Early last September I visited the Portland garden of Lance Wright. Lance is a friend, a fellow garden blogger (at Garden Riots) and a talented plantsman. He also worked as a gardener for the City of Portland for many years and influenced countless people with his fantastic plantings (a few along the waterfront shown here).
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I admired his daring, placing that potted agave on the edge of the deck surround.
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Turns out it was later blown off by a wicked wind. Sadly it landed on a rock and the pot was shattered.
This cast-off is an Agave colorata, it was growing in a large container and bloomed, or at least started to, I'm not sure the flowers ever actually opened. The hazards of an agave flowering in the fall in the PNW.
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I think this is Grevillea x juniperina 'Pink Pearl'.
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Agave gentryi 'Jaws' perhaps? Growing with a lovely Echium wildpretii at the base of a Trachycarpus fortuneii... all in the hellstrip!
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Looking further down the sidewalk, at the rest of the fantastic hellstrip plantings.
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A missing section of fence allows wandering (and wondering) eyes into the back garden.
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Looking from the street. That's an Agave montana and behind it a blooming oleander. Lance takes full advantage of his micro-climate in inner SW Portland.
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Walking back up the sidewalk to the entrance to the back garden. Agave parryii Truncata and Beschorneria yuccoides ‘Flamingo Glow’ love the slope and the reflected heat of the sidewalk and the street-side.
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Straight-on view...
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Such a handsome agave...
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Stepping inside the gate...
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Lance is a fellow cramscaper.
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Pyrrosia lingua
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A fantastic restio, Rhodocoma capensis.
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Foliage of a sago palm.
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Such great foliage everywhere you turn!
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Another cycad, Dioon spinulosum.
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And in case you're wondering, no, they're not hardy here in Portland. Lance wrestled the containers into place for summer.
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I believe that's a Metapanax delavayi behind the bromeliad.
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The same area, camera pulled back.
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Astelia, not sure which one.
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Up on the deck there are many more potted specimens.
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Including the ill-fated agave on the corner.
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Come back tomorrow to see how Lance's Agave montanta (nicknamed Monte) looked just six weeks later, as it started to send up a bloom spike—and a look at what it's doing now. Monte's become something of a local celebrity...
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Weather Diary, May 3: Hi 59, Low 45/ Precip .20
All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
I admired his daring, placing that potted agave on the edge of the deck surround.
Turns out it was later blown off by a wicked wind. Sadly it landed on a rock and the pot was shattered.
This cast-off is an Agave colorata, it was growing in a large container and bloomed, or at least started to, I'm not sure the flowers ever actually opened. The hazards of an agave flowering in the fall in the PNW.
I think this is Grevillea x juniperina 'Pink Pearl'.
Agave gentryi 'Jaws' perhaps? Growing with a lovely Echium wildpretii at the base of a Trachycarpus fortuneii... all in the hellstrip!
Looking further down the sidewalk, at the rest of the fantastic hellstrip plantings.
A missing section of fence allows wandering (and wondering) eyes into the back garden.
Looking from the street. That's an Agave montana and behind it a blooming oleander. Lance takes full advantage of his micro-climate in inner SW Portland.
Walking back up the sidewalk to the entrance to the back garden. Agave parryii Truncata and Beschorneria yuccoides ‘Flamingo Glow’ love the slope and the reflected heat of the sidewalk and the street-side.
Straight-on view...
Such a handsome agave...
Stepping inside the gate...
Lance is a fellow cramscaper.
Pyrrosia lingua
A fantastic restio, Rhodocoma capensis.
Foliage of a sago palm.
Such great foliage everywhere you turn!
Another cycad, Dioon spinulosum.
And in case you're wondering, no, they're not hardy here in Portland. Lance wrestled the containers into place for summer.
I believe that's a Metapanax delavayi behind the bromeliad.
The same area, camera pulled back.
Astelia, not sure which one.
Up on the deck there are many more potted specimens.
Including the ill-fated agave on the corner.
Come back tomorrow to see how Lance's Agave montanta (nicknamed Monte) looked just six weeks later, as it started to send up a bloom spike—and a look at what it's doing now. Monte's become something of a local celebrity...
Weather Diary, May 3: Hi 59, Low 45/ Precip .20
All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.