Hortlandia is the name of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's spring plant sale. Independent nurseries from all over the PNW gather under one roof and fill tables with their plant offerings. The sale runs one weekend in April, hundreds of volunteers staff the event—from set up, to holding area, check out, loading and tear down. Hundreds of people attend and buy several thousand plants. It is an awe inspiring event. I've attended every year since we moved to Portland, that is until last year, when COVID cancelled the fun. Obviously the 2021 event has met a similar demise—cancelled. There is talk of a mini (make-up) Hortlandia in June, but until then, I've decided to create my own private Hortlandia...
What does that mean? Let's define it as this... all out brazen, audacious, plant purchasing. Yep! Let the spending begin! This was my haul after doing the Highway 30 Triumvirate of Means, Joy Creek and Cistus Nurseries—
a name I use in dedication to the Outlaw Gardener.
First the Means Nursery haul...Astilbe 'Chocolate Shogun'
And a 5-gallon size Agave 'Blue Glow', yes please!
Together...
From Joy Creek...
Asarum europaeum, European wild ginger. Those leaves!
I hit the saxifrage hard, as I do every spring, Saxifraga x macnabiana
Saxifraga x longifolia hybrid
And (thanks for digging this one out for me
Tamara!), Salvia discolor. It's been a few years since this beauty has graced my garden and I am very, VERY, excited to be growing it again. It's all about the little black flowers it will produce, photos
here.
A Joy Creek haul shot...
Next stop, Cistus, where I was thrilled to pick up this Mahonia lomariifolia ssp. tenuifolia, oh yah!
Mahonia gracilis, the "graceful" mahonia—and yes, I was on a bit of a mahonia binge.
Mahonia eurybracteata 'Cistus Silvers'
Because it wasn't all Mahonia, Astelia 'Red Devil' (x3)...
Epimedium grandiflorum 'Purple Pixie'
And last, but not least, Pyrossia lingua 'Nokogiri-ba'...
Cause you know I want all the Pyrrosia and this one is extra cool because it was grown from spore by my friend
Ann.
The Cistus haul...
Oh, can't forget the big, beautiful mahonia.
The weekend before my Highway 30 spending-spree I visited Secret Garden Growers and did a little damage there too...
I bought a pair of Begonia pedatifida, a Dan Hinkley collection.
A pair of Aspidistra 'China Star'
Another Pyrrosia (or two), P. lingua Ogon Nishiki (aka variegated tongue fern).
Those little leaves send me!
After experiencing my first arisaema success with an A. ringens I bought at Secret Garden Growers last year, I bought two more...which will go very near my first.
And lastly this! It's a tiny Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Prostrata' and I am very excited! One of these already growing in my garden but adding another is huge—they are very hard to find. This one is a rooted cutting (again thanks to my plant propagating friend Ann) from a plant in
Alyse Lansing's garden. Yay! (that's friends times three Ann, Alyse and Pat—owner of Secret Garden Growers who gave me this plant as a gift)
Last week I also spent a Gift Certificate I had for Garden Fever, this Epimedium wushanense 'Sandy Claws'...
Struthiopteris spicant/Blechnum spicant/deer fern...
And Adiantum pedatum ‘Imbricatum’ came home with me.
So that's the plant purchasing! Now some of you might be wondering where in the hell I plan on planting all of these things! Well, here and there, but there are four areas that I've been working on opening up that need a lot of plants if I am to maintain my cramscaping reputation. First is under the loquat, which I am finally—slowly—limbing up to let it be the tree it
wants to be is finally becoming.
And what do you know!? There's bare soil under there!
Oh and look! Three other plants I recently purchased are stashed under there, a trio of Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress' from Tony's Garden Center.
And since we're talking Tony's, I bought three Asarum maximum 'Ling Ling' there too, can't forget those!
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Back to the "empty" space photos... at the north end of the patio I made good on my threat to remove the overgrown and looming Ceanothus 'Dark Star', so there is a lot of space that needs to be planted (I also got rid of that metal vent planter shortly after this photo was taken).
Out in the front garden there's still a big empty space where I removed the Grevillea 'rivularis' and company.
Sadly both of my Acca sellowiana (Pineapple Guava) have lost a significant number of leaves thanks to the freak cold snap in February. The defoliated branches aren't helping how this corner of the garden looks.
The final area I'm buying for is this chronically ugly spot to the south of our front steps.
Yes, those are all dropped Acca sellowiana leaves.
The plant itself (in the pot) is looking pretty sad. I hope they both will regrow some of their leaves, only time will tell. I might need to start thinking about replacing them if ugly is the new normal there.
Now I need to get started planting!
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Weather Diary, April 12: Hi 66, Low 36/ Precip 0
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