Heronswood Open and Sale this weekend!

Well the big Heronswood open – its first major open since its purchase by the Port Gamble/Skallam tribe last year – is tomorrow! Yikes – how did that happen? It really sneaked up on us. While everyone has been promoting it in a big way, we have been slack in this department, because, oh, I don’t know, it just seems we have a million other things going on at once like usual.

In conjunction with the garden open, some of the Northwest’s best specialty nurseries will be present selling their coolest and most exciting plants in typical multi-nursery-sale fashion. As usual we are glad to accommodate special requests but you’ll have to get yours in by about 7:30 tomorrow morning!

There will also be the opportunity to hear Mr Hinkley talk about the past and future of Heronswood, and Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken of Far Reaches will be giving a presentation as well.

This event is getting a lot of press, including the following:
Seattle Times – Ciscoe Morris
Kitsap Sun

After your Hersonwood visit, don’t forget to leave time to stop off at Dragonfly Farms Nursery where you can shop not only from their inventory of unusual stuff, but also from Phocas Farms who will be selling all kinds of exciting hardy succulents this weekend!

If that isn’t enough incentive to visit, this weekend is also Viking fest in Poulsbo. How much more excitement can you possibly ask for? But come to Heronswood first.

Looks like it’s going to be big, so hopefully we will see you there!

Plant Sale Recap

Well, I did it: I survived three consecutive weekends of regional plant sales. It was not easy; actually, it was extremely stressful. I’m not sure if the people who come to these sales appreciate all the preparation and work nurseries do to make these things happen. I won’t say too much about that because it might sound like I am whining, when we are in fact glad to have the privilege of coming to these things. But someday I shall have to describe the process in full so that normal people can get an inside view of what it is like. Just not today.

So first, we have the Bloedel Reserve sale. This did not go as well for us as last year did, for a variety of reasons. I think the rain part of Saturday and most of Sunday certainly didn’t help – and it was very cold – nor did being in a corner rather than the middle of the sale. However I think the main problem was that there were several high-value items that sold “like hotcakes” (now there’s a worn-out expression) last year, that we simply did not have available this year. For example, last year we sold over $500 worth of Grevillea victoriae subsp. nivalis ‘Murray Valley Queen’ at this sale: this year we only have 4” pots of it which were scarcely noticed.

That non-availability of our most popular plants was our main problem, was confirmed in my mind when Hortlandia, the sale in Portland, was also down from last year. Although we brought a ton of cool stuff, much of it was apparently too obscure for shoppers to get excited about, and/or too small to look impressive. In general we have been kind of low on 1 gallon plants lately, which are generally our best value for those shopping on-site or at these plant sales. (Never fear though: we’ve been potting up all through the spring and many more will be in the pipeline soon!) Everyone else I talked to said they did about the same as last year or better, so there is no blaming sale attendees for our performance. Not that I ever would, of course!

The Rhododendron Species Foundation sale was also down for us, but up for everyone else. I had more competition this year than last from vendors offering similar items, and the weather was bad on the first day of the sale when the real plant nerds came out. Actually, I really liked the combination of vendors we had, since so many cool plants were available. But ultimately I had the same problem: I could not supply enough of the really “hot” plants people want.

We think our 4” pot size (and band pots) is certainly great for mail-order. They are easy to pack and ship in a box and we make sure they are well-rooted before they go out, so they will take right off once they are planted. The only problem is they just don’t make that much of an impression when you see a bunch of tiny little things on a table.

So what lesson, if any, have I learned? Well, two things. First of all, don’t try to build a greenhouse in the spring, which was what I did in 2012. Building a greenhouse while maintaining the rest of the nursery last spring was bad news, because it sucked so much time away from all the other work I needed to be doing – including, of course, potting up plants. That is probably the main reason we have been generally short on 1 gallon plants this spring. So I won’t let that happen again. The next greenhouse I build will be in the fall, which is what I always used to do anyway.

The other thing I have learned is that people definitely go for particular plants at these sales, and it does not always work so well to bring just anything. I guess that might seem like a no-brainer at first, but you have to keep in mind that all of our plants are cool. It is not like we are growing stuff that isn’t worth having. But some plants sell better simply because they are better known, or because they appeal to impulsive shoppers.

