An afternoon at Little Prince of Oregon

Mid-December I had the pleasure of visiting Little Prince of Oregon (LPO) with friends Evan Bean and Ann Amato, they're on the left in the photo below. I'm the one in the back in black, and in front of me is Alexa Patti, head grower at LPO. 

We were treated to tour time with both Alexa and Mark Leichty, Director of Business Development at LPO, with additional bonus chat time with Mike Hicks (Production Manager); and Ernie and Marietta O’Byrne of Northwest Garden Nursery, creators of the Winter Jewels Hellebores. In case you haven't heard the big news, LPO is taking over the hellebore program from the O'Byrnes. We spent a little time in one of the green houses with the Winter Jewels stock plants and there were even blooms—in December! I'm thrilled this program is in good hands and that the O'Byrnes get to enjoy retirement.

Onward! Ann is all sorts of begonia crazy so we spent some time checking out the begonias that LPO is growing. This one is 'Froggy' (yes, very fitting for a nursery with a frog logo).

Begonia chloroneura
Begonia soli-mutata
I didn't get the name of this one, but those big leathery leaves were pretty fantastic.
This is the largest of the many greenhouses at LPO, and houses many (most?) of their houseplant selections.
I've been visiting LPO for over eight years and it's been amazing to watch them grow. Their greenhouse space has at least tripled and they've gone from selling only wholesale to selling direct on their website. Walking through the nursery you definitely see their commitment to growing fabulous plants, and the people who work there all seem really happy too.
These Cryptanthus ‘Zebrinus’ and Ananas nanus 'Cathy' were in the holding area for the Little Prince of Oregon display garden at the 2024 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival in February. I can't wait to see what they come up with this year!

Pteris quadriaurita 'Tricolor'
This cool columnar planting was in one of the greenhouses that had space set aside for overwintering of employee plants.
That's also where this colorful Blechnum brasiliense was located.
Here's Evan, Ann and I with our haul, we each left with an amazing collection of LPO plants.
Here's what I got, clockwise from the fern in the upper right-hand corner: Blechnum brasiliense, Pteris quadriaurita 'Tricolor', Blechnum appendiculatum and Begonia chloroneura.Blechnum appendiculatum is said to be hardy to Zone 8, perhaps 7. I'll be testing that as I plan to plant it out in the springtime.
The pteris will be a house plant for me, maybe vacationing outdoors in the summertime.
Same for the begonia.
But wait, there's more! Clockwise starting with the agave on the far right: Agave stricta, Ananas nanus 'Cathy', Cryptanthus zebrinus, and Hohenbergia ‘Chocolate Tiger’ (Evan got one of these too and after a little online sleuthing is referring to it as Hohenbergia correia-araujoi).Look at that dark color and striping!
So refined and glamorous...
I'm looking forward to watching this one grow.
Spikes! I might leave this one in a container in hopes that it stays small, cause it's so darn cute!
Two big sexy bromeliads round out my haul...Neoregelia ‘Tiger’ and Aechmea fasciata ‘Primera’. 

I was pretty excited when I learned LPO was planning to offer bromeliads, everyone needs at least couple, and they're so easy to grow.
Just a little water in the cup at the center of the leaves and good light... it's that easy. Well, and don't leave them outdoors in the winter unless you're in a warm climate.
Such a fun day with plant friends and a pretty exciting haul... exactly what I needed in this cool, dark, part of the year...