So Then the Car Said...

"You know, Valley Nursery is only thirty minutes away, let's go there."  Leaving this delicious pot  ad Elandan, the car left the parking lot and sped off toward Poulsbo. (Previous posts here.)



It's always fun to visit the Cryptomeria japonica 'Christatas'  This is one of those curiosity plants that I'd definitely have in my garden if only I had a lot more space. It's easy to see where the common name  Cock's Comb Cryptomeria came from.



Wonder what this guy thinks about the whole thing?



Nothing says summer like beautiful and fragrant oriental lilies.  There's something about the simple elegance of their shape that makes me love them.  What do you think of the new doubles?  They don't float my boat but some people think they're the bees knees. 



Is the gnome stuck on that cactus?  Do you suppose that he'll be covered in glochids when he approaches that cute-looking opuntia?  I'm convinced that they can actually throw these!


Looking for answers to life's perplexing questions?  Valley's got you covered!



Valley is a large garden center type of place a plant store rather than a nursery.  (A nursery grows its own stock.)  This place always carries a great selection of lots of plants and have had, from time to time, some pretty unusual offerings.  Their house plant section is always a treat.  I wasn't prepared for the big surprise of seeing many tables full of plants from San Marcos Growers! 

Are those Leucadendrons lurking there?  And Agonis flexuosa on the far left?  (dark purple leaves with a minty smell!)

Why yes, yes they are and here's  a table full of Grevilleas.

 Leucadendron 'Jester' captured my heart in several of the gardens we visited on the Garden Bloggers' Fling in June.  Here was one just waiting to jump into my car.  It's as if all those seductive plants, hardy in California, followed me home to Washington.  (Yes, it's one more thing that will have to come inside for the winter.  Try not to think about it and whatever you do, don't remind me when I'm in the middle of the seasonal move that I could have simply left the plant there.)

 Holy Mary, it's a Kalanchoe forest! 

And, and, and, could that be a whole bunch of Calothamnus villosus  or  Silky Net Bush that tugged at my heart when I saw one in bloom at WeHop in the spring?



Oh yeah, baby!  And it was also available in sweet one gallon pots but the plants themselves were almost as large as the ones in bigger pots. 
 Cute little button buds of  Globularia x indubia.  Delightful but only hardy to twenty degrees F.  Not fascinating enough to haul around.

Those Agaves 'Mr. Ripple' in two gallon pots were pretty reasonably priced but I have (forgive me Loree) too many Agaves already.  And we'll be visiting here again soon.

Lastly,  one of my favorite (they're all pretty fab.) members of the Araliacea, Trevesia palmate.  The emerging  leaves resemble little silver snowflakes, it's relatively easy and can take fairly low light conditions when it comes inside for the winter to be a houseplant.

What a spectacular surprise to find so many plants, unusual to see in our climate, in one visit.   I'm so glad that Valley decided to take a chance with these exciting plants and I hope it's profitable for them so that they'll  keep offering  fun stuff like this!  

Thanks, car,  for taking us on this surprise visit!

My wish for you is that your every nursery visit will be filled with as many happy surprises as I experienced on this visit!