Garden touring and plant peeping in another country is great fun, but it can be a little frustrating too. Looking at plants, but not being able to buy any*, eventually gets old. After nearly 5 days in Vancouver, BC (Canada)—for the 2023 Vancouver Hardy Plant Group Study Weekend—I couldn't wait to stop at a nursery on U.S. soil and buy some plants! Christianson's was oh so conveniently located just of I-5 in Mt Vernon, Washington, north of Seattle.
Above and below are plants that look to have planted themselves (maybe with a little human assistance?) on wooden posts around the nursery.
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While I loved the moss growing in this rotted out post I couldn't help but envision a bit of pyrrosia tucked in there.
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Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea' looks good with a yellow back-drop, even if it is a rose.
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Nice Agave attenuata 'Kara's Stripes', with a little bonus foliar fertilizer.
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This was fun; I made a trip to the restroom and noticed a pile of bird droppings on the ground just below the entrance. This is what I saw when I looked up...
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Feeding time!
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So what did I buy? Here's the haul, and since I also stopped at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden there's a flat from their nursery too...
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Starting with the haul from Christianson's...
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Arisaema concinnum
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There were so many gorgeous arisaema in the gardens we toured over the weekend, I couldn't help but grab this beauty when I saw it. Especially with it's green flower.
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I also couldn't resist the coloring of Tillandsia 'Spirit'.
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A very out of focus Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Chirimen', it was just sitting there looking all cute with it's strange "crinkly, congested foliage" and I had to have it. Maybe because I'm still feeling the loss of my Cornus sanguinea 'Compressa' and this is another odd congested treasure?
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Speaking of, how odd is this? Hedera helix 'Erecta', eventually 2-3ft tall and wide, maybe. I saw what I think was a mature version elsewhere in the nursery but neglected to take a photo, here's a good image from the grower.
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There were so many (SO MANY!) great saxifrage in gardens over the weekend, I was primed to grab a couple when I saw them for sale. Saxifrage hostii (silver saxifrage)...
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And a pair of Saxifraga 'Winifred Bevington'...
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Who is 'Winifred Bevington' you might be wondering? Me too. All I could find online was that it's a "British hybrid of obscure origin".
On to the RSBG haul...
(*there were some plants available at the Study Weekend plant sale that were pre-qualified for the phytosanitary paperwork needed to bring them back across the border, but none of them called to me.)
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