Down to the wire..

Down to the wire on our Spring 2016 potting, our goal is to get it all done by the end of May. We should just about make it!

Yellow on a cloudy day!

Brightening up a cloudy & rainy day here at Plantmad. Graham Stewart Thomas a great Horticulturalist & Gardener and a great Honeysuckle that should be much more widely planted.Intoxicating scent for both people & bees!  

Hoping for Pink!

Cardiocrinum giganteum "Fingers crossed maybe Pink"

Oh heck we are about to run out of roof :)... This is a seedling of Kelly & Sue's (Far Reaches Farm) Pink flowering Cardiocrinum giganteum. We have our fingers crossed but know the chances of pink flowering offspring is slim! We'll be happy whatever the flower color. 

Burford, The House, The Wisteria!

Wisteria 'Burford'

Burford House not far from Tenbury Wells in Shropshire was the home of the renowned nursery man & Clematis grower John Treasure. Back in the 80's he sent a photo of a large Wisteria covering one whole side of Burford House to Hilliers Nursery. He identified the plant as Wisteria sinensis but after some period of time it was decided the the plant was almost certainly a hybrid between W. sinensis & W. floribunda.

It was then introduced to the trade under the name for the house upon which it lived! 'Burford' takes a couple of extra years to reach flowering age but if you have the patience it's more than worth the wait for the fantastic flowering display that you will be rewarded with.

A few plants were sent to the US and we were lucky enough to get one. While we have grown a few of them off and on over the years we have now added this cultivar to our regular production schedule so you should start seeing a few more of them in coming years.

Champagne Mimosas For Lunch.

Champagne Mimosas for Lunch at Plantmad today as we (FINALLY) celebrate the end of another grafting season!

Chilean Fire Bush on Flight Path!

Anyone who has been around plants in the PNW for any time will know about the old Embothrium coccineum growing at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. Sadly it's been in decline for a good many years now but at it's prime it was said that when in flower you could spot it from an airplane window if you were on the right flight path into Seatac airport.

I'm hoping to recreate that down here in Oregon for folks flying into Portland from the East! This tree is a first generation offspring of that Seattle tree and I've planted another 5 second generation trees around this one. Give me a few more years!!

Embothrium coccineum in the Plantmad Garden

Wisteria 'Anwen'

Back in the mid 90s I selected & introduced 2 climbing plants named for daughters Mirranda & Anwen, one was the variegated climbing Hydrangea anomala petiolaris 'Mirranda'. The other was Wisteria 'Anwen'.

While Mirranda soon found her way into the trade both here in the US and in Europe. Anwen was never produced in large numbers but still found it's way into peoples collections & also to Europe including the Wisteira collection of the Ghent University Botanical Garden.

Last week a friend in Portland posted some photos of Anwen looking resplendent on his from porch. Besides the mass of wonderful flower racemes Anwen also as a strong sweet scent.