A Visit to Tsugawa's Nursery
Wednesday was an unpredictable day, with showers moving quickly overhead. This is perfect weather to visit a garden center, where you can duck in and out of greenhouses depending on the weather.
Rhododendron 'Cinnamon Bear' has gorgeous tawny indumentum and powder blue new growth.
One of the Rhododendron houses showing a good display of early season color.
I almost brought home a couple of these Salvia argentea, which looked fantastic with these red-orange Geum.
This almost came home with me, too. Picea abies 'Pusch' is a dwarf cultivar of Norway spruce growing 3-6 inches per year. In spring, bright green new growth and pink cones rival any floral display.
So off I went to Tsugawa's Nursery in Woodland, WA. Growing up, this was one of my favorite places to go. This visit was a little disappointing, though, partly because of my mood and partly because I didn't find anything that quite fit what I was looking for (you can't strike gold every time). It is a little early in the year and they seemed to still be in the process of stocking up for spring. Their selection of perennials and dwarf conifers especially were not what I remembered. There were still quite a few things that I would have jumped at if I had a little more money or if I had driven a truck instead of my car.
Naturally I forgot to recharge my camera battery after walking through the park a few days before, so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are a few things that caught my eye:
Rhododendron 'Ostbo's Red Elizabeth', a rhododendron with nice red flowers and even better foliage, deeply veined with beautiful red color in the new growth.
Rhododendron 'Cinnamon Bear' has gorgeous tawny indumentum and powder blue new growth.
One of the Rhododendron houses showing a good display of early season color.
I almost brought home a couple of these Salvia argentea, which looked fantastic with these red-orange Geum.
This almost came home with me, too. Picea abies 'Pusch' is a dwarf cultivar of Norway spruce growing 3-6 inches per year. In spring, bright green new growth and pink cones rival any floral display.
There were several Schefflera delavayi in 3 gallon containers, but at $89.99 they were a little out of my price range, even the ones with the cool lobed leaflets. Same went for the gallon-size Prostanthera cuneata for $18.99 and several other things. I'd rather get smaller plants that I can afford. The stewartia in the clearance section would very likely have hitched a ride home with me if I had been able to fit them in my car. They weren't labeled, but any stewartia is better than no stewartia.
I'm slowly getting the garden ready for new additions (mostly by planting what I already have) and am looking forward to a fun gardening season full of nursery hopping and cool plants.
That is a very nice Picea abies with the pink cones.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? I may have to go back for one.
Delete"any stewartia is better than no stewartia"...I have friends who would certainly agree. And would you believe I was offered one and passed on it?
ReplyDeleteTsugawa can be pretty hit or miss, in my experience. It's the first place I ever saw the purple yucca (yucca aloifolia 'blue boy') and for only $5.99! Other times it's pretty standard "big box" fare...
After seeing the Stewartia collection at Polly Hill Arboretum, I'm pretty much in love with the whole genus. The species with less ornamental bark make up for it with more interesting flowers. I can see you turning down a stewartia, actually. To each their own.
DeleteTsugawa's is pretty hit or miss. I remember when those purple yuccas first showed up there. I saw some on this trip. I may have to grab one or two for the bed on the end of the house. Yuccas have really grown on me. I definitely need to pick up some rostrata.