Hellebore argutifolius 'Pacific Frost'
A visit to a local garden center with a Christmas gift card, thanks to Beloved. Beloved also graciously took excellent photos of the garden center. All the garden center photos are his.
One thing I was looking for was Hellebores, and surprisingly, I could not find any.
Time to get the planters ready for spring. They were looking a bit shabby
We went right at opening Sunday morning to avoid the crowds that would appear an hour or two later
They had a small, very-so-so selection of Native Sons and Annie's Annuals 4" pots.
Still lots of succulents
Lots of succulents
Lots and lots, but nothing out of the ordinary.
It's what they call "Early Rose Season". "Rose Season" is when the potted roses are blooming. They are not blooming yet so it is "Early Rose Season". A few, I admit, were tempting.
The shade plants section. No hellebores. Not a one. I was puzzled.
When it is "Rose Season" the roses are in the "North Forty" area. At Christmas time, they have Christmas trees for sale here. The rest of the year, they have shrubs, which is what they had Sunday.
Cool: the wind spinners on the top of the sign:
Interesting to see six 15-gallon Metrosideros 'Springfire's. I've never seen them for sale here before. They looked really good but they wanted $229 apiece for them. I bought mine either 1 or 3 gallon size, for a whole lot less than $229.
Another shade area, and no Hellebores anywhere.
Ferns and Melianthus and Mahonias and such. No Hellebores.
Specimen Platyceriums that have lived here many years.
Their usual section of cool-season annuals are not going to like this week's weather--we're expecting temperatures in the high 80sF (~30c) and humidity in the single digits. Iceland poppies, primroses--they do okay right along the ocean in winter here, but a few miles inland--toast.
Anemone blanda(?) Can they take extreme heat?
Blue pot, anyone?
There's the Primroses. I tried some once. They couldn't take heat.
Fancy hanging succulent baskets with a little roof. Cute. $99.99
Okay, there are the Hellebores! They were up front. We walked right past them.
They had a hundred at least, in one and three gallon sizes, but only three different selections/cultivars, 'Double Pink', 'White Ice', and H. argutifolia 'Pacific Frost'. There was exactly one 'Blue Lady', 30% off due to snail damage to the foliage. Got that one, a 'Double Pink', and the 'Pacific 'Frost', the first photo of this post.
Below,Snail-damaged 'Blue Lady' on the left, 'Double Pink' on the right. 'Pacific Frost' was the first photo of this post.
'Blue Lady' is said to have purple flowers, but gardeners will buy anything with 'Blue' in the name, so they didn't call it 'Purple Lady', though they should have.
Also succumbed to trying Felicia amelloides one more time--there were some healthy ones in the 4" pot section from Annie's Annuals. Why they won't grow well here still puzzles me. One more try, then I give up. The flowers are a magical blue, which is why I keep trying. Gardeners and anything blue, you know.
Back at home, it was time to pull everything out of this area by the back gate. There were three small roses that looked good for about one month out of every twelve, some meh Hemerocallis, a clump of Aloe 'Rooikappie' that was offsetting too much, some Senecio serpens that needed to be cut back, and a few small Echeverias and Haworthias that needed refreshing and replanting.
This small area is a little problematic. The Callistemons that nicely screen out the back neighbor's house don't have as wide a bed as they deserve:
I've considered re-arranging the stepping stones to give them a bit more width...something like this:
But I'm still undecided. While being undecided, I did a thorough pruning of 'Sombreuil' rose, something that hasn't happened for several years. It's tidy now!
Now it will be hot, dry, and windy for several days. Grrr!
Thanks for this, because I can't find mahonias anywhere local to bring north. Funnily enough, I bought a varieg argutifolius at Dancing Oaks! But it's a seedling, not the real 'Pacific Frost.' I don't think I've seen the parking planters look that bare before.
ReplyDeleteThe parking planters looked pretty bad. I imagine they are about to replant everything for spring soon.
DeleteYep, they had Mahonias. I've also seen them at the local Armstrongs off and on--though not lately.
In these early days of the season, your garden center has more to offer than any Seattle nursery. I adore the succulent wall and the large selection of plants, but understand your disappointed with the puny Hellebore offerings. Around our parts, most Hellebores are in bloom or perfuse bud when offered for sale, so one knows what flower color to expect.
ReplyDeleteRearranging the path seems like a good idea (and quite a bit of work!).
Here garden centers are year-round. The concept of them shutting down for the winter is a baffling one for a lifelong SoCalifornian.
DeleteI got a few Hellebores mail order last year--more interesting selection. They are not commonly grown around here.
Actually the path would involve shifting the stepping stones a few feet--not that much work. Just unsure it will look right.
