So about those display gardens at the NW Flower and Garden Show…

I don’t know anyone who would name the display gardens as their main reason for going to a garden show (I stand corrected, Alison says they are one of her main reasons for going), but once there we all love to gawk at them. Whether they inspire, shock, or just make you ask “what were they thinking” it’s fun to wander and wonder.

By my count there were 21 display gardens at the NWFG show, and that’s not counting this one at the entry, which obviously pays homage to the Wizard of Oz, Seattle’s nickname “The Emerald City” and the theme for the show “Gardens Go Hollywood” (has the Tin Man ever looked like more of a dude? And what’s with that pose Dorothy is striking?).

I must admit there were several display gardens that I didn't even bother to point my camera at, that’s not to say their creators didn't work hard, and I’m sure they provided inspiration for some show-goers, but they left me yawning and thinking…boring. Then of course there were the ones I can’t help but call bad, like the popcorn vending, daffodil and primrose hardscape nightmare. Or the floating disco ball garden with the leather (looking?) couch and stereo system bigger than my car that just made me wonder who exactly they were hoping to appeal to. But then there was the one called “Alien on Vacation” which just made me laugh (in a good way). After all where else are you going to see agaves labeled as biohazards?

Or a glowing neon flower with a giant alien egg behind it (at least I think that’s what it was; I didn't stand in line to peek inside like others were doing). The folks working this display were having fun for sure.

So with the boring, bad, and alien eliminated that left me with 8 gardens, today I’ll talk about 7 of them leaving my favorite for tomorrow. First up is “A Hobbit’s New Zealand Garden”…I was prepared to hate this one. A hobbit house? Puh-lease…

But how could I hate a garden that featured a bunch of fabulous New Zealand plants like Astelia nervosa ‘Westland,’ Cordyline australis ‘Cherry Sensation,’ Corokia cotoneaster ‘Sunsplash,’ Phormium colensoi ‘Flamingo,’ Pseudopanax ‘Sabre,’ and Dicksonia fibrosa, the Tree Fern … clearly I could not. Especially since it was designed to pay homage to the New Zealand Forest being planted this summer at the Arboretum’s Pacific Connections Garden, which I visited, and fell in love with, last fall.

Look the hobbit is returning home! Wait, no, he’s a little tall to be a hobbit.

I want a tree fern on my roof!

And maybe a Pseudopanax ‘Sabre’ or two…

Not to mention an Arthropodium cirratum…

In the ‘Jardin Noir’ I was oddly intrigued by this planted drain pipe…

And coveted these pipes used as a retaining wall, especially since I've been meaning to do something similar but haven't yet gotten to it.

‘Urban Castaways’ featured a pair of very tall Trachycarpus fortunei with a hammock between them. Yes please! (sadly it was impossible to get a good photo…you’ll have to use your imagination)…

Another tree that caught my eye...this 50 yr old Sumac was in the garden titled “Honey I Shrunk the Yard”…

I tried to find out more about it, where it came from…how they moved it in, but once the fellow manning the display realized I only wanted to ask questions about the tree he moved on to someone who was worth his time and ignored me…

And I moved on to “It’s all in the Movies”…I’d heard about this garden and was prepared to not like it; after all it featured a dead body! Instead I really enjoyed the concept and thought it well done. In one display you went from the wild west garden…

To the black & white garden…

Where the crime had been committed (look close).

On to a romance (remember the theme of the show was “Gardens Go Hollywood”)…

Before coming back around to the western again!

Next I visited “A Pacific NW Beach Garden” where it’s “Never too Late to Learn to Dance.” I was surprised by their use of small agaves throughout the garden, even in deep bark mulch next to a very green lawn (I know this is fantasy gardening but that one just kind of irked me…can you say "rot?").

I did like the way these little guys looked like starfish washed up on the beach…

And loved these thick sempervivum in between the rocks and driftwood.

