Last weekend I had one of those "how lucky am I/only in Oregon" moments. For years Little Prince of Oregon Nursery as been my go-to source for sedum and sempervivum. Last Sunday I, along with 11 garden blogging friends, got to visit their wholesale and growing headquarters.
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Tamara, who blogs at Chickadee Gardens, visited the nursery last fall. That tour was so much fun that she and Mark Leichty, Business Development Mgr at LPO, organized a tour for the whole crazy blogging group. Our visit took place on the warmest, sunniest, day of the year thus far, we were welcomed by a lovely spread of snacks and beverages. The folks at LPO knew that hungry bloggers are bad bloggers.
Is there any thing more exciting than a bunch of greenhouses, ones that you get to wander through?
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Little Price of Oregon has been selling tillandsias for awhile now. In fact if you came to the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland last July the tillandsia you received at the catered dinner came from LPO, they were also Fling sponsors.
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So many shapes and colors...
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I bet if you ask the average Portland gardener about LPO they'd they'd tell you the same thing I did: they're the sedum and sempervivum folks, and they'd probably mention ground-covers too. Well it turns out they're that, and so much more - their website lists over 838 different plants - and they're beginning to expand into the tender succulent market...
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Here's a tray of tiny Agave schidigera 'Black Widow'...
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You'll spot the Little Prince Frog everywhere around the nursery, sadly I didn't spot any real frogs...
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Sempervivum 'Hausmanii'
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With a fine fur they kind of seem to glow.
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Sempervivum arachnoideum 'Spumanti'
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Greenhouse after greenhouse (160,000 sq ft worth) everything was immaculate. And remember, this is a wholesale nursery, not open to the public, yet they look this good!
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LPO began operations in 1997, they deliver to retail garden centers, other wholesale nurseries, and the landscape trade in Oregon, Washington and California. Oh and they're a plant lust nursery too! In the past I've had the opportunity to chat with both owner Ketch de Kanter and Ryan Seely, Sales Manager. Talk about a nice group of people!
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Oh how I would love a dozen or so of these mixed sedum trays.
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Looking at all those open doors and wondering what I would find inside, well it made me giddy!
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Of course the sunshine helped too. It was nearly 70 degrees outside and had to be close to 80 inside. Hello summer!
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Thousands of ferns...
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Woodwardia unigemmata
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Onoclea sensibilis
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As I wandered around, tempted by all the treasures, I was kicking myself that I hadn't asked Mark which greenhouse held their agave collection, so I could cut right to the really important stuff! Well as I checked out the ferns (above) several of my blogging companions came in to tell me I was close, and pointed out the arid greenhouse, at last, thank you! Yucca dismetiana 'Blue Boy'...
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Agave 'Mateo'
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Agave 'Burnt Burgundy', showing some interesting variegation.
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Just look at all those spikes!
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This happy, smiling, face belongs to Jenni, who blogs at The Rainy Day Gardener. Up until last fall she'd never owned an agave. Emboldened by her success with that first pup she's jumping in strong. Look at that fabulous haul...you go girl!
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More sempervivum, S. 'Ruby Hearts'...
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Truth be told this is my favorite stage for most lilies, sure some of the flowers are lovely but like this, they're just so darn fabulous. Lilium 'Tiny Skyline'
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Abutilon 'Nuabtang' Lucky Lantern
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Sedum hybrid 'Sunsparkler Firecracker'
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When it comes to sedum, more is always better.
![]()
Isn't that a great set-up? I want! You could move along in your greenhouse tidying up your plants. Potting things, all right there at working height and the shelves would just move down the row with you.
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Okay, our fabulous 3 hour visit is coming to a close. Just a few more photos. Below, on the left, is Mark - our host for the afternoon. On the right, and modeling one of the Little Prince frog hats we were all given, is Delen Kitchen. Delen is a blogger and the new Membership Coordinator at The Oregon Garden.
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There's Amy, who blogs at The World's Best Gardening Blog (she's super modest that one). I'm not sure if she's checking out her own purchases or shopping from someone else's tray.
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Here's my haul! That tall spiky thing on the upper right is a Dasylirion quadrangulatum, and you can see I "needed" an Agave 'Mateo'...
![]()
I grabbed a couple of Onoclea sensibilis. Ever since seeing them in this garden I've been meaning to include a few in my own garden. I also got a Phyllitis scolopendrium (Hart's Tongue Fern), you can never have too many cool ferns.
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Two Agave 'Silver Surfer' also came home with me. Why? Because they are beautiful here. I couldn't resist the abutilon, the sign/label said A. 'Nuabtang' Lucky Lantern Tangerine, I hope that's what it is (the flowers are yellow, not tangerine) because the 12" x 12" size is perfect for where I want to plant it.
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Couldn't resist grabbing a couple Sempervivum 'Hausmanii'.
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And lookie there, an Epimedium 'Amber Queen'...(it's kind of spiky).
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And of course, this beautiful Agave striata just jumped into my flat, what's a gardener to do?
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One more thing, I bought a tillandsia: T. xerographica, the one on the left. Can you believe the size of that thing? I used to think the one on the right (which is bigger than my hand) was pretty darn huge, this new one is mammoth.
