Alright, I’m having a mental block. All my attempts to come up with a pithy yet evocative description of these plants falls short so today, I’ll just let the pic explain itself.
Oemlaria cerasiformis 2/27/2013
Fresh green leaves in February? Crush a leaf, take a quick whiff, smell the cucumber smell and it’s confirmed – the Indian plum has leafed out, already. Read more »
I saw some little Cerinthe seedlings starting up the other day, pleasing signs of beauty to come on an otherwise dull, gray January day.
Cerinthe seedlings 1/14/2013
Here are the bracts of ‘Kent Beauty’ all dried up. Not so beautiful anymore but not hideous either, nevertheless, best to have pruned off those bracts as soon as they started to lose their looks. At this point, I’d wait until late winter and then prune the plant way back. Read more »
‘Schmidtcutleaf’ – October – Does’t exactly jump out and grab the eye does it?
Malus transitoria ‘Schmidtcutleaf’ – it’s a satisfying mouthful of a name. I’ve admired the plant in photo for years but never seen one in real life until this fall. They seem to be all over my part of Wallingford so clearly I walked the dog with my eyes closed all of last fall. Read more »
Grevillea (probably G. victoriae) in bud, 10/10/2012
In one of my earliest posts I talked about Grevilleas and here is one on October 10 in bud, getting ready to keep the resident hummingbirds in nectar when all the other flowers are shutting up shop. As I did in my first post on Grevilleas, I send you to an article by Ian Barclay, owner of the Desert NW Nursery in Sequim, for the real insider’s view on growing Grevilleas in the maritime NW. Read more »
Some people might say that palms don’t belong in Seattle – that they’re just wrong – I bet they didn’t know about Trachycarpus fortunei, the windmill palm. No gangly trunk here just an array of vast fans that do indeed windmill out from the trunk. Read more »
I wrote about Albizias almost exactly a month ago and mentioned that a purple-leaved cultivar was out there. Well here it is and it is called ‘Summer Chocolate.’ Nice name – I still don’t much like the plant, although I feel like I should. Read more »
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ with Pennisetum orientale. At top left is a spent flowerhead of Allium cristophii.
Aren’t these two gorgeous? I’m feeling mighty pleased with myself since I both took the photo and put this combo together. (I know putting Sedum with a grass doesn’t exactly qualify as innovative but it still pleases me.) Read more »
Photo taken at the Center for Urban Horticulture 9/12/2012
Seattle is full of heaths and heathers – you see them dripping down rockeries all over the city. What you rarely see is a mixed planting of just heaths and heathers which is a pity because they can make a glorious, ever-changing tapestry. The Center for Urban Horticulture has put together just such a planting – it is evergreen, colorful year round and low maintenance. Consider turning your front yard into a tiny Scottish moor – assuming you don’t want to play soccer there. Read more »