I have had the idea for a year or so that I ought to actually produce – as in, propagate and grow – a particular set of plants in advance just for each sale (or for a “cluster” of sales, such as the one I just survived). I wonder if any other nurseries ever do this. The standard practice, I think, is just to grab whatever looks good at the time and try to sell it as fast as possible. I’m starting to think it can’t hurt to be more calculated. A couple of caveats may be the potential for crop failures, and limitations of greenhouse space set aside for such plants. And how do I know months in advance what’s going to be hot? I’ll have to think on this for a while.

So, that was April. I’m glad for the opportunity to stay focused on the nursery at home for a while. The nursery is looking pretty good, and I think will only get better as open house time approaches. The hot weather is certainly causing things to burst into growth. It was 86 degrees yesterday in Sequim, which must be some kind of record for early May! On the other hand quite a bit of time is getting sucked away on watering and mowing when I need to be potting up. But we still have most of the plants under sprinklers so it’s not too bad. All in all, I’m feeling pretty good about this spring vs. last year. More later!

Bloedel Sale – staying dry!

Hordes of plant-crazed people at Hortlandia. Indoors, so not raining – yay.

Rhododendron Species Foundation sale – cloudy, but no longer raining.

Greenhouse full of manzanitas at Cistus Nursery. We are about 1/3 of the way towards our goal of having something like this here. LOL.

Passing of Duane Heier, Steamboat Island Nursery

Today I have some sad news to relate. I have already posted this on a few message boards, but as the need is continuing I will repost it here.

Many of you will know Laine and Duane at Steamboat Island Nursery, having purchased some of the unusual and exotic plants they have offered over the years from their small specialty nursery in Olympia. The sad news is that Duane has passed away last week from injuries incurred when he was struck by a Sound Transit train on his way to the Mariner’s season opener on April 8. I have been asked to pass along this news to anyone in the local horticulture/gardening community who knows them or is interested in helping in some way. They are hoping to be able to provide some much needed financial assistance for Laine, and are accepting donations to this end to the nursery address, 8424 Steamboat Island Road, Olympia, WA 98502. Quoting the article linked below (which see), “An account to cover funeral costs was created at Twin Star Credit Union, P.O. Box 718, Olympia, WA 98507-0718. Checks should be made to “Laine McLaughlin” and the memo line should say “Duane Heier” and account #411133-00.” If you want to talk donations, or donate cash, talk to Jay Higgins at 3heartsas1@gmail.com You can also send messages to Laine directly to the nursery email: steamboat@olywa.net

If donating money isn’t your thing, you can support the nursery (and hence Laine) by buying their plants. I am not entirely certain which regional plant sales they will be at in the near future – they are not on the list of vendors for Florabundance, which is this weekend, but if I find out any more sales where they will be represented, I will post it here. You can also seek out Steamboat Island Nursery Plants available from this list of nurseries, thus supporting them indirectly.

This article from the Seattle Times provides more details about what happened and how you can help cover expenses related to the accident.

So let’s remember Duane and keep Laine and the Steamboat Island Nursery staff in our thoughts through this difficult time. I may have to make some editions/corrections to this post as I find out more. Thanks for reading.

Steamboat Island Nursery at my last visit, September 2008.

NEWSLETTER: Three Weekends, Three Plant Sales!

Greetings from Sequim! This is not really meant as a comprehensive update on our doings, but we wanted to provide a quick note to inform you of the opportunities you will have to come and find us in three regional plant sales we will be participating in, during this very busy month of April. Please keep in mind that we welcome your special requests if there are any plants we can bring to any of these sales!

