Whoever planted the Cardiocrinum giganteum (the lily) where it would bloom along with the new growth of the (NoID) Rhododendron (all downy white and facing up), well they are a genius.
Rhododendron 'Golfer' was also displaying its fuzzy white new growth. My (tiny) plant is doing the same thing at home, but it's hard to photograph.
Nice big fernage and a lush Rhododendron.
Photo from in the stumpery...
Magnolia sieboldii
This little fellow surprised me, maybe not as much as I did him. He didn't seem to care much, but did keep an eye on me.
This huge fern caught my eye, surely I've noticed it before? For some reason it seemed extra magnificent this visit. I searched around for a tag or some signage but found nothing. I thought it might be a Dryopteris wallichiana but that was (is) just a guess.
Later I came across this big guy, and it did have a label, Dryopteris wallichiana. I've seen a couple large specimens of this fern in other gardens, and knew it could start to form a sort of trunk, and grow quite large (the Great Plant Picks website says 3 - 4 feet in height). I have a small one but after seeing these I was lusting for one much larger.
Saturday morning started early at the Bellevue Botanical Garden (BBG) for Fern Fest and a chance to buy more ferns. Thank goodness the event was held in that building, because the weather was all over the place with a sunshine and downpours.
Here's my haul (I should say Part One of my haul, there will be a Part Two at the end of the post)
Parablechnum montanum (mountain kiokio), from the Hardy Fern Foundation (HFF). This is a new Blechnum/Parablechnum for me.
From the day before at the RSBG, Rhododendron nakaharai ‘Mariko’. I have a couple of these already, but was thrilled to nab another, I love those tiny furry leaves and the vibrant deep color of the blooms.
Anisocampium cuspidatum, from the HFF. I have a couple of this one too, but wanted to add another to the mix. I haven't seen it available anywhere but through the HFF.
And yes, as luck would have it I scored a good-sized Dryopteris wallichiana (you can better see it's height in the first haul photo, this angle was to show the base). This was a score from Sundquist Nursery, a guest vendor at Fern Fest.
Since there was a brief sun break when I finished shopping, I took a quick walk through the rock garden at the BBG. I love how happy the Asplenium trichomanes are here.
There was an exhibit in the garden called The Lost Bird Project. Honestly I wasn't sure if these twig and debris structures were part of that, or were just decorative insect hotels.
The black sculptures represent the lost birds (more info here).
This one looks like it would make a comfy perch.
After my Fern Fest visit wrapped up I was off to my friends Erin and Matt's place. It was so nice to pull up out front and see agaves! Or make that a blue sky and agaves (in containers there by the front porch). You know I'm a fern fan but I was overdo to see some spikes!
Sunday was the last day of the trip, and I met up with my friend Scott for a couple of garden visits and nursery stops. The first garden we toured belongs to Eric Shalit who lives in West Seattle. That's Eric on the left, below, and Scott on the right, they're admiring something in Eric's hellstrip planting. How wonderful is that bench? A nice neighborhood sit-spot.
I'll have a future post on Eric's garden (here he's posing by a beefy palm, with an unfortunate bit of sun glare ruining the shot)...
The garden was magnificent! Today I'm just sharing a couple photos of a mystery fern in his garden, hoping maybe someone can ID it. In this photo it's just to the left of the Fatsia japonica (on the far right side of the photo).
Here's another shot.
And the same fern, in a different location. If you're suspecting maybe I came home with a piece of the fern and that's why I'm curious, well, you'd be correct. There will be more photos at the end of the post.
Our next stop was at Clinton Bamboo Nursery on 1st Ave South. Scott and I found out about this place when Eric posted about it in the PNW Plant Geeks group on Facebook. Both of us have driven by countless times (back in the day I worked less than 3 miles away) but didn't even know it was there.
I'll have a future post on this place too (more people need to know about it!), but wanted to share an image of these fabulous cement circles one of the owners made to keep their pots of bamboo upright on a windy day.
Then it was off to the final stop of the day, before I headed back to Portland. I met Bunny Falkenberg! If you're a member of the PNW Plant Geeks page mentioned above then you've no doubt ran across Bunny. I was thrilled to meet him in person and get a look at his in-process garden (lots of areas being reworked, yes there will be a future post). That's Bunny on the left and Scott on the right, they're old friends. Bunny is holding loquat seedlings Scott grew on from his trees.
This rockwork area was at the front of the property...
Nice color on this Mahonia fortunei...
Okay, here's Part Two of the haul!
The mystery fern from Eric... look how ruffly the pinna (pinnae?) are...
And such thick stalks! Any one have a guess as to the ID?
I also picked up a Cyathea cooperi at West Seattle Nursery.
This cool funnel-like thing at Earthwise Salvage...
It was unmarked and I told my friend Erin something like I thought it should be priced at $5 but would probably be $20. It was only $5! Yay! It's going to become a planter of some sort.
I already have a few of this style of metal planter, but another for only $1.99 at a thrift shop seemed like a no brainer.
And yes... I came home with one of those cement pieces from Clinton Bamboo Nursery. I'm going to have fun figuring out exactly what to do with it...
Here's another Cardiocrinum giganteum in the bud stage.
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