2014 Garden Bloggers Fling - Cistus Nursery and Joy Creek Nursery

After visiting the Lan Su Chinese Garden, we headed over to Cistus Nursery and Joy Creek Nursery. I've always wanted to go to Cistus so I was very excited, practically pushing people out of the way to get off the bus when we arrived. We only had an hour at Cistus, which really wasn't enough time (grumble grumble) for me to look at the plants for sale and to check out the gardens. By the time I'd selected my purchases it was time to go so I don't have many photos of the garden. I was trying to photograph on my way out as danger garden was (politely) yelling at me to get back on the bus. 

By the way it was pretty hot out. This poor doggie in his heavy fur coat managed to find the shadiest, dampest spot he could. 

They have a fun system at the nursery that helps you locate fragrant plants. 

I picked up a younger version of this wide-leaved fern. It's doing just fine with my rather forgetful watering. 

This was a pretty nifty Acanthus I'd not seen before. A little too prickly to take home on the plane though. And this giant duck I did not notice until I was leaving the nursery. I must have had my nose stuck down in the plants the whole time. 

I need this for my house. 

After Cistus we headed over to Joy Creek. We had more time at Joy Creek since we were also having lunch and presentations here. The gardens were lovely. I'm glad I had time to roam. 

Of course a lot of the gardens are used as growing grounds for material for propagation. 

Kate Walz of Gardening and Gardens perfectly matched one of the fuchsias. 

There was lots of drama too (thankfully just by the plants).

I loved this Viburnum. Anyone know which one it is? 

The shopping area was over by a neat, big ol' barn. 

Next we'll head on over to Old Germantown Gardens and then end the day at Westwind Farm Studio. See you soon. 

2014 Garden Bloggers Fling - Portland, Oregon - Opening Ceremonies

We were warmly welcomed the evening prior to the start of the 2014 Garden Bloggers Fling at the lovely and striking Pomarius Nursery. 

Ignoring the delicious smells from coming from the Mexican food truck waiting to feed all of us bloggers, I rushed around checking out the plants. I loved the sophisticated foliage-heavy selection. 

Some cool topiaries:

This white trunked tree was overrun with a Kiwi vine, creating a pretty topical canopy. 

In the greenhouse (that was transported from another location and rebuilt at the nursery) I found tender bulbs and succulents. 

Pomarius seems to specialize in large size bonsai too.

After filling my belly with tamales and beer, I took another loop through the nursery and began to notice some nice hardscape and garden element details. 

I like the not-so-waterproof mailbox and the way the nursery used landscape cloth to create black screening walls around the nursery. The black gives a dramatic, sophisticated backdrop to the plants.

Beyond the main retail space were several bright and airy offices connected by raised boardwalks. I wish I could have an office here. The landscaping appeared to be well-arranged back stock from the nursery, an ever-changing garden view for the office workers.

The sunken water gardens next to the boardwalks were particularly nice. 

It was a lovely evening catching up with friends in a beautiful setting. Thanks for having us Pomarius!