New articles about desert plants!

Just a quickie to announce the addition of two new articles to the Desert Northwest web site. The first one is called ‘domestic Agaves’, describing and singing the praise of those Agaves native to right here in the good ol’ USA. The second is about how to design and maintain a desert garden. This article is subject to revision and I would welcome your comments on it as a response to this post. I still have a lot to learn and I am sure someone will read it who has valuable opinions to add. Both articles can be found under the ‘articles’ section of the web site (makes sense, doesn’t it??), right at the top.

I also tied up all the loose ends leftover from the fall season. It’s tough keeping on top of a website like this by myself. Now we’ll see if I can find time over the winter to write some more plant descriptions.

Newsletter October 14, 2007: time to shop for plants!!!

Hello friends,

Well six weeks into the fall shipping season, which has been busy enough to keep me on my toes despite only limited announcement, I find a chance to sit down a type a quick update of what’s new here at the Desert Northwest. We’ve gone from a busy summer to an even busier fall, as we endeavor to pack up all the plants, pots and other supplies and move them to our new location over the coming weeks, while still performing the usual tasks to take care of them, doing thousands of cuttings for next year’s plants, and building new greenhouses before winter. So 2007 will go down as “the year that was completely crazy” in my memory. Unfortunately (and probably needless to say) the thing I probably won’t be able to make time for is any major collecting trips. New Agave and Yucca seeds will have to wait one more year, I’m afraid, barring a miracle.

I am finally organized enough to send out newsletters via e-mail to everyone who requested to be added to the list of e-mail updates on my order form! So this will be the first such newsletter. If this message has reached you in error or you wish to be removed from my list, please accept my apology and send me a note back indicating this is so.

While the Eastern US has been enjoying unseasonably summer-like weather, it has been downright wintry out here, with lots of rain, wind, and significant mountain snows. Summer was rather cool and clammy, but not too out of the ordinary when one looks at the statistics – but I can hardly remember such “bad” late September and early October weather. After enduring 28 consecutive days of below normal temperatures, our average high of 63 (anticipated tomorrow) seems downright balmy. The record highs seem impossible to believe! Did it really get to 83 on this date in 1991? Oh yeah, it’s not winter yet. Well, on the plus side, I haven’t had to do very much watering.

As the rains come early to the Pacific Northwest, we are reminded that fall is considered the ideal time for planting by “normal” horticulture professionals and specialists alike. Giving plants a little extra time now to put down roots will give them a significant edge come spring, and with the weather we have had, you can plant right away without worrying about irrigating them. Of course, a little frost protection may be necessary to overwinter certain plants successfully, depending on your climate.

My biggest sellers continue to be the Grevilleas: not surprisingly, as these plants have so many virtues; and, I believe, are on the verge of making it big in the Pacific Northwest. Many of them are good performers in the South as well. It doesn’t say this on the web site, but I have under-produced them so get yours quick before it’s too late! This fall I am doing hundreds of Grevillea cuttings to hopefully meet next year’s demand. Don’t forget the South African Proteas – I have quite a few of these now growing large enough to ship and they are frequently even showier.

I have an increasingly diverse selection of offerings for the cold-hardy desert garden. A better selection of hardy cacti and Agaves is the obvious addition, but no exotic garden should be without my special hardy Furcraea selections: these Yucca impostors are among the most rewarding and impressive deserty type plants we can grow, and they also blend nicely into any tropical themed garden.

To make your desert garden really authentic you might also consider adding plants such as an evergreen oak or one of my manzanita selections, both of which complement any cactus garden splendidly. These tough and durable plants also stand very well in their own plantings and are excellent for covering dry sunny banks or areas difficult to reach with the hose, for gardeners trying to get away from the same old stuff. Consider the rugged yet easily grown Arctostaphylos hookeri, or one of my super-grey A. viscida selections.

For the admirers of antipodean flora, I now offer an expanded selection of New Zealand and South American native plants. Some of these will be available only sporadically so get them while you can! Finally, for those of you who have been asking for Callistemons, I now have a splendid selection of hardy species and forms from which to choose, with flower colors ranging from cream to red to purple.

Thanks for making it another successful year. Successful enough, at least, for the nursery to continue forth, and for the likelihood of an even more exciting plant selection to come. Hopefully I’ll send out one more newsletter before the end of the shipping season with some commentary on my plans for the exciting new nursery location. Stay tuned!

Ian Barclay

The Desert Northwest

Web: www.desertnorthwest.com

E-mail: deus_vobiscum@hotmail.com

Current Availability: Click Here

Gigantic Seattle manzanitas

Ron Brightman showed me this huge specimen of Arctostaphylos manzanita in a Seattle garden years ago.  Now it is even bigger.  It must be 18 feet tall and 30 feet wide!

I also found this rather large plant (perhaps 11′ tall) that appears to be A. columbiana in North Seattle.  One wonders if it is a preserved native plant, or was planted.

