An excellent plant adventure; return visits to RPR and the BigJohn Hicks Oasis

Last Saturday was the annual Rare Plant Research open house, and naturally I was there. This is the 22nd year in a row I've attended this event, which is always held the 3rd weekend in May. How is that even possible? That I've been going for 22 years, and that I've been in the same place, on the same weekend (rain or shine), that many years in a row? Crazy. Burl (owner of RPR) mentioned he was going to be winding down operations, so who knows how many more years I've got?

I was rather taken with the flowers on this Euphorbia cap-saintemariensis, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't love the plant in its non-flowering stage—plus it was expensive. Thus I left it behind.

I was a rather subdued shopper all around, only picking out a couple things I went knowing I wanted, like another saracennia. One of mine has failed to grow new pitchers this spring, wonder if it had anything to do with the ginormous slug family I found living in the pot?

I love eavesdropping at this sale, listening in on the other shoppers. My favorite quote this year came from a lady who was thrilled to spot the bug-eating African violets (yes, she was talking about the saracennia).

Killing time hoping that the long line to pay would dwindle, we (my friend Scott—maker of this garden—was my partner in crime for the day) walked up to tour around the grounds of the house above the nursery, home for Burl and his wife Cyndi. We were rewarded with a blooming Agave parryi...

What beefy bloom spike!

The bromeliad vertical garden at the house is looking a little tired. Time to add some more plants to the mix!

Ah, nice ferns!

Matteuccia struthiopteris perhaps? (ostrich fern)

Okay, we're back down at the nursery now, and it's time to pay for our plants! Here's Scott's fabulous haul: Yucca rostrata, colorful bromeliad, a NoID brown plant with small leaves (perhaps Haloragis erecta ‘Wellington Bronze’), a sarracenia, Agave montana, and three very very very spiky opuntia.

My small haul: sarracenia, tillandsia, and a bromeliad.  

After we were done at Rare Plant Research we swung by Mike and Megan's garden, the BigJohn Hicks Oasis. I was there a couple of times last summer (post here) and wondered what it would look like in mid-May. Amazing is the word, it looked absolutely amazing...

Oh the tree ferns!

And the Polygonatum kingianum... (well I suppose the Impatiens omeiana deserves a mention to).

Mike has been busy putting together creative plantings, including these kokedama creations. I loved the combination of Arthropodium candidum 'Maculatum' and Pyrrosia lingua.

So good! (I wish my photos were better)

Rhododendron 'Ever Red'

More Arthropodium candidum 'Maculatum' (the San Marcos Growers website calls it "a grassy bulbous deciduous perennial from New Zealand").

I've got a couple patches of this plant in my garden now (thanks to Little Prince Plants), but Mike and Megan's plants are next level gorgeous. 

As are their Parablechnum novae-zelandiae (aka Blechnum novae-zelandiae).

These podophyllum! The were HUGE! I should have gotten a hand in there for scale. Mike said they came from Ernie and Marietta O'Byrne.

Oh look! More Arthropodium candidum 'Maculatum' and Parablechnum novae-zelandiae. Great combination.

*Sigh*... maybe someday I'll take the plunge and get a Podophyllum difforme -Starfish Form, so strange (in the very best way)!

More tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) appreciation.

Damn! Astelia ('Red Devil'?) and Paris polyphylla var. stenophylla 'Luquanensis'. This combo gets me every time I visit.

I was so focused on the individual plants during our visit that I neglected to take any landscape images. This might be the most pulled-back shot I got. Can you believe their gunnera is so massive in mid May? The mild winter has certainly helped our PNW gardens start the season right. Sadly I keep hearing we might be paying for the odd winter with water restrictions later in the season.

The plant directly under the gunnera in the above photo, Scadoxus puniceus.

I didn't get the name of this bright happy bromeliad... isn't it stunning?

Okay, a few more new plants. We stopped at Mike and Megan's so I could drop off a plant, but ended up leaving with plants too! Schefflera  'Mato', Mike remembered I wanted one of these when I was last at Little Prince and he nabbed me one. It's not hardy here in Portland, but it will spend summer vacation outdoors.

The rest of my haul..."extras" Mike had at the house and offered up to Scott and I.

Abutilon 'Fairy Coral Red'

And a few Haworthia attenuata 'Concolor'  (green) and Gasteria 'Kaleidoscope' (brown, which may be a stress color, all the photos I saw online are green).

Okay, one last plant and it's a great one, Agave ovatifolia 'Orca', a gift from Scott. The poor thing has lived a rough life out there in the ocean (or rather being shipped across the country in a box) but from now on it's going to be treated like royalty. I'm so excited to have joined the variegated Agave ovatifolia club (one I'd been priced out of). Coincidently I believe one of the variegated agaves I featured towards the end of last Friday's RBG post (4th from the bottom) is an 'Orca'.

The Bit at the End

Do you know Niwaki? It's a Japanese company with all sorts of gorgeous garden tools and other things. They've just released a new line of garden clothing and accessories in a camo pattern, it's unlike any camo you've ever seen before, kinda fun... here.

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

More from the RBG; rocks and sexy plant close-ups

We're back for Part Two of my January 2026 visit to the Ruth Bancroft Garden (see Part One here)...

I first heard of the rock/crevice garden at the RBG via Gerhard's blog and a post he wrote last November, then Tracy visited and shared more photos. Their visits left me wondering how exactly the rocks would blend into the garden as a whole, would they look out of place?  

The answer is no, they do not.

They look perfectly at home where they're tucked in, and there are so many details to soak up. These first three photos are of the same area, getting closer and closer to the Mangave 'Praying Hands'.

The different rock shapes and they way they were laid, thin slabs on their sides...

...larger, thicker pieces close together with plantable crevices...

...they all made for really interesting visual texture as your eyes scan over the area.

This addition to the garden is the work of Walker Young, RB Garden Manager. The RBG website says this about Walker: "Walker joined the staff at RBG in January 2012 and since then has come to function as custodian of the Garden’s aesthetic. He acts as point person in the collaborative process of preserving, renovating, and rejuvenating Mrs. Bancroft’s beds, taking particular joy in sculpting undulating mounds and arranging rocks in the Garden to form a unifying backdrop and compositional foil to the Garden’s plant collection." I ran into Walker the morning of our visit and got to chat with him a bit about the process, it sounds like he had a lot of fun putting it all together.

Bromeliad's in a crevice garden!

One small gripe, the white plant labels distract from (and cheapen) the garden, I hope a better system is in the works.

Look at that fabulous rock mound! It looks like it's always been there.

Okay, on to the rest of my photos from that day. I'm ending my coverage with a few random plant close up's that didn't make it into Wednesday's post, but that I didn't want to not use. Names only if I am fairly certain, otherwise, plants as art...

Agave 'Blue Glow'

Agave 'Royal Spine' 

Templetonia retusa and Acacia glaucoptera

The above three photos were of this agave (Mangave?) bloom spike that bent over to ground level. An unusual perspective...

Little baby plants forming within the base of the agave...

Agave nickelsiae

Drying up, bloomed out version.

Leucadendron 'Ebony'

And in the gift shop/nursery, Oxalis palmifrons.

If you have the chance to visit the Ruth Bancroft Garden do it!

The Bit at the End

Check out this variegated loquat from Plant Delights. I can't decide if I love it, or if it's a touch too much.

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.