Kitsap Adventure, Part I

At the end of June, I had the pleasure of joining Peter "The Outlaw" and Vickie "The Independent Gardener" on a romp about the Kitsap Peninsula and Port Townsend. Is there anything as fun as carousing from one nursery or garden to the next with fellow plant nuts? I think not!

Our first stop was Valley Nursery, with a great selection of plants and whimsical artwork. As a retail garden center, Valley has lots of nice, big plants for gardeners to take home for that instant impact in the yard. As my budget and Peter's car were ill-matched to take home any of these larger beasts, I tried to look only at the smaller, more affordable items available.

Ferns and shade plants! Some of my favorites!

This Cheilanthes argentea looks very similar to my Doryopteris pedata, which I know at least one person was interested in. Unlike my tropical Doryopteris, this Cheilanthes is hardy to -20F. Hardy enough for ya?

I hope my tiny Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'  is as beautiful as this gorgeous specimen one day. Even having one already it was hard to pass on this one, but the day was young and I had to pace myself.

The spider that added the webs to this 'Spider's Web' Fatsia must have been getting tired from doing all the other plants, or maybe it started happy hour before work was done.

I love stumps and old pieces of wood like this with plants growing from it and around it.

This sweet little ground-covering daphne was tempting, but I wasn't quite sure it wanted to come home to my garden.

Passing through the large covered area I found out Valley is really a big garden center. This section and another large section around the corner to the right were full of trees and shrubs. It was raining a little, and I hadn't explored everything under cover yet, so I ducked back into the greenhouse area.

A treasure trove of houseplants! Lots of succulents and foliage plants, orchids, and even a few variegated clivia.

Valley Nursery doesn't monkey around when it comes to plants. That's what these guys are for.

A bright red, gem-like bud sits in the center of a whorl of emerald leaves on Rhododendron kesangiae, one of the big-leaf rhododendrons.

Gorgeous color and pattern on Acer shirasawanum.

What do you think of the DIY pallet craze? I thought this pallet green wall was fairly well-executed.

Schefflera taiwaniana 'Yuan Shan'. These were a surprisingly decent price for 2-gallon plants over 2 feet tall. There was one among the all-green plants with dark red petioles. Guess which one I chose?

I loved this combo of variegated purple heart and orange carex. 

Dragonflies almost always appeal to me. I especially like the one on the right.

Fairy gardens, love them or hate them? I like miniature landscapes, but personally I could do without the gnomes. 

Inside was a rack of socks. This is me around plants...

And this is usually me in the morning. I know other people for whom these would be perfect gifts, but I abstained, this time.

I enjoyed Valley Nursery. I didn't take as many pictures as I might have due to the rain, but there was enough for me to ogle at that I may have neglected to lift my camera for a picture anyway. It's a good-sized garden center with a wide selection of plants and products. However it does carry mostly "mainstream" plants. I was more excited for our other stops that day. Tune in next time!