied the two-story mansion for more than six decades, a period during which the public was able to enjoy the magnificent gardens. In late 2022, the diocese announced that it was selling the property, then known as Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop’s Close. For several months, the future of the garden appeared to be uncertain. Then in July 2023, Kerr descendants, through the Elk Rock Garden Foundation, purchased the nine-acre estate, saving the historic garden and generously ensuring public access to this botanical treasure."
My visits have always included a look at these trough planters that came to Elk Rock Garden after the closing of another local garden that I was never able to visit, the Berry Botanic Garden.

As as you may have inferred from the title of this post, the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon has a new home at the garden. This is very exciting news for society members! The HPSO has moved offices a few times over it's 28-year history, most recently to a less than inspiring (but affordable!) office off a main street in South Portland. Now the offices (and someday the lending library) are in the manor house at the garden. It's just such a perfect match. 

My visits to this garden have always seemed to take place in the fall and winter, after all spring and summer are just too busy in my own garden and often include travel plans. In February this part of the garden is alive with color as the hamamelis (witch hazel) are in bloom.

It was such a change to see the trees all leafed out and the area alive with spring green.

The reason for my April visit was a tour with the HPSO Eastside gardener's group. We all descended upon the garden, had a good walk about, and then met up inside the home for a tour and tea. Yes, inside the home! After visiting for over 10 years and wondering about the home I was finally able to go inside!
But first, a few more photos in the garden. I usually catch this Wisteria sinensis 'Alba' after it's lost its leaves and is just a gnarly old trunk. This visit I got to see (and smell) the flowers!


The Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress' here look better than in many gardens around town (winter damage).

Pacific Coast iris


This pedestal (and it's twin across the pathway) is usually topped by an urn, recently planted with a sculptural dark-leaved astelia. 

Well, at least it's still nearby.

Looking across the front parking area...

Maybe Rhododendron 'Medusa'? A Facebook friend posted a photo of his blooming plant by that name and it looked quite similar.

The house from across the garden.

Loropetalum chinense 'Pipa's Red'

I couldn't decide which photo I liked better, so you get both.

Even though I live in the land of ginormous rhododendrons it still inspires awe when I see a house-sized one.



Much smaller than the rhododendron, this pieris was certainly just as impressive, with that blood-red foliage.

A look east across the Willamette River towards Mt Hood, that's a million dollar (+) view.

Laburnum

Their Rhododendron sinograde was looking quite sad too (like mine and many others here in the PNW), still, it bloomed.

I didn't catch the name of this purple rhody, it's color change from the typical shades of pink was appreciated.

Okay, a couple of photos from inside the house. First off, the front entry door is behind me, but the hallway shoots straight through to another door that opens next to the huge white wisteria I shared earlier at the back of the house.

It's a door to that opens to the million dollar view of Mt Hood in the distance (it's there, look closely).

The dining room with its long table and wide mantel.

As a person with a background in historic lighting I couldn't help but be horrified at the many florescent box lights that had been mounted throughout the house. There were several questionable choices made throughout the years as updates happened. What were they thinking!?! 

Ending on a better note, this piece of furniture (which had me thinking of a baptismal font—after all the mansion had very recently been the home of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon—but no doubt I'm wrong) held a great selection of houseplants in a sunny window. 
A big thank you to the Kerr descendants for keeping the property from being sold off and developed. You've preserved a piece of your own history as well as one for all of Portland. I have no doubt there are great things ahead for the match-up of the Elk Rock Garden Foundation and the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, If you'd like to visit the garden it's open (free of charge) Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. More info here.
—   —   —
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This stop during the Vancouver BC Study Weekend event felt different from the rest, like the garden was specifically meant to be enjoyed as an extension of the house. I do wish that we'd have been allowed to tour the house as well as the outside areas.
The description: "The garden of  Elise Girardin in North Vancouver sits on the edge of a ravine, under a canopy of Doug Firs. A gem of a garden wrapping around a recently renovated mid-century home. From shady front to a sunny back, it has many interesting plant choices and combinations." (a very understated description!)
Every person I saw respected the "lawn" as a no walking zone and used the curvy border to venture out across the front garden.

The materials met in an artistic fashion.

Another swing that I didn't make use of (there was a similar one in Monday's post).

Walking into the back garden the swing made sense as part of a playtime trend.

Turning to the right...

What a fantastic pool.

With plants surrounding it, of course.


Behind the trampoline was this fun fort/A-frame.


The temptation to play was strong!

The views from the back of the house must be amazing.

In the trees at the back of the property now.

Looks like a nice office/studio going in over-looking the ravine.

It goes down, down, down from there...

Making good use of fallen moss.

