More of that Wonderful Day in Portland

Then we stopped by Means Nursery.  Here's Loree proving her saying that if you look hard enough, there's always an agave!  Means is known for it's extremely low prices.

You never know what you'll find here but if you're starting a new garden and need a volume of plants, this is the place to find the basics that make up the backbone of our gardens.  There is always a nice Acer palmatum selection at rediculously low prices.

Remember when Petunia 'Pretty Much Picasso' was new, hard to find and expensive.  I thought the color combination was cool but wish that it had the fragrance of some petunias.






There's also usually some sort of crazy cool bargain like these magnolia trees that are about eight feet tall for only five dollars.
 Or these soon to be very fragrant deciduous azelias for the same price.  One can see large growing fields behind the nursery so I knew that some of what Means sells is grown there but the clerk who collected my money told me that Means is a large wholesale grower with fields here, in another location in Oregon, in California and in Ohio.  They have clients such as Lowe's and the Home Depot on the east coast.  This is their only retail outlet and explains why the prices are so low.  Check out their website to find current special sale items.

How to round out such a great day?  Visit a mortuary, of course.  This used to be the Chapel of the Chimes funeral parlor but has been converted by the wizzards at McMenamins into the Chapel Pub.  Loree, Alison and I had a lovely dinner here.  What a treat to sit and catch up with dear friends!