This weekend, you can find us at the Bloedel Reserve Premier Plant Sale and Open House. Not only will all the best nurseries of the Olympic/Kitsap Peninsulas represented (as well as some farther afield), but there will be a rare plant auction, numerous lectures, and the chance to see the Reserve and its gardens for free. The dedicated Bloedel folks are putting out so much publicity about this, it is certain to be huge! I should mention that, since this sale has been very good for all involved, the participating nurseries here tend to bring a LOT of stock, including all the coolest and rarest treasures! For more information see http://www.bloedelreserve.org/event-calendar/premier-plant-sale

Then, the following weekend, we will be in Portland for Hortlandia on April 13 – 14. This sale is probably now the biggest and best in the Northwest. With over 100 (!) nurseries present it is well worth the drive from the Seattle area. In fact, in our first year of participation in this sale last year, I met people from as far away as Bellingham, Boise and Sacramento who came to this sale because they thought it was the best one, period! And I would agree – it’s a whole expo hall full of plants! And if you’re in Portland, well, you’re just lucky to have this event in your home town. Let us know what you want, and we’ll bring it! http://www.hardyplantsociety.org/hortlandia

Finally, on April 19 – 20, we will be in Federal Way for the Rhododendron Species Foundation Sale. This would be a great chance for those of you in the South Sound area to come and say hi or pick up certain plants you might be wanting. There are lots of other great vendors here as well in what we think is an excellent combination that cannot usually be found in one place at any of the other sales. http://rhodygarden.org/cms/2013-spring-plant-sale/

This weekend I will be giving a talk during the Bloedel Reserve sale; it is on Sunday at 1 pm and will be about Southern Hemisphere plants. I will attempt to sort out which are hardy and which are not. Since I have killed so many of them I feel well qualified to talk about this! Bring your questions, and I’ll bring lots of cool plants!

Then when that’s over, we can get back to our usual spring frenzy of potting up stuff as fast as possible and never leaving the nursery – ha ha.

Thanks for reading! If you can’t make it to any of these events, you’ll hear from us again in May some time before our first open house of the year, at the end of the month. Until then,

Ian & Co.
The Desert Northwest

And one slight addendum if you will. Those of you with an interest in Heronswood and current happenings there will want to be aware of an event this Saturday being hosted by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Foundation. Their description of the event is as follows.

Heronswood: Past, Present and Future
Saturday, April 6th from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Foundation has announced a multi-media presentation by plantsman Dan Hinkley, together with Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Chair, Jeromy Sullivan. Hinkley, one of the co-founders of Heronswood, will talk about the past and what’s happening currently to restore the gardens that are treasured by so many people around the world. Sullivan will talk about plans for the future, including the formation of a steering committee and some exciting garden events happening this year.

Before the presentation, visitors will be able to experience a performance by the S’Klallam Singers. Coffee, tea and pastries will be available. There’s a suggested donation of $5 per person, which will benefit the garden fund.

This event will be held at the House of Knowledge Longhouse on the Port Gamble S’Klallam Reservation, 31964 Little Boston Road NE, Kingston, WA 98346.

Several Fun Conifers, Facebook in General, Web Update

So Tony Avent at Plant Delights thinks that promoting their plants on Facebook has been an effective marketing tool that actually leads to more purchases. I have decided to give that a try and see if it works for us, since we do, after all, have to sell plants one way or another to make this work. If I have been less than super-excited about posting plants on Facebook in the past, it is because Facebook made some changes about a year and a half ago now (I discussed it here… at the last paragraph of this very long post) which caused our posts to be hidden from the news feeds of most of our “followers.”

So, while we welcome you to follow us on Facebook if you’re not already doing so – we would ask that you modify your settings for our page, and any other you wish to follow in any serious way, by hovering over the “Like” button at upper right of The Desert Northwest Facebook page and selecting “Show in News Feed.” Otherwise there isn’t much point, since you will miss most of our posts.

Now as long as I’m doing this, I may as well repost the Facebook posts onto my blog to reach the broadest possible audience. Anyway, I should be talking more about our plants on this blog in general, since they are all so cool. I’ll do several at a time so things don’t get too hard to keep up with.

My current theme is confiers. All of the following are currently in stock with plenty of plants available, and you can find them described here.

Last week the glossy purple-ish color of Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Purple King’ caught my eye – I say “purple-ish” because the purple undertones of this plant are always very pronounced but it would be misleading to say it is really purple. This is a great plant and is easy to grow in sun or part shade, and is hardy to at least the single digits. It is more vigorous than a lot of the other small-needled Podocarpus and can compete with established tree roots. With dark purplish winter color and soft, pale purplish new growth, it’s pretty different, and pretty cool!

