New Sedums and Semps

When Will and I were camping we went to the McMinnville Farmers Market. I purchased the plants pictured below from Cynda of Perennial Obsessions Nursery. A very small nursery in Salem that handles drought tolerant plants. A great collection of Sempervivums are offered, over 50 varieties listed. Check them out if you have the chance.

Sedum glaucophyllum

Sempervivum "Icicle"

Sedum spunum "Elizabeth"

Sempervivum "Lilac Time"

Praying Mantis Nursery

About three weeks ago I put a Praying Mantis egg case in the Death Valley Shack and it hatched the other day. The tag states that there will be 100 to 200 babies, They were not kidding, it took me about a hour and a half to get them spread out through the neighborhood plus here at Beech Street. I went to everybody's door and ask if they would like some Praying Mantis babies. No one said no..........

Quarter inch in size

Added a couple to the Death Valley Shack and I saw one this morning. It was standing watch on a small barrel cactus. Nothings better than organic bug control.



Oregon Garden Rose

Since I'm on a roll with roses, I thought this photo that I took of the Oregon Garden rose was stunning out in the front garden. Yes, the Oregon Garden has it's own rose. I purchased one around the time the gardens first opened. It is an outstanding rose, no black-spot, rust, or other problems that you normally run into having roses. The leaves are rich & dark and flowers are big, beautiful, and fragrant.  Walking by the bush you get a strong fragrance of perfumed spices. Actually there are quite a few roses planted here, most are miniature. None of them seem to be bothered by the drought tolerant conditions that they have to live through.

Visit Heirloom Roses

Will and I went camping recently and during that time we made a visit to Heirloom Roses.......If you like Roses and have the time to make the trek it is so worth it. St. Paul is really not that far and what a great way to spend the day. I did not keep track of what I was taking photos of, but you get an idea of what there is to see. Endless beauty in all directions.  If you start out early in the day, you could stop off at Hughes Water Gardens for a viewing of Water Lilies also.
  

New Book on Agaves!

Greg Starr of Starr Nursery has written a new book on Agaves. I recently picked it up from the library after waiting over 6 months for it to be released and without really diving into it at this point, I like the look so far. Over 200 photographs of Agaves in the wild and in collections. Plus there are photos of flower stalks. Mr. Starr has included field notes, description, culture, and landscape value of more than 50 plants. He discusses growing Agaves in different parts of the world, watering, insect pests & diseases, size catagories, and cold hardiness. Looking forward to sitting down and reading this in the next couple of days while it is raining......

Published by Timber Press who we all know and love.

Martagon Lily Update

About three weeks ago I posted an entry about the Martagon Lily that is in the side garden. It is one of my favorite lilies to grow, this is the second group I have planted, and you know how it is when you like one particular plant............there will be more. It is amazing how many blooms you get on one stalk, plus the speckling of the flowers are beautiful.

USDA hardiness zone 3 to zone 10

Allium Fireworks

ALLIUM SCHUBERTII

It's like a Fourth of July firework...........its a bulb that I planted a few years. The sun was shining on it just right, it was the only spot that was getting sun at the time. I need to plant more, search some out this Fall!

USDA hardiness zone 5 to zone 9

It's True.............

Your garden is an endless job, right?..........This is the front walk to the house and has been redone about four or five times, but this will be the last (I'm smiling as I write this). Needing to post a picture of this before it is finished, so I can get some Oohs and Aahs from everyone when it is completed. I wish I had taken a photograph before I started anything but forgot. Anyway there will be a gravel strip the width of the brick planter that is on the side of the porch all the way down to the driveway with pathway lighting. There are a couple of plantings of bulbs that need to die back before I want to move them, so at this point I'm going to purchase all the materials and be ready to move forward. I'm very excited about this, I have always wanted lighting on the walk but it was not speaking to me till about 3 weeks ago. So be looking for an update in the future.    

A Rose of the 20th Century

This Peace Rose was here when we purchased the house here at Beech Street Gardens. It is so large and old that is was probably planted when the Peace Rose was first introduced in 1945. The flowers are big and beautiful, the only thing about a Peace Rose that I do not like is there is no fragrance to the flowers. The only fragrance is when the flowers are an opening bud. But the flowers are very pretty..........