While we’re at it here’s an impressive interior live oak (Quercus wislizenii) in north Seattle.  It’s not common, but it obviously does great here.

Plant sale report

Well the plant sale was a hit.  Not only was it a lot of fun, but I also sold a lot more plants than I was expecting to (admittedly, my nursery is still not too well known).  It was good to meet some of my customers in person as well!  I also enjoyed seeing what other nurseries are growing.  I like to spy on them of course, and this way I didn’t have to go far to do so.  If you missed it here are a few pictures from the event.

The NHS provided a nursery sign for me and you can also view my impromptu ‘Australian Plants’ sign.  I’ll have to work on more signage for the next sale; it might have helped sales.  I also need to print a pic of the Banksia flowers – no one bought those big ones.  Live and learn.  The little pictures in the front are of Grevilleas and Callistemons, which sold pretty well.

Fewer people bought plants from the side of the table, mainly because they simply weren’t as prominently displayed, I think.

This picture displays my fancy yellow popsicle stick tags (I would like to make them another color for the next sale – suggestions welcome!) and homemade pot stickers.  The stickers came out great and are a lot cheaper than plant tags.  Some customers liked how they didn’t have to turn their head sideways to read about the plants.  I will still go to plant tags eventually since they are more versatile.  Those tag making systems aren’t cheap though, compared to my system!

The vendor across the way with their fancyplants.

Our immediate neighbors were again Chimacum Woods, as they were in the Mediterranean Society sale.  I am very tempted to get a couple of his Rhododendrons even though I probably shouldn’t.

Also next door to us was Sue Olsen, fern extraordinaire.  It was a pleasure meeting and talking to her.  She is the author of THE book on garden ferns, an impressive and comprehensive work (I don’t remember the exact title).

Northwest Horticultural Society Plant Sale!

Another opportunity is swiftly approaching for those of you who enjoy the exciting atmosphere and diverse offerings of our regional plant sales, and/or would like to purchase plants from me without the mail-order hassles. The Northwest Horticultural Society Plant Sale is one of the largest regional multi-nursery fall plant sales. There will be at least 30 vendors there with all kinds of cool stuff and you are sure to find something that cannot be found anywhere else! I have been invited to participate. I will again be bringing a large selection of plants (100+ species…. as much as will fit into my station wagon really). The sale is this Friday and Saturday, September 14 and 15 in Seattle (details at the link above). I hope to see you all there!

Fall plant list partly finished!

The fall shipping season begins September 1st! Oh wait, that was two days ago. So I’m just a little bit behind on the fall plant list, but not tremendously so. It’s now safe to place orders from the much-expanded plant catalog, except for the eucalyptus section which I will update next. Also, I have yet more plants to add! I won’t be making a major announcement and fall newsletter until I have the plant list complete, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Writing detailed descriptions for all the new plants will probably take me much longer.

Customers with pending orders from the summer should be aware that their orders will be sent first. Hopefully I will get all of them out later this week.

Interesting local manzanitas

Last Sunday I went on another search for some interesting forms of our native manzanita species, primarily A. columbiana and A. x media.  It’s not quite worth a collection trip report (well, maybe it is), but I thought should at least post something to show how interesting these oft-forgotten native plants can be.  This time I thought I would explore the wilds of the southwest part of the Kitsap Peninsula.  Civilization quickly fizzles out as you go south and west from Bremerton, passing Gold Mountain, Tiger Lake, and entering an interesting plateau-like area of rather rugged terrain.  As you go west, the usual fir-hemlock-cedar-maple forest gives way to relatively more open pine-oak forests with an understorey of evergreen huckleberry, and in many places, Ceanothus velutinus and manzanita.

The first place I found something really interesting was along Dewatto Rd. west of Panther Lake.  First I saw A. columbiana, then I noticed A. uva-ursi everywhere – so I figured it must be a good place to look for A. x media.  After stopping the car and looking around, I found several low-growing forms of it that looked basically like a large-leafed kinnikkinnik.  I also found this:

Looks like A. columbiana, right?  Well, this plant was a little different.  At under 3′ tall this plant is low and compact and has the appearance of being near its mature height.  Others in the area were more upright.  This one also had more congested leaves.  Is it A. x media or just a variation on A. columbiana?  Who knows!

This is definitely A. x media, and the largest/most conspicuous one I found in the area.  It’s hard to get a feel for scale in this picture but this plant is about 2′ tall with rather large leaves exceeding 1″ long, larger than any I have yet seen on A. x media.

Driving a little further, I spotted this A. columbiana plant with exceptionally large, soft leaves.  The yellow fruit is also cool, but it will probably turn red as it ripens.  The owner of this plant is one of the few people I have encountered in my travels who actually cares about manzanita or native plants.  Initially he tried to scare me off but after a respectful discussion he graciously let me have a cutting to propagate this outstanding form.  Ignoring floral characteristics, this plant strongly resembles A. cansecens I have seen in Oregon.  The hairs were much softer than usual for A. columbiana.