Sticking with the Podocarpus theme here, Podocarpus salignus is a real gem of a plant. The beautiful weeping foliage is appealing at all seasons, but especially in late spring when the new growth emerges a soft light green. It looks every bit as exotic as the (relatively) tender Afrocarpus (Podocarpus) gracilior, but it is native to central Chile which has a similar climate to the Pacific Northwest. (We also have a report of it performing well in the Southeast, unlike many Chilean plants.) And, it doesn’t get too big – though it can reach tree size in many years in the wild, it will remain shrub-sized for many years in gardens. Hardy to about 10 degrees, it is probably not suited to really cold frost pockets in the Northwest, but well worth the effort elsewhere.

What’s one of the best-known distinctive trees in the Northwest yet still quite hard to find in nurseries? (not to mention expensive) Monkey puzzle tree, of course. I’m not sure what this tree has to do with monkeys, since it is native to Chile and Argentina. Monkey dinosaurs perhaps. But I digress. It’s also quite a bit hardier than people think (-15F?), as evidenced by a 20+’ tall specimen in Kennewick, and this old tree in Weed, CA. We have plenty of these available now at a reasonable price – get ‘em before we bump them up to larger pots!!

The Tasmanian Huon Pine, Lagarostrobos franklinii, is one of the most elegant of the temperate Southern Hemisphere conifers. It takes centuries to reach tree size in the wild, and perhaps almost never does in gardens, where it is usually seen as an irregular shrub to perhaps 5 – 7′ tall and wide, with plumes of soft, hanging, deep green, scaly foliage. A distinctive and slightly odd beauty, it is certainly hardy in sheltered Northwest gardens, though it appreciates some summer water.

Was that exciting or what? Really though… when the plants offered by normal nurseries continue to become increasingly homogenous, it is fun to grow something different.

OK, final note on the web update that was supposed to happen by mid-February. I think I have figured out that I need to try something different this year; namely, to update the web site little by little instead of shooting for all at once (I can hear some of you saying “DUH”… OK, I’m slow!). So that is the new plan. And perhaps it will actually work. After all, that is pretty much how I do everything else, or else I could never do it. I’ll start making some little changes in the next few days and post back here soon! At the very least, I need to make the web site look less outdated, even if it is not, in fact, outdated – there is not much on our list from last year that we are not still able to supply. Which is a long way of saying we still have almost all this stuff in stock. But if you’re wondering about any specific items before you place your order, please don’t hesitate to ask!

2013 Schedule of Sales and Events!!

Today I finally applied for the last sale we want to do, so I think I have a pretty good idea what 2013 will look like for regional plant sales. Here is where you will be able to find us this year, and I have also included our open house dates too! As always we welcome your special requests for ANY of these events. Click the links for more information and directions (though a couple of these have yet to be updated from last year).

Sequim Garden Show – March 16, 17 – Sequim, Washington

Bloedel Reserve Premier Plant Sale and Open House – April 6, 7 – Bainbridge Island, Washington (Directions)

HORTLANDIA (Hardy Plant Society of Oregon) – April 13, 14 – Portland, Oregon

Rhododendron Species Foundation Spring Plant Sale – April 19, 20 – Federal Way, Washington

Heronswood Open House – May 18 – Kingston, Washington (still waiting on an official announcement for that one)

(First ever) Spring Open House! – May 31st, June 1st ONLY! – here at the nursery in Sequim.

Sorticulture – June 7 – 9 – Everett, Washington. We are now confirmed to participate in this sale, a new one for us this year.

Summer Open House! – July 26 – 28 – here at the nursery in Sequim.

Fronderosa Frolic – August 10 – Gold Bar, Washington

September Open House! – September 6 – 8 – here at the nursery in Sequim.

Salem Hardy Plant Society Fall Sale – September 14 – Salem, Oregon. I have not absolutely confirmed this sale yet, but as it is the only regional fall plant sale of its kind in western Oregon, chances are excellent that we will do it.

Northwest Horticultural Society Fall Sale – September 20, 21 – Seattle, Washington – also not confirmed, but we have done it every year in the past.

On our open house dates, we regret having to make a couple changes – especially the September one – since it would be nice to have had these really finalized from the get-go. However one other regional plant sale made a late change forcing us to work around it. Hopefully nothing else will change, but if anything does we will be sure to post it here!

