Goodbye Nolina 'La Siberica', hello mossy logs and ferns

I broke the sad news about the demise of my Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica' in late July. I began that post with the smallest sliver of a hope that somehow this long term resident of the garden might survive, but as I wrote I realized I had mentally already shut that door. I loved, I lost, and I was ready to move on.

It was August 6th when I cut back the razor-sharp leaves, preparation for digging it out. I put my foot on the plant for leverage and the whole thing bent over. Turns out I'd made the right choice, that plant was not going to pull through.

Interestingly I visited John Kuzma and Kathleen Halme's garden just a week later and guess what they'd just put in their yard waste bin...

The same thing happened in their garden, an established Nolina 'La Siberica' that had been fine earlier in the summer suddenly took a turn. While I don't wish losing a plant on anyone, this development definitely made me feel better about my own loss. Some had suggested my issue was too much summer water, meaning I could have prevented it. Seeing the same scenario play out across town seemed to suggest otherwise.

So, back to my garden and the newly emptied space. Inspired by the idea of planting pyrrosia with a fallen log or two (like this) my friend Susan had rounded up some nice pieces at Secret Garden Growers (where she works part-time), and lucky me she brought a couple over to my garden—with extra moss!

I played with the logs, plants I'd purchased, and metal—moving them around deciding what I liked.

I knew I wanted to work in a pair of pedestal/elevated dish-planter type structures and hoped to track down a couple of plough discs, but that was not to be.

Instead I went with flat platter-like surfaces and found...

...heavy terracotta dishes to plant up and sit on them. I thought thick terracotta would hold the moisture nicely but drain. Nope. There is no glaze but they held water for a ridiculous length of time, so I drilled holes. Two in the small dish and three in the larger. I might have to pull these if the weather gets bad and I didn't want to compromise their structure.

In went pyrrosia, Pyrrosia lingua 'Hiryu' (in the small dish)...

And Pyrrosia lingua 'Ogon Nishiki' with P. lingua 'Compacta' in the large. I also used a few pieces of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') I'd dug up in the area, along with Lonicera crassifolia.

These didn't go into the dish planters but I have to share a couple photos of the cool fronds of Athyrium niponicum 'Aubergine Lady', from Little Prince.

Cool right? These went into the ground, but don't show up in the coming photos, sadly.

Since I knew I'd be returning with more ferns, planting the ground layer was put on hold until I got back from my trip to Far Reaches at the end of August. This Pyrrosia sheareri is from that haul. Between the log and the metal tube is a small Pyrrosia linqua from Little Prince—they'll grow to be normal size eventually.

The tubes are held in place with rebar and are straight, at least for now. In some photos they look a little crooked, but the angles are deceiving.

Like here for instance.

Planting done, it's time to put the dishes in place (different cameras, different days make for different colors and saturation in these photos).

It's a complete accident that these variegated fronds of  'Ogon Nishiki' ended up in a spot where the afternoon light can shine through them. I love the effect!

I did a little research on how rust effects moss and other plants and found nothing but positive reports. Hopefully that's the case. This is the larger dish...

And the smaller...

There was a nice planting pocket in one of the logs, so I worked in a Lonicera crassifolia. Fingers crossed it's happy there.

Adiantum aleuticum 'Subpumilum'

Davallia perdurans PMD, squirrel’s foot fern, from Far Reaches.

The short metal piece helps increase drainage and lifts the fuzzy bits up off the ground, so they can better be seen.

Also from Far Reaches, Deparia lobato-crenata.

And Lepisorus cf. macrosphaerus MD 15-09.

This small Pyrrosia sheareri was sent to me a few years ago by a kind person that I've never met. It was hit extremely hard by last winter (I hadn't noticed that something had essentially pulled the rhizome completely out of the ground) but thankfully it has fought its way back. Hopefully it will be happy here.

There are multiple Asplenium trichomanes worked in here and there.

And the Rhododendron 'Golfer' I brought back from the Fling (and the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden) was planted nearby.

Euonymus fortunei 'Kewensis', another Fling crush that Little Prince satisfied.

Checking out one of the dish planters from the backside, while 'Golfer' glows in the sunshine...

These two new pedestals echo the bromeliad bowl I put in earlier in the summer, unintentional, but I do love a repeated element.

I can't remember if I ever called out the dark Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl' I planted between Sammy (our oldest Yucca rostrata) and the palm, it's hard to see but rises up above the black mondo. This is also a good opportunity to mention the Parablechnum novae-zelandiae from Dancing Oaks, it's on the far right near the furry palm trunk. Closest to Sammy's trunk is a Pyrrosia linqua and above that the Blechnum sp. #3 from Windcliff Plants (Dan Hinkley) that I brought home from the Cistus Summer Extravaganza.

