A Winter Visit to Alpine Nursery

Judy Hook called me a couple of months ago to tell me that she'd decided to start making garden art to sell. I was thrilled as I'd greatly admired her pieces in her garden which you can see here. A couple of weeks ago, she let me know that she had some pieces for sale at Alpine Nursery. I was excited to see what she'd come up with and the next weekend, we paid a visit to Alpine to check it out.

Oh look, some tiny tillandsias for the trees. Hmm.

Fun idea for rain chain display!

Trachodendron aralioides.

This echiveria could be a plant, a pet or both!

"Down Under" pots. What do you think of these?

Most of the huge table of epiphyllum had bloomed but some were still going at it. It's hard to resist the beauty of these sweathearts in bloom!

As Loree says, if you seek it, there will always be an agave. (or several!)

Agave americana marginata

Always happy to see Agave parryi but this is the first time I've seen a Monrovia/ Proven Winners pot even though they teamed up in 2010.

Agave 'Kissho Kan' While I love agaves in the ground in California, I think I'm starting to prefer the ones that I bring inside for the winter. They require virtually no care, grow well, and look pristine compared to their pals roughing it outside.

Even more agaves!

A Brugmansia 'Miner's Claim' that looks this good at this time of the year is a sign of a gardener with great skill!

Because we visited in the middle of one of our freezes, much of the inventory that would usually be outside was under cover. I was welcome to check it out but decided to see what was toughing it out in the cold instead. Here's a 'Chief Joseph' lodgepole pine in a two gallon pot for only $109.00, the least expensive I've seen one of these of this size. Really, I went back and looked at the tag several times. If you were thinking of getting one, now might be a good time. I'd be happy to pick it up for you if you want it but can't get to the nursery!

Alpine is known for their huge selection of evergreens and Japanese maples. The maples weren't doing much but it was a treat to walk through the conifers. This one, whose tag I forgot to read really looked red, not the rust color that appears in this picture. I'm not fond of evergreens that turn "bronze" in the winter because to my eye, they turn brown and look dead. This one was vibrant and wonderful!

Here's what we came to see. When the sun hits these amber spheres, this piece seems to glow from within!

Here's one of Denny King's spheres, this one painted bright red. What's not to love?

Judy believes that these are best displayed in a large pot with low growing ground cover, especially sedum/sempervivum. I think they look great in the landscape as well!