Portland Nursery Hopping #1 Marbott's Nursery

Not far from Portland's Expo Center, where Hortlandia took place last weekend, is Marbott's Greenhouse and Nursery, growing plants for homes and gardens since 1930.  Mr. Marbott, better known as Ernie, is 89 years old and still a fixture here.  It was a delight to once again discuss tuberous begonias with Ernie and to hear how excited he is with the beauties he starts from seed in November.  By now they're full grown and starting to bloom.  After all these years, starting seeds and watching plants grow still holds his heart.  Tuberous begonias are exactly what I'd come here to find. 

While I always have surviving tubers from last year starting inside, it's always nice to add one or two already in full bloom.

While 'Nonstop' tuberous begonias are widely available as plants, few greenhouses (I'm only aware of Marbott's and Wells Medina who grow their own plants)  bother with the large. old-fashioned kind.  Perhaps because their stems are fairly brittle and might not be the most sturdy things to transport to stores.  Fortunately, tubers are widely available.  Some of my favorites are those that I ordered from Blackmore and Langdon a few years ago. 

These are not the trendiest plants but the big bright blooms remind me of how beautifully they grew in the Alaska gardens of my youth. 

Another plant that I've only seen at Marbott's is Kalanchoe uniflora 'Coral Bells.'  It's a great, easy-care succulent that flowers over a long period and the dried blooms make a delightful tinkling noise in the breeze.
















I usually don't notice the rock garden in the front as it's on a busy street and the parking lot is closer to the retail areas.  However, Ernie called his son over to take me out front to a locked greenhouse to see some special begonia hanging baskets they'd put together.

It would have been rude not to get one or two, right?  After all Mr. Marbott Jr. went out of his way and all.