A little more driving took us to Forest Spring Rd.  Now we were really out in the booneys with no houses or anything for miles, as far as I could tell.  Who would have thought that such a remote area could exist so close to civilization?  And who would have expected to find so many interesting plants?  Now Ceanothus velutinus was everywhere and innumerable variations on Arctostaphylos columbiana grew along the road.

Wow!  This one sure jumped out at me (not literally, but almost) – I haven’t seen any A. columbiana quite like this – with such long, tapered, pale leaves.  It strongly resembles A. canescens subsp. sonomiensis (again, ignoring floral characteristics).

This is probably the best blue form of A. columbiana I found.  I also found some with larger than usual crops of fruit or flowers.

Arctostaphylos columbiana has a reputation for being somewhat finnicky in cultivation, compared to more easily grown hybrids of California origin (‘Louis Edmonds’, ‘Sunset’, etc.).  It is my hope that some of the forms I have collected as cuttings on this and other trips will result in A. columbiana forms that have superior ornamental value and ease of growth.

Do some of these plants represent other species besides just A. columbiana?  One has to wonder, given the vast difference in leaf and stem morphology.  The answer may be no, since the unique plants I have found so far have been isolated individuals within a population of what are clearly A. columbiana.  Because of this I suspect a laboratory genetic analysis might tell us they are all one species.  Another possibility is that A. canescens used to occur in this area, and has gone extinct from Washington but left some of its genes behind as hybrids with A. columbiana.

Stay tuned – I have still left the farthest reaches of the southwest Kitsap Peninsula unexplored: it will have to wait for another trip!

Upcoming plant sale August 4th!

So as this cloudy midsummer night drifts subtly into the wee hours, here I sit, not dozing off or even relaxing, but hunkered down at my notebook computer, striving to beat the system, a recurring theme in my life. The problem is, most nurseries make plant tags using a specialized printer, software and materials costing a few thousand dollars. Not only is that an expensive investment for a small business owner just to get started, but then you are stuck purchasing their specialized tags whenever you want more tags. But I will have none of that. I usually just write the plant tags by hand – works for me. But this week I want to do something more, because now I have a new reason to affix prices and plant descriptions to the plants.

I have accepted an invitation to sell plants in the Pacific Northwest Branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society multi-nursery sale on August 4th. I am excited about it, and you should be too, as I will be bringing LOTS OF COOL STUFF to this sale – MUCH more than is listed on the web site. Callistemons, Banksias, Eucalyptus, Fuchsias, Hebes, Grevilleas, Agaves, Opuntias, you name it – it will be there! (Well, I may leave the Forsythia behind.) Requests of what you would like to see me bring are welcome, that is of course if I have it. The sale runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and is located at Mesogeo Greenhouse, 12364 Miller Rd. NE, on Bainbridge Island (98110).  This event occurs in conjunction with a couple of exciting garden opens, and admittance to the sale is free.  More details can be found here. I hope to see you all there!

And, to conclude my story, between the versatility of MS Word and Office Depot weatherproof labels, I seem to have the plant tag situation figured out, for the time being at least. Pot stickers aren’t really as ideal as stick tags, but I’ll keep working on it. Drat you, the system!

June 2007 Newsletter: Yes, I’m still alive

Well as I look forward to a cool rainy first day of summer tomorrow, I must reflect upon the events of the last couple months that have had me a bit distracted from running a nursery.  While this is not usually a forum to discuss events of my personal life, it’s hard to explain where I have been without doing so!  So, long story short, the nursery has been on the back burner because I have been busy planning a wedding.  My wedding and now my lovely wife and I are married and embarking on our new life together.  Now, unfortunately, our time is still tied up by tedious paperwork of a most displeasing nature, which I don’t really wish to discuss here.

All this to say, it’s easy to explain why the spring mail order season ended on a rather anti-climactic note.  While plants will not be available mail order again until September, the nursery will continue to be open by appointment throughout the summer.  Hopefully I will change the web site to announce this before people think I have dropped off the face of the earth.  Many species have just grown large enough to sell mail order now that the season is over, and many more will do so by the end of summer including lots of exciting things I have not offered before.  On the other hand, I am so far behind on potting up little plants it is not even funny.  Oh well, I will get to them when I get to them!

As for the long term future of the nursery, we plan to continue forth and keep growing and selling plants as time allows.  And we can hope that time will allow for more, but this summer and fall are likely to continue to be hectic.

Also as time has slipped away from me, I still haven’t gotten the e-mail newsletter thing together – maybe by this fall.  If you want some cool stuff, don’t hesitate to get in touch!  I will be around and as summer goes on I will have many more plants than are listed on the website.

Fabulous Embothrium

Ron Brightman pointed out to me this magnificent specimen of Embothrium coccineum (Chilean Fire Tree) in a north Seattle garden.  I’d put this on my ‘plant photo of the month’ page but I have been putting a lot of Proteaceae on there lately.  And by the time June comes it will be about finished blooming.

All I can say is…. wow!!