Of course, remember, these are not your only opportunities to shop for our plants, since you can also make an appointment to visit any time we are available. We will be glad to have you.

So as long as I’m typing, I’ll get in my plug for the Sequim Garden Show, which is now just a week away. This sale is good for me since it helps me to get my butt in gear and get a little more focused for the upcoming season. It is a fun and easy going atmosphere and the folks are always so nice. The horticultural interest here is pretty impressive for a small town show, I might add. In addition to the exciting selection of plants we will be bringing (lots of Chilean and New Zealand plants this year), you won’t want to miss all the cool Sedums and succulents from Phocas Farms, and many other nurseries will be representing at the show.

Finally – and I will announce this again later – I will be giving a presentation at the Bloedel Reserve during their open house on April 7th at 1 pm. You can come and hear me talk about “Southern Hemisphere Plants: Discerning the Hardy from the Tender” – so bring all your hardiness questions about your favorite Southern Hemisphere Plants! I probably have your answer, since I have killed hundreds of them, and kept excellent records.

A Great Month for Relatively Young Horticulturists

I am always excited to connect with other people in my approximate age group, who have similar passions about horticulture that I have. And when these friends are recognized for their accomplishments, it somehow encourages me even though I had nothing to do with it myself. Here I will share two such examples.

Organic Gardening magazine has just produced a splendid article featuring six “young horticulturists” who are each pursuing their passions in their own special ways. This article was fun and I really enjoyed reading it – I hope you will too. I think out of the six I most identify with Brienne, especially when she said “I have found nothing else to be as satisfying as seeing newly formed roots on a cutting.” Yeah I am kind of weird that way myself, no doubt about it! I suppose, however, I am older than all these people, so I hope I can still get away with considering them my peers and calling myself “young.”

Then we have Riz Reyes (featured in the above article, BTW), for whom congratulations are in order for pretty much stealing the show at the 2013 Northwest Flower and Garden Show. His ‘The Lost Gardener’ garden (is that redundant? sorry) was so well executed that it won numerous awards including the founders award. We are honored to have been able to contribute a few plants to this garden. It appears Riz really went out of his way to get the coolest and best plants, lending credence to my personal theory that 2/3 of the secret to a great garden is to avoid boring plants. Sounds like a no-brainer but some people who design gardens (including some of the ones at the show) still don’t get it. Anyway, enough about that – we wish to publicly congratulate Riz on his success! Way to go Riz!

(Update 3/7: Check out more pics of ‘The Lost Gardener’ and a great write-up at Danger Garden!)

To follow up on my last post, I ought to say a little bit about what’s going on at the nursery. I still have not done anything with the web site, but I have actually been working extra hard outside getting geared up for spring. Most years it seems like spring always gets away from me before I can get on top of things, so this year I am determined not to let that happen. Last year at this time I injured my shoulder snowboarding and couldn’t do much lifting for a month. Two years ago it snowed about this time, plus I was committed to the Flower and Garden Show which sucked away a bunch of my time. (This year I did not even attend – oops.) So this year I am going to get done what I need to get done here at the nursery to make it look awesome for summer open houses and sales, with tons of cool plants available and looking sharp earlier than last year. Hopefully I’ll do the web site soon enough as well. Wish me luck!

I should also mention that almost all the plants on the mail-order list are still available. And please don’t hesitate to ask if you want to check availability of something in particular.

Finally, on a sad note, we wish to lament the passing (about a week and a half ago) of retired King County extension agent George Pinyuh. He was a pioneer of cold hardy cactus and succulent gardening west of the Cascades, having attempted at least a couple hundred species; and was also an avid enthusiast of broadleaf evergreens. To others I don’t doubt he was much more, but I will remember him for his enthusiasm about under-appreciated plants and generosity in sharing them. We hope to honor his memory by getting a lot of the plants we have from his collection into general production (mostly from small cuttings… so it will be a while) with the promotion and recognition they deserve.

I think that will be all for now!

Here’s a pic that I don’t think has seen the light of day (I can’t imagine why not) – George Pinyuh talking to some weird long-haired dude, his cactus garden in the foreground, October 2006.