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What a fun day! Thank you Mark, and everyone at Little Prince of Oregon, for the wonderful day in paradise. Thank you Tamara for wrangling the group and getting us all together for the adventure. How lucky I am!
All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Tamara, who blogs at Chickadee Gardens, visited the nursery last fall. That tour was so much fun that she and Mark Leichty, Business Development Mgr at LPO, organized a tour for the whole crazy blogging group. Our visit took place on the warmest, sunniest, day of the year thus far, we were welcomed by a lovely spread of snacks and beverages. The folks at LPO knew that hungry bloggers are bad bloggers.
Is there any thing more exciting than a bunch of greenhouses, ones that you get to wander through?
Little Price of Oregon has been selling tillandsias for awhile now. In fact if you came to the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland last July the tillandsia you received at the catered dinner came from LPO, they were also Fling sponsors.
So many shapes and colors...
I bet if you ask the average Portland gardener about LPO they'd they'd tell you the same thing I did: they're the sedum and sempervivum folks, and they'd probably mention ground-covers too. Well it turns out they're that, and so much more - their website lists over 838 different plants - and they're beginning to expand into the tender succulent market...
Here's a tray of tiny Agave schidigera 'Black Widow'...
You'll spot the Little Prince Frog everywhere around the nursery, sadly I didn't spot any real frogs...
Sempervivum 'Hausmanii'
With a fine fur they kind of seem to glow.
Sempervivum arachnoideum 'Spumanti'
Greenhouse after greenhouse (160,000 sq ft worth) everything was immaculate. And remember, this is a wholesale nursery, not open to the public, yet they look this good!
LPO began operations in 1997, they deliver to retail garden centers, other wholesale nurseries, and the landscape trade in Oregon, Washington and California. Oh and they're a plant lust nursery too! In the past I've had the opportunity to chat with both owner Ketch de Kanter and Ryan Seely, Sales Manager. Talk about a nice group of people!
Oh how I would love a dozen or so of these mixed sedum trays.
Looking at all those open doors and wondering what I would find inside, well it made me giddy!
Of course the sunshine helped too. It was nearly 70 degrees outside and had to be close to 80 inside. Hello summer!
Thousands of ferns...
Woodwardia unigemmata
Onoclea sensibilis
As I wandered around, tempted by all the treasures, I was kicking myself that I hadn't asked Mark which greenhouse held their agave collection, so I could cut right to the really important stuff! Well as I checked out the ferns (above) several of my blogging companions came in to tell me I was close, and pointed out the arid greenhouse, at last, thank you! Yucca dismetiana 'Blue Boy'...
Agave 'Mateo'
Agave 'Burnt Burgundy', showing some interesting variegation.
Just look at all those spikes!
This happy, smiling, face belongs to Jenni, who blogs at The Rainy Day Gardener. Up until last fall she'd never owned an agave. Emboldened by her success with that first pup she's jumping in strong. Look at that fabulous haul...you go girl!
More sempervivum, S. 'Ruby Hearts'...
Truth be told this is my favorite stage for most lilies, sure some of the flowers are lovely but like this, they're just so darn fabulous. Lilium 'Tiny Skyline'
Abutilon 'Nuabtang' Lucky Lantern
Sedum hybrid 'Sunsparkler Firecracker'
When it comes to sedum, more is always better.
Isn't that a great set-up? I want! You could move along in your greenhouse tidying up your plants. Potting things, all right there at working height and the shelves would just move down the row with you.
Okay, our fabulous 3 hour visit is coming to a close. Just a few more photos. Below, on the left, is Mark - our host for the afternoon. On the right, and modeling one of the Little Prince frog hats we were all given, is Delen Kitchen. Delen is a blogger and the new Membership Coordinator at The Oregon Garden.
There's Amy, who blogs at The World's Best Gardening Blog (she's super modest that one). I'm not sure if she's checking out her own purchases or shopping from someone else's tray.
Here's my haul! That tall spiky thing on the upper right is a Dasylirion quadrangulatum, and you can see I "needed" an Agave 'Mateo'...
I grabbed a couple of Onoclea sensibilis. Ever since seeing them in this garden I've been meaning to include a few in my own garden. I also got a Phyllitis scolopendrium (Hart's Tongue Fern), you can never have too many cool ferns.
Two Agave 'Silver Surfer' also came home with me. Why? Because they are beautiful here. I couldn't resist the abutilon, the sign/label said A. 'Nuabtang' Lucky Lantern Tangerine, I hope that's what it is (the flowers are yellow, not tangerine) because the 12" x 12" size is perfect for where I want to plant it.
Couldn't resist grabbing a couple Sempervivum 'Hausmanii'.
And lookie there, an Epimedium 'Amber Queen'...(it's kind of spiky).
And of course, this beautiful Agave striata just jumped into my flat, what's a gardener to do?
One more thing, I bought a tillandsia: T. xerographica, the one on the left. Can you believe the size of that thing? I used to think the one on the right (which is bigger than my hand) was pretty darn huge, this new one is mammoth.
What a fun day! Thank you Mark, and everyone at Little Prince of Oregon, for the wonderful day in paradise. Thank you Tamara for wrangling the group and getting us all together for the adventure. How lucky I am!
All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.