BC, briefly

This feels odd, like it's too soon, I'm still in mourning. However, I am going to continue to write about plants, gardens, and gardeners. I will—as a coping and endurance strategy—continue to celebrate these things that I hold to be extremely important in this world, or at least in my world. I have no choice, stopping means they've stolen my joy, and we need to guard our joy in the coming months. Make no mistake, my doing so is not because I've moved on from the incredibly vulgar decision that was made by my fellow Americans in the election earlier this week. 

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Last Friday I hopped on a plane and took off for Vancouver, BC—I'd been invited to speak at the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group Study Day on November 2nd. Co-chair of the group Dana Cromie picked me up at the airport and whisked me off to an afternoon of garden visits. On the way to the car I admired this green-wall planting on the airport parking garage.

I'll be posting photos of those gardens in the coming weeks, but today I'm sharing a quick overview of things I saw, like these two buildings I saw on our walk to dinner that night. My eyes were first drawn to the silver building on the right that looks like someone twisted it off center. Then Dana pointed out the missing pieces of the pink building.

There was a fire. Can you imagine? Scary.

He mentioned the twisty building had some interesting landscaping at the base, and we planned to walk by after dinner.

These photos aren't the best, since they were taken after dark, but I'm sharing them anyway. 

It's a mossy amphitheater!

With bamboo...

The Study Day events were held at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, very Jetsons!

The day was a fun one, a fantastic event that I was proud to be a part of, great people all around. My fellow speakers (Tony Spencer and Philip MacDougall) were top notch and the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group was extremely welcoming. 

The cool crab sculpture is the work of a man named George Norris.

I stepped outside at lunch to take a couple photos.

And shot a couple others through the windows...

I also managed a quick stroll around the interior courtyard garden.

Where there were cool fungi.

On Sunday I took a quick walk through a community garden just down the street from the hotel where I stayed. 

Temporary community garden space (their website is here) seems like a huge positive to me, but someone mentioned the city loses out on taxes the developers would otherwise be paying, so perhaps it's not all positive. 

Still, seeing garden plots like these always makes my heart happy. I know what having something like this would have meant to me when I was living in an urban apartment with no soil to plant in.

The garden's website is here: Robson St Community Garden.

Someone lost a stubby carrot.

Wow, that's a happy nasturtium.

Flamingos!

And dahlias...

I love the personality of these small planting spaces.

Time to head home! Because I was flying on a small prop plane we boarded out on the tarmac, where there were ferns! 

Polypodium glycyrrhiza I believe. It was a great weekend and I look forward to sharing more soon.

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

Pause

I write and schedule my blog posts in advance, it takes the pressure off. Sometimes I'm a day or two ahead, other times a week or more. As I type now it's Tuesday morning, November 5th—Election Day here in the United States. This post will go live on Wednesday morning, the day after. What to write that will be appropriate? I'm getting teary thinking about the future me and what I will be feeling. Will we even know? After all, they're warning us the results make take days.

I was up in Vancouver, BC, Canada, last weekend—I'll share more about that soon—where I saw this bench in front of a home, along the public sidewalk. An inviting spot for people passing by to slow down, take a load off, pause, and enjoy the garden. A kindness, offered to neighbors and strangers alike. Pause. 

Pause: (verb) interrupt action or speech briefly | (noun) a temporary stop in action or speech.

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It's now 7:30 Wednesday morning. I've already cried. WTF America? WTF.

Changing seasons, changing focal points

Today's blog post is made up of photos taken around the garden as the light changes, tender plants move to protected spots, and other plants move in to take their place. In other words, changing focal points. First up, the evening sun on the trunks of the Hibiscus syriacus. Glowing like this they look so much more interesting than they actually are.

There are three small black containers hanging on that hibiscus, two of them planted with Pyrrosia lingua. I love how the rhizomes are growing out, and hugging the pot.

Since the pyrrosia are hardy and the pot is wide at the top (so it's less likely to break if the soil freezes briefly and expands) I leave these out on all but the coldest days. They also get moved nearer the pathway, where they'll be seen and enjoyed. Over the warmer months this area is home to less-hardy ferns and bromeliads. 

Because of possible freeze damage (for the plants and the pots) I change out the ceramic containers on front of the garage about this time every year.

Metal planters (which are actually clip-on lampshades) are filled with a mix of things, including Lonicera crassifolia and a hardy opuntia (whose tag I cannot find!).

I'm also experimenting and seeing if this gifted mangave and a couple Agave 'Blue Glow' pups might defy the odds and live over the winter with the excellent drainage these containers provide. 

Before you think I've completely lost my mind I should say these containers are easy to move to a warmer spot for a few days, if need be.

The big bromeliad basket and it's smaller side-kick are now in the basement.

I didn't want to look at an empty column all winter, so this large disc planted with Pyrrosia cf. lingua MD 10-37 (yep, that's it's name) was moved into place. The shorter dish holds mosses.

Even after the tropical nepenthes were moved indoors there's still quite a collection on the bench in the corner. Eventually I plan to move the pseudopanax and aeonium into the shade pavilion greenhouse, the carnivorous plants will stay out in the weather but in a more protected spot near the greenhouse.

The golden rodgersia in the corner have become a focal point, when they were green they just faded into the background.

I brought this Rhododendron 'McNabii' home from our blogger's plant swap last spring. I finally realized I wasn't going to find a good spot for it in the ground before winter, so it went into this sturdy pot. Fingers crossed it makes it because I really like that foliage and it's flowers are supposed to have a great scent.

The bromeliad trashcan lids are gone, but I capped the columns with metal oil pans and newly purchased pyrrosia (can't stop, won't stop), and Bergenia ciliata in a heavy terracotta pot.

Love those big hairy leaves!

Eventually I found other homes for the pyrrosia so a pot of "hardy" billbergia went up there instead. Moving containers around as the garden changes with the season keeps me interested and engaged.

These pyrrosia have been in this spot since early June and they'll stay in place until truly cold weather threatens.

Ditto for these on the side of the garage. 

Did you notice the forked leaf (frond?) on the plant in the large circle?

This photo was taken hanging out a window at the back of the house, I loved the light and everything looked so lush. Those moss covered branches are the same Hibiscus syriacus that started this post.

The biggest focal point change of all is the building of the shade pavilion greenhouse, which took place back on October 26th.

All the dry-loving plants went in right away, but I'm taking my time with the others, slowly working them in.

The Phlebodium aureum is enjoying the spotlight on one of the tall columns that used to hold the bromeliad bowls, it's showing off it's powder-blue fronds.

In the same area there's a new plant down at ground level that I'm hoping will quickly grow to cover part of the back fence...

A local blog reader asked if I'd like this Parthenocissus henryana (aka silvervein creeper) she rooted from her plant and I jumped at the chance. 

I bought a small Parthenocissus at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden last July, but this one is larger and has great color. Hopefully between the two of them I'll get some fence coverage!

Finally, to my fellow Americans, if you have not yet voted please do so. I'm so thankful it's time for this contentious election to come to an end. I'm praying that tomorrow, and the days that follow, will be filled with hope, not hate, peace, not protest. We are not going back.

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