As well as the daffodils mixed with ornamental grass (it tones down their cheerfulness)...

Of course the multiple Schefflera taiwaniana ‘Yuan Shan’ did not go unnoticed by moi.

And for the final garden today I give you “Living Amongst the Stars”…

This one had a little bit of everything, some great plants…

Great hardscape, and sexy lounge chairs (which really are comfortable judging by the similar one I “tried out” at Flora Grubb in SF)…

So there you have it, my speed tour of the 2013 NWFG Show display gardens. Tomorrow I’ll slow down and take a long look at my favorite garden. For those of you who went to the show, or have been perusing other bloggers posting on the show, I’m sure you can guess which one that was!

Clianthus puniceus, my favorite plant in the garden this week...

A week, or maybe two, ago Kaveh Maguire of Plant Propaganda mentioned his Clianthus puniceus was about to bloom. Remembering that we each planted our plants at nearly the same time I felt a bit of jealousy and wished my plant was doing the same. Of course you should know Kaveh lives in Los Osos, California, a climate this New Zealand native might find a little more to its liking than Portland, Oregon. But guess what…

My plant has little buds on it!

How thrilled am I? Very. It’s extra exciting when a plant you weren't even sure would live does so AND decides to bloom. I feel like I've won the lottery! It’s not the most graceful of plants; last summer while I wasn't paying attention it flung out three long stems one of which I had to prune back. The other two are growing out in a direction that allows for limitless exuberance, we'll see where it takes them.

In case your wondering (I understand mere buds may not be enough for everyone) here's what the flowers look like, photo borrowed from Annie's Annuals (which happens to be where I bought my plant, last spring)

And if you're interested in growing it, the stats:

• Forms an attractive, evergreen, multi-branching shrub to 4’ tall x 4’-6’wide
• 3” long “parrot-beak” red blooms held in clusters along the branches in the spring (possible second lesser bloom in summer)
• Prefers rich well drained soil
• Hardy to 13° F
• Attracts birds
• Full sun to half day sun depending on location
• Perennial, USDA zones 8-11
• Water: average to moist
• Also known as: parrot's beak, parrot's bill and lobster claw

Assuming my excitement isn't premature and actual flowers develop I will be sharing them...hopefully soon.

Lacebug…coming to a Rhododendron near you?

During our recent Yard, Garden & Patio Show here in Portland I had the good sense to attend a lecture by (beloved) local garden personality Mike Darcy. Before he began the presentation (the topic was “bringing color to the garden”) he shared a warning about lacebug, noting that people were bringing him damaged leaves from their plants over and over again asking what they could do.

This was eerily familiar to me because lacebug is what brought down the huge Rhododendron in my garden last year. Mike identified two ways of dealing with this pest. First you can use a horticultural oil but it is necessary to spray the underside of the leaves, as you might imagine that is a tad difficult. Secondly you can use Bayer Advanced Garden Tree & Shrub Insect Control. The key is to catch the infestation earlier than I did; since by the time I noticed something was wrong with my plant about 90% of its leaves were toast. There is no saving the leaves once they look like this…

By treating the plant your insuring the new growth is healthy. As you know I “treated” my plant by getting rid of it, that’s probably not an option for everyone. After hearing this warning the first thing I did when I got home was look at my remaining Rhody to see how it was doing, so far so good.

Not such a happy ending for my neighbor though. We were standing in his driveway chatting the other evening when my gaze turned to his Rhody…

And then I looked closer…

And I had to tell him he had a problem.

He decided to treat the plant and save it, most of it still looks good so I bet he’ll be successful.

I’ve been looking at other Rhody’s around town as I walk, it’s about 50/50…those with some issues and those with none. Of course it’s hard to really get a good look as it seems most Rhododendrons are planted as foundation shrubs and I’m not comfortable walking up next to people’s houses to check out their plants! Want to learn more? Here’s a page that the local Master Gardeners sent me.