A quick trip to the beach and a walk through the Wonder Garden

I almost called this post "21 hours at the beach," because yes, that's how long I was there.

A plant talk at the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita was the reason for the trip, but time at the beach is always a good thing, so I took advantage and spent the night (2 hours drive time each way made it an easy choice).

A walk on the beach before my talk gave me time to check out the area's architecture.

It's always nice to see what the locals are building.

Since the Hoffman Wonder Garden (a small garden filled with plants that thrive in this location, a sort of demonstration garden) is right across the street from the Center for the Arts, there was time for a walk there too... 

On the left, Arctostaphylos auriculata 'Diablo's Blush'... 

Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley' 

Arctostaphylos silvicola 'Ghostly'

Arctostaphylos densiflora

A pulled back shot of the Arctostaphylos (manzanita) border and the Hoffman Center in the background.

That euphorbia is one I covet...

Is it E. stygiana or E. mellifera? I'm not sure anymore but since I love them both the coveting goes on.

The restio (Rhodocoma capensis) does well in this garden.

Diplarrena latifolia, a new to me plant that Ketzel (as in Ketzel Levine, former NPR correspondent and their "Doyenne of Dirt"—now the force behind the Wonder Garden) pointed out.

Those flowers are pretty sweet.

I look at this structure and think it's calling out for a vine, but then again with a vine you wouldn't be able to see it as well.

An eryngium with very thin leaves, perhaps E. paniculatum?

Another euphorbia, this one (with the orange blooms) I think is E. griffithii.

Acanthus sennii (so spiny!)

Yet another eryngium there on the lower left, maybe E. guatamalense?

Pretty fabulous, am I right?

This one is definitely Eryngium guatamalense.

One of mine is just starting to push out a bloom spike, I look forward to watching it grow.

I didn't get a chance to ask the origin story of this raised trough planter, it's all sorts of fabulous don't you think?.

Agave americana var. medio picta 'Alba' gets protected in the winter and planted back out again when things warm up and dry out.

There were folks relaxing here just moments before, it looks like a great place to kick-back and soak it all up.

Melianthus major (perhaps 'Purple Haze') and Dodonaea viscosa var. purpurea.

Leucadendron galpinii 'Silver Cone' and...

...Acacia pravissima show just how mild this area's climate is compared to mine here in Portland.

Close-up of the acacia's fabulous foliage.

There's a eucalyptus towering over a corner of the garden.

And I was thrilled to catch Fabiana imbricata 'Violacea' in bloom.

What a stunner!

Chondropetalum tectorum (Small Cape Rush)

Astelia chathamica 

Back-lit callistemon buds.

And my final Wonder Garden photo (succulents as summer annuals)...

...before returning to the hotel and a gorgeous sunset.

The moon!

The next day was misty moody.

But of course a beach-walk was in order before I left.

At first I thought this was a fish sticking out of the sand... (just a piece of wood).

Finally, I couldn't resist stopping to snap photos of a couple gardens I passed by on the 101 between Rockaway Beach (where I stayed) and Manzanita.

That's a wrap on this beach trip!

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A bromeliad table, that's a thing, right?

Even if you've never built one you've probably heard of fern tables—maybe you've even seen them here on my blog, since I've built two. I've long wanted to do a table-planting using sun loving plants, but haven't had the right plants on hand, the right "table" or even the right location. But switch that thinking slightly to bromeliads and, well, that's a different story...

I started accumulating small plants in January, during our trip to San Diego. In fact of the five plants I brought home, four of them were bromeliads, or at least in the family; Aechmea Bert (orlandiana x fosteriana), Racinaea crispa, Deuterocohnia brevifolia, and Hechtia tillandsioides. I was well on my way! Here's the stash I had to work with when I started the table project...

So, the table...we were given a large, heavy, and ridiculously expensive cutting board from Andrew's (then) employer when he hit his 20th anniversary last summer. It was so big there was simply no way to use it in our modest 1948 kitchen. Since Andrew didn't care what I did with it I started scheming, and it became the table top for the planting. The base (which you'll see below) is a rectangular metal planter I scored at a clearance sale for $5. 

When putting together a fern table you mound the soil right on the table surface and plant into it. That's not really something I needed, or wanted, to do with the bromeliads, so I starting playing around with pieces of metal and wood that I could plant into and stage them on the table top. That's what's going on here...

And here's what I ended up with—spoiler alert—I'm not 100% sure I like it. Or maybe I should say, I think it can be better, that it's not done. I'm just not sure what that means yet.

What I am happy with is this companion planter. It's a Deuterocohnia lorentziana that had never looked good in it's former container. The brown ceramic pot is super heavy so dropped a smaller pot into it (no desire to haul the heavy pot with the seasons) and then asked Andrew to cut a piece of expanded metal to act as a shelf over the open section. I'm on the hunt for the right tillandsia to place there, rather than (or in addition to) the twisty metal piece

Back to the table...

Up front is the Deuterocohnia brevifolia I bought in San Diego. It kind of naturally fell into pieces so I planted them separately.  

I loved this metal piece and can't wait for the deuterocohnia to fill it. Until then I shoved a little moss around the plant.

I planted the Racinaea crispa. moss and other deuterocohnia pieces a piece of driftwood with a shallow planting groove.

Gerhard gave me the Bromelia pinguin ‘Qué será’ (R) and the cryptanthus (L) is an offset from a NoID plant I purchased a while back.

I love the colors of the Bromelia pinguin...

In the center (in the tube with a flare at the top) is an Aechmea recurvata v. benrathii offset from one of my plants.

In the tube on the far right is the Hechtia tillandsioides I bought at Solana Succulents.

Can you believe how thick that chunk of wood is?  It was a happy coincidence that it fit the top of the metal container so perfectly, and the stain color is a match with our outdoor dining table, chairs, and bench.

Side view... Aechmea Bert on the far right.

In the small rusty ring is Acanthostachys pitcairnioides, with a lot of moss helping it stay in place.

Maybe the answer to the question of what's missing is more moss? 

We've had a warm days (86 is I think the top temp thus far), interspersed with cloudy and sometimes misty/drizzly days. The day I chose to take these photos was one of the misty days so everything was looking very green and lush.

Did you spot the cactus bloom in the background? It's a Echinopsis oxygona from Cistus Nursery.

So there you have it, my bromeliad table. The improved version is percolating...

P.S. I was away over the weekend and Tiffany watered a bit (we hit 97 yesterday!) and sent me this photo. The right lighting makes everything better!

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.