Looking at this shot I realize I didn't mention the big beautiful fern to the right of the pedestals, that's Dryopteris cycadina.

I wonder how many of you've noticed this new planting plops moss and ferns down in an area with agaves and yuccas all around? It was something I thought long and hard about before I planted. The agaves and yucca are throw-backs to when the back garden was much sunnier. However, they're still alive and doing well—and I love them—so why would I pull them out? When I mentioned this to Susan (she of the log gifts) she called it a very "PNW thing". Yep, I can live with that.

Bold changes. Rule breaking. Planting what you love. That's Fearless Gardening I think....

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Nancy Heckler's garden, during the Puget Sound Fling

Many of the gardens on the 2024 Garden Fling itinerary were ones I had seen previously—many, but not all, not this one. I was thrilled to finally get to visit Nancy Heckler's garden and meet her in person... 

I know Nancy via social media, through photos shared when Portland friends like Nancy Goldman and Lucy Hardiman visited her garden. It was rather poignant to finally visit this garden the day after Lucy Hardiman's end of life celebration had taken place back in Portland. I could definitely picture Lucy strolling the paths and enjoying this garden.

A vignette (along the gravel driveway) that was photographed by many that day.

It is just so good!

I wanted to zoom in on a distinct element or two, but really it was about the whole not the parts.

Just a few feet further along was another picturesque vignette...

At this rate it was going to take me all day to see the garden! (we'd started at Heronswood and were later headed to the Brindley garden and Windcliff)

Garage/studio with the garden gate flung open in front.

Nancy is a lover of hydrangeas, the charming parasols are protecting the shade loving plants from a sunny hot spell.

I'll admit to being rather ambivalent about them (the hydrangea, I loved the parasols). I was a little surprised to see so many in the gardens we visited that weekend. Here in Portland they've kind of fallen out of fashion since they need so much summer water to be happy. Nancy's plants were gorgeous.

Be still my heart! What a line-up of watering cans.

Here are two plants I've grown to adore and wouldn't be without. Lonicera crassifolia and Saxifraga stolonifera.

They're planted in and around a raised planter.

Yep, I can think of several fun planter-things I'd do with that piece of metal.

And this! Athyrium niponicum 'Regal Red' and Hydrangea macrophylla 'Eclipse'. Wowsa! (thanks Nancy for ID)

These wooden "stepping logs" had me thinking back to the metal piece above.

There were a few outbuildings on the property, this one with a charming long planter on its front porch .

I remember my mom using large wooden beads and napkin rings in macrame plant holders back when I was a kid, that's what this branch treatment had me thinking of.

The branches worked around a tall tree trunk with a twig orb at the top.

Everyone I passed on the pathway told me not to miss the lizard.

A bit of the garden description from our Fling directory: "I’m a passionate gardener, plant collector and nature lover. My small house and garden is tucked away within a secluded woodland setting in Indianola, and is jam-packed with a crazy collection of plants, containers and 100+ hydrangeas… I planted every shade tolerant woodland plant I could get my hands on, anything with TEXTURE. That is what my garden is to me—form, texture, layers and all shades of green with very few flowers. Perhaps not enough color for many folks, but it’s a very relaxing palette." Ah yes, Nancy and I are both foliage lovers.

It was a jolt to emerge from the shady pathways into the open lawn.

There were larger twig orbs (like the one at the top of the trunk shown earlier) positioned around the lawn.

Rhododendron pachysanthum I believe.

A different door, another sweet vignette.

The deck/patio area was home to many fantastic plants and containers.

Salix boydii

There's Kris of Late to the Garden Party! I think that might be Jim Bishop next to her.

Mahonia, maybe M. x media 'Marvel', in a large container.

Love this table planting on top of the rock-filled gabion.

Entirely different, yet reminiscent of the twig branches worked around the trunk I shared earlier in this post.

Big shiny begonia leaves!

I have absolutely no recall of what the buff colored sticks belong to, I was just focused on the patterned asarum leaves.

I am just about back to the gravel drive now, where I'll have to board the bus. I worked my way around the garden twice that day, taking it all in. I folded the images together for purposes of this post however, trying to make it one seamless loop. 

I fear there is much I missed. Nancy's garden has so many layers. Maybe I'll be back again someday and try again to take it all in again. Thank you Nancy, for letting 100 garden-loving people tramp through your private paradise!

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