sprig to twig

It was a dark and stormy day…but we went to the Rhododendron Society’s sale at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden anyway.

The main sale is on Mother’s Day, and is held in the parking lot in front of the gardens. This early sale requires a walk through the gardens (such an imposition) to get to the sale.

The Rhodys are the main attraction, but underplantings, like these hellebores, keep it interesting.

Fallen petals…where’s the bride?

Looking back at the gatehouse across the bridge.

Looking the other way, I think this is a flowering plum hovering over the water and backed up by layers of understory.

The birds were having a fine time.

When I mentioned these groves of Rhodys, I was told that without the pruning, no one could walk through the property.

Inside the building glimpsed in the last photo were tables displaying blooms. Members of the society were on hand with a wealth of information.

This group of specimens was tropicals grown in a greenhouse.

R spinuliferum looks almost like a protea, with a cluster of tubular petals (there is no doubt a more scientific name) with threadlike sepals sticking out.

R reticulatum sports magenta blossoms before it leafs out.

Can you believe that this is an azalea? It is apparently in that transitional phase of being renamed, so I won’t add to the confusion here. Suffice it to say that I was blown away by the variety. I learned that with a little (make that a lot) planning, there can be Rhodys blooming in our gardens every month of the year, they can disguise themselves quite craftily, and if you develop an interest, there is a whole community waiting to embrace you. The Portland chapter of the American Rhododendron Society meets every third Thursday at 7:00pm at 40th and Woodstock.

I know what you are thinking: what did you buy?

That large-leaved beauty on the left is the prize: R sinogrande. It might need a bit of babying if we have more harsh winters, and if you know exactly how we should do that, we’re all ears. The one in flower is R oreothrephes, a species in pale lavender. The label says rose, so if it hadn’t been in bloom we would have passed it by. As I was guarding the plants while R went for the car, two different guys stopped to say it was their favorite. Oh, and the two rangy ones are the cheapies: two for $15 because nobody knows their names or what color the blooms will be. They will go out in our mixed hedgerow as a buffer against whatever the neighbors might dream up next.

See how bundled up everyone was? I’m not kidding you…it was COLD!

Across the street from where I was waiting, here is what I was looking at. Can you believe it?

One of the things I like best about wildflowers is the way they sprinkle themselves sparsely and with great delicacy about the landscape. I almost missed this wild rose. When I looked closely, I discovered that there were quite a few of them in the area, in several stages of development. If you look closely, you may be able to spot a few too.

The trilliums have been out for a month now. They start out pristine white. As they age, they take on pinkish hues, until they become almost purple right before they give up the ghost entirely. This clump shows the whole gamut.

I think these are candy flower, or Claytonia Siberica. I base that assumption on the leaves, which look like Miner’s lettuce, also known as Claytonia. This police work is fun and frustrating in equal measure.

No such luck identifying this one. I picked a sample of each specimen to bring home, but after stopping to chat with a couple of neighbors they were wilted beyond recognition.

Small trees with these fuzzy blooms are all over the woods. Bet someone can tell me what it is. ID update: Megan says it is native elderberry. That would jibe with the bright red berries that come later.

These are obviously some sort of wild violet. I always called them dog toothed violets, then was told that’s the name for trout lilies. It becomes ever more obvious why we need botanical Latin, painful though that may be.

I’m looking forward to the march of the wildflowers, and hope to chronicle their appearance here. Maybe, with your help, we can put names to them in the process.

No, I will not try to trick you. Instead, in the spirit of this crazy holiday, I thought I would share some of the weirdness from my latest walk around the ‘hood.

I am continually having to talk Richard out of arborvitae. Admittedly, they are serviceable in some situations, but here is what happens when left to their own devices for too long.

Ah, country living. These people built their, um, dwelling smack in the right of way for the extension of our road. When the authorities came to evict, out came the shotguns. No further action has been taken.

At the other end of the spectrum is the neighbor who carries tidiness to extremes. Crews are in almost constant motion mulching, mowing and giving the lollipops their haircuts.

This tree is on that same property. I find it strangely wonderful. Have you ever seen anything quite like it?

Here is evil ivy at work. See how it climbs trees, then puts them in a death grip?

Is this what the Easter Bunny really looks like? I hope not! People around here seem to have a thing for these inflatable monstrosities. Wendy, over at Greenish Thumb made an excellent point about snootiness in talking about others’ gardens, and now I am feeling sheepish about this post. I will try to compensate next time by showing some of the delights, some in the very same gardens shown here. Above all, I must declare these biases to be mine alone. Yours may be different, and you may even convert me. After all, I am beginning to feel twinges of affinity to pink, thanks to Grace.