Your posts are always bringing me a smile to my face. The Anemone on your photo is Anemone Coronaria. Here in Holland is told that they need a place in a warm, sunny spot. They don´t survive in my garden in Holland. We have to dig them up after the foliage died and keep them save for wintertime. To much rain! and they can´t have any frosty temperatures. I wish often that I had my garden in your part of the world. Heath is not always a blessing but month´s of dark grey sky´s and rain is also not a favorite thing to have. I am looking forward to your next post. Keep smiling!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are so kind, Marijke. Thank you for identifying the Anemone. They might need some winter chill to flower, which we don't have.
DeleteGloomy grey skies do affect one's mood after a while--and cold for a long time isn't easy either. May you get some sunshine very soon, and here, may we get rain! :)
I'm glad you found the hellebores at last! I'll be interested in how 'Pacific Frost' does for you. Mine, purchased last year, a) lost its variegation within months and b) shows no signs of blooming this year but then, with the exception of 'Anna's Red', my other hellebores took a few years to establish before they got around to blooming. (A few in the 'Winter Jewels' series just upped and died.)
ReplyDeleteI've been growing the Anemone coronaria in my cutting garden for a few cool years but I think I was too stingy with the water even there as the plants are making a relatively poor showing this year. It looks as though I haven't missed out on much due to my failure to make a trip to RG thus far this year. Hopefully, there'll be more available in March - and that temperatures will settle down after this week. It's 80F here at the moment and humidity is at 12% :(
RG had furniture and things in that area for quite a while so I never looked there, fooled me!
DeleteHere it was 79F at 3:00am and the winds were roaring--could not sleep. Then the neighbor's alarm company called asking if the neighbor's house was okay. Pitch black out and 60mph winds, I'm not about to go outside to check. So they called the police. All was well--likely shrubs were lashing their house and disturbed the alarm system. Never a dull moment. Running out soaking my new plants still in pots every few hours, so they don't desiccate.
Never a dull moment!
The last few years I've been buying my Hellebores at the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale. Pretty reasonable prices for a 1G plant and a good selection . Hoping they don't have the sale on the weekend I have a trip to Santa Barbara planned ! I still have all my climbers to prune, including Sombreuil. Somb and Sally Holmes are beasts ! It got up to the mid-80's here today after a morning low of 32. I can't ever recall having 80's in Feb. And it just refuses to rain.
ReplyDeleteGrim weather, yes. Like last year's Snowpocalypse that TX had, only dry. :(
DeleteUC Davis seems like a nice resource--our local UC Irvine once upon a time had an arboretum of sorts and plant sales of sorts. Zero funding and little interest, so it all closed down.
Here it was 79F at 3:00am with 60 mph wind gusts. double :(!
DeleteGreat looking nursery! I love that wall of succulents and that bench is to die for! I need that. :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd checked the price tag on that bench. Their prices are insane. But yeah, it's way cool.
DeleteVery nice...and I'm so jealous. I want to go plant shopping, too. (I did start some annual seeds today, so that helps.) I like those blue pots...I have a couple of pots in that shade. Your stepping stone area is nifty, and I'm sure it will look amazing however you arrange it.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost spring! Soon, soon. :)
DeleteYikes, the wind and warmth do not sound at all spring-like! Hope it settles down for a beautiful weekend. I also would have loved to know what the bench was going for, it looks cool but costly! I've actually been obsessing about a similar look but as faux bois, and I don't that would be any cheaper at all.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the new hellebores!
You seem to have a lot of skills, have you thought of trying your hand at faux bois? Quite a lot of info now on line. Knowing that garden center's prices, the bench must have been several thousand dollars.
DeleteI hope the hellebores can take this no-chill climate--some appear to need vernalization, the ones I've tried so far appear to be okay without it.
The first nursery visits of the season are always so much fun!! I went to two last week. Found one of the reddest Phormium I've ever seen and a small Renegade Cordyline which I couldn't resist. I've killed the Cordyline once before, but am trying again. Also bought some sweet little irises, and a butter yellow crocus. I find them irresistible this time of year!
ReplyDeleteI've killed 'Renegade' Cordyline, too. It didn't look healthy but it was the only one I ever saw so bought it anyway. Plant shopping--that happens.
DeleteSweet little iris--they are always irresistable.
I was very dubious about hellebores until I realized that they thrive here in Davis with absolutely no attention on my part. I have 5 or 6 now. Glad you found some!!
ReplyDeleteI was in San Diego last week, and it was 90°! Insane!!
A very pleasant surprise, Hellebores. They give so much for close to zero effort.
DeleteYes we had five days of 90F and then a nice mild day and then got a little rain due to a tremendous lightning-and-thunder-storm. Crazy weather.