Allium seeds

Robinia pseudoacacia Twisty Baby

Magnolia virginiana 'Moonglow'

A different view of the pool and play area.

And the back patio with those huge windows.

A final look back out towards the garden.

The fabulous use of materials continues around this side of the house.

And this garden visit draws to a close...

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Today we're headed back to June in Vancouver BC and the 2023 Study Weekend garden tours. First up is Diana Hume's garden, if I'd been with friends (or not on a tight schedule) I might have found that swing impossible to resist...
From our tour booklet: "This older 1920’s/1950’s 2/3 of an acre character house and garden has a bit of everything; from trees, including the old apple orchard that was originally here, shrubs, vegetables, herbs… many of the plants have been started from seed. There is also a greenhouse which mainly houses citrus trees in winter, seedlings too when appropriate."

I love it when gardeners have work spaces open for us to explore.




There's the greenhouse. I intended to get closer and snap a photo or two but never did.

Those wheelbarrows look like they're about to be called into action.

This garden seemed like an old friend. Comfortable to walk thru, like I really could have just sat down and spent the afternoon.




Wide swaths of orchid foliage (Cypripedium formosanum I believe?) were a common sight in the Vancouver gardens we toured.




Imagine when those plants at the base of the stairs are producing ripe tomatoes and the geraniums, stairsteps, and tomatoes are all displaying pops of red...

Now we've jumped to Delphia Johnstone's garden: "Thirty years in the making, this garden is full of unusual plant treasures that will intrigue gardeners of all levels of expertise and areas of interest. It is a treasure trove of herbaceous perennials, where hostas, from mini to mammoth, play a key role. (there are over 350 different varieties of hosta in the garden)"...
Yes, there were A LOT of hosta, but many other fabulous plants as well.


Next to the front door.

And heading into the back garden...

What an impressive patch of Syneilesis aconitifolia (shredded umbrella plant)!

It's always nice to see Pyrrosia sheareri.



I really liked the way this gardener raised her hosta collection so some were near eye level. It makes them more interesting than just a sea on the ground plane.

Rodgersia blooms I believe.  

This was the last garden I toured as part of the 3-day event. I mixed things up for posting though and there are still three more gardens to come...

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Many gardeners here in the Pacific Northwest are still tallying the plant losses from the one week storm that wreaked havoc in an otherwise benign winter. Just this last week I've discovered my 10 year old Maytenus boaria 'Green Showers' is dead, ditto for three established Callistemon (Melaleuca) 'Woodlander's Hardy Red' and why isn't my Amsonia hubrichtii (hardy to Zone 5!) coming up?
So when a plant nobody considers hardy here makes it thru the storm with zero protection, and is putting on new growth, well, that's something to get excited about. The plant is Lomatia ferruginea, here's a photo showing the mild foliage damage it sustained.
And it's colorful new growth...

Near as I can tell I brought this little guy home from Cistus Nursery in September of 2017. I doubt I planted it until the following spring, since I don't plant borderline hardy things in the fall. Lomatia ferruginea is thought to be hardy to the mid 20's F, my garden saw an ultimate low of 12 F last January and was below freezing for over 150 consecutive hours.
If it's not regarded as hardy here why would I have planted it at all? Well because I was encouraged to try by my friends Mark and Gaz (of Alternative Eden fame) who had success with it in their garden. They were here in Portland visiting and were the ones who talked me into trying it.
Funny thing, I found myself crushing on this same plant when Andrew and I walked the Queen Elizabeth II Flower Market during our trip to Paris in January of 2018. I took a photo of the plant tag.
From Argentina and Chili it's a member of the Protea family and is related to Embothrium coccineum (the Chilean firetree) which is thriving in my garden just a couple of feet away. 
It's planted at the base of my Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'. Just to the right is a Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash' that didn't make it through the winter and nearby are various aspidistra and pyrrosia that were toasted. This is not a protected spot!
I do have a second Lomatia ferruginea, this one much larger and growing in a container. It's a plant that's been around the neighborhood, starting life with Evan, then moving on to Patricia, and living with me for the past few years. The foliage is ferny, and quite attractive.
This one spends all but the coldest days out on the patio.

I have considered putting it in the ground, based on the success of it's little sister. Then again I would really like to see blooms someday—neither one of my plants have bloomed—so I will protect it until that happens.

My other lomatia, L. tinctoria was zapped pretty hard with the frigid temps and wind during January's storm. I cut back several branches that were dead, others are hanging on to grey leaves...

While other branches have leaves that are green.

Back in the the years of milder winters it was a reliable bloomer, but it's been a couple of years since I've seen those flowers—mainly because I've done a lot of spring pruning to remove damaged branches. To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note; these are sent from a third party, you’ll want to click thru to read the post here on the blog to avoid their annoying ads. 
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