Dan's garden (and greenhouses), my second BC stop

Today we go back up to Vancouver, BC, and my quick visit earlier in the month. After we finished up at Claude's garden, he took us over to visit Dan's place. Pulling up out front I wasn't sure what to expect as a tall hedge kept most of the garden hidden.

Even the entrance was veiled to protect it from prying eyes.

Damn, that's a tall trachycarpus!

Oh! Love the deco-style home! (those tall cylindrical pots would have plants in them if my visit had been earlier in the year)

Turning now with my back to the house and looking out towards the hedge we saw earlier. I believe I heard that Dan made those custom stepping stones.

Taking the path that veers to the right...

And back to walk the other leg...

What fun pruning.

I was told in the summertime these pots hold agaves.

We're in the back garden now where things are buttoned up for winter.

On the other side of the back wall there's a veggie garden...

Dan made these raised beds out of pavers turned on their side and enclosed within a custom frame. Easy to take apart and move when the time comes. Genius!

A final look at the vegetable area...

... and we walk in towards the house, seeing the first of three (!!!) greenhouses...

Turning to the left, the main greenhouse is built off the garage, with a nice bump-out addition. I didn't get a shot of the third greenhouse, but if you look to the far right-side of this photo you can see its lights.

And inside there's a blooming lewisia!

Inside the big greenhouse, a blooming Huernia zebrina...

... and lemons!

I bet it's a beautiful sight in here at night, as there's a collection of colored glass lamps hanging from the ceiling. As a nod to practicality the hanging pots have metal saucers fastened to the bottom to contain drips.

The residents of the bump-out.

There's a large agave hiding back there!

Gorgeous staghhorn (Platycerium grande?)...

With an interesting side-growth.

Maybe a Blechnum gibbum, which I guess is now going by the name Oceaniopteris gibba?

Another Pitcairnia alata (if I'm remembering correctly this one is a baby from Claude's plant).

Oh my! Another spectacular platycerium of some sort I think?

The agaves are up on the top shelf where they can't hurt anyone (smart since they also don't need watering over the winter, but it must have been hell to get them up there).

Baby mangaves, Dan does sell plants at specialty sales.

Like many gardeners he just can't help but make more plants.

Now we've gone into the house to see the final greenhouse (that first one I shared a photo of, off the back of the house), this one is full of cactus.

Check out the tall square pots, they've got inserts so you're not carrying around a heavy pot made heavier with soil.

Back out in the front garden now, where there were ginger blooms (perhaps Hedychium densiflorum?) that I missed the first time through. Thanks for letting some crazy American with a camera tour your marvelous garden (and house) Dan! 

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Back to California, briefly

Monday's post—a California garden visit from 2023—was spurred by the fact we were headed back to the Los Angeles area, and I needed to finish writing about last year's fun, before sharing what I got up to this year. An embarrassment of riches for sure. 

Last Wednesday, Nov 13th, Andrew and I flew down to Burbank, CA, arriving in time to crash for the night. Thursday we visited the Huntington Library & Gardens—it was heaven! I have a few hundred photos from that visit to share, eventually. Friday was a family day, then on Saturday I headed out to visit a few nurseries; Rolling Greens, The Tropics, and Flora Grubb LA. There will be proper posts about those stops, but today I'm sharing the in-between. Like this quick stop at Mickey Hargitay Plants, because I was in the area with a few minutes to kill.

I was feeling a little cheeky so I went ahead and nudged the tillandsia clump on that tree. Just how attached was it? Quite. No moving it.

Down the street, near where I parked.

A blog reader recently shared a video of gardens around where he was staying in Oxnard, CA. The thirsty, dusty aeonium he saw looked almost like metal sculptures. These were on there way to that effect.

I saw pineappled agaves all over the city, most of them were in areas where they'd been cut back to keep people or cars from being poked. This one was in an area where you'd have to really work to get close. Maybe it's just the default for yard care crews?

But what the hell? Why not just put it out of it's misery?

Happy hellstrip agave...

Sad hellstrip agave.

Even sadder hellstrip agave.

Two Agave attenuata and one???

Impressive fruit display whatever it is.

I liked this planting and how it worked with the building.

Well, that's not something you see everyday.

Street Rap History?

So those photos were all taken walking to my car, but my travels also had me driving thru a few LA neighborhoods. I was on high alert scanning left and right, and saw many interesting plantings. I only stopped the car to photograph this one, those house-sized agaves seemed worthy.

I didn't notice the sprinkler at first.

I mean that's not what you expect to see, as much as it does explain the healthy plantings (employees I spoke to at the Huntington said they hadn't had measurable rainfall since April).

I wonder why they haven't pulled the palm out yet? It's only going to get more difficult with time. Or maybe they have and it keeps coming back?

This was an interesting oddity. While logic says it's simply a damaged agave with two different growth patterns, my eyes say someone planted an Agave 'Royal Spine' in the center of an Agave parryi.

So what did I buy on the trip? Well I couldn't resist this double-sided, printed canvas bag at Rolling Greens. 

Even if those apostrophes are upside down! (it was only $5, maybe that's why?) 

At Flora Grubb I really wanted a gorgeous gallon-sized Agave 'Royal Spine' but talked myself out of it, as there was no way to get it home. Instead I settled for a tiny (but oh so cute) Agave albopilosa. I have one that Gerhard gave me, but thought it would be nice to have another to play with.

I also bought this odd little terracotta hanging planter, as you can probably guess it's the metal parts that spoke to me.

After leaving Flora Grubb, I drove back up to where we were staying via the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica as far as Malibu. We were flying out the next day and I couldn't leave without putting my eyes on the ocean, even if it was just from the car...

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.