An Outlaw in Danger Country

I've read about Portland Nursery (not to be confused with Tacoma's Portland Avenue Nursery)  on Danger Garden, most recently here, for several years now.  On March First, we drove to Portland to attend the Yard, Garden, and Patio Show.  Having a little time left before we had to head home, we decided to pay a visit.  The GPS is my best friend in unfamiliar territory! Here's a little of what we saw:

I get excited about pots like these streaky glazed ones but am not sure if they would add to or detract from their contents. 



and inside!  Table after table of them.  I admire these but don't think that I'd take the time to take good care of one.  They also require some blank space around them to look their best and I have a dearth of that!

The day was fairly cold with a brisk wind but Monrovia didn't seem to mind even though her outfit doesn't seem very substantial.  For some reason, my coat was back at home so my outside exploration needed to come to an end.  Not, however, before a reasonably-priced Aspidistra elatior, a very inexpensive Helleborus 'Onyx Odyssey', and a few Acorus gramineus 'minimus aureus' found their way into a wagon.  

Tom saw this Cryptanthus and said, "That's crazy!"  Into the cart it went.  I keep hoping that if I get plants that he enjoys,  he'll be converted to a life of gardening.  It hasn't worked so far but it's a good justification for buying a plant.


 I wonder what happened to this poor bromeliad and his two siblings?  They were in the deeply discounted  area and it was tempting to bring one home but they all stayed.



A small one of these rode around in my cart for some time but finally went back to the table.  There is simply no space with bright light in our house that isn't already full of plants! 



Euphorbia stenocalata that I saw on Loree's blog and fell hard.  So beautiful, so spiky, so silvery and also so big, wanting bright light, and fairly expensive.  This love will remain unrequited.


Sansevieria 'Kristi'  has sexy heavily-variegated foliage.  One like this said that she wanted to live at our place.  She'll be happy in a window with little direct sunlight and will be happy if she gets watered a few times a year.


The idea of a hose pot is great.  Simply coil your ugly hose inside this decorative pot with a handy hole on the side near the bottom for hose entry, and hose storage becomes something of beauty.  Really?  I use my hose to water pots every other day when the weather is very warm.  Even though there is a cool crank device on our hose caddy thingy, the hose doesn't get reeled in all that often.  Would you take the time to gently coil your hose inside one of these pots frequently?   This one, reminiscent of a poppy seed pod,  was quite handsome...







With the help of cell phone/interweb technology (am still amazed by it all.) we found several recommendations in another area of town. 

What's your favorite part of a plant centered road trip?  Is it the discovery of new plants/artwork/pots/ideas,  the drive home with your purchase(s), unloading the treasure, or planting/placing while remembering the day?