I bought one cardboard tray full.
Then I went back and bought more (What can I say? I still had money in my purse...) This plant sale benefits the Elisabeth C. Miller Horticultural Library, and brings together in one place (two rooms) many small specialty plant providers and nurseries, some of which only open to customers by appointment.
I bought Corydalis flexuosa 'Purple Leaf'
Angelica taiwaniana 'Vicar's Mead' -- 2 of these, actually.
Look at that lovely dark leaf!
Two Cryptotaenia japonica f. atropurpurea -- another dark-leaved plant.
Two Arum italicum 'Jack Sprat' -- an Arum with dark blotches on its already marbled leaves.
I also came away with two Delphinium trolliifolium, two Delphinium menziesii, two white Dodecatheon meadia, one Anemone nemorosa 'Virescens' (an interesting anemone with green flowers), and one Corydalis 'Berry Exciting'. The Delphiniums are PNW natives that I read about recently, I don't remember where. I was so excited to find them! The Dodecatheon, aka Shooting Star, is also a native. The Corydalis 'Berry Exciting' has chartreuse foliage and purple flowers, and grows in shade, so it should really brighten up the shade garden. Maybe I'll try inter-planting it with the purple-leaved one.
I can't recommend this yearly plant sale more highly! If you are gardening in the Seattle area and are looking for rare or unusual plants, don't miss this plant sale next year. It was very crowded, despite the heavy rain today, and was indoors. I would have bought more, but I was spent up.
Also, Dan Hinkley was there, giving a couple of free lectures. His first was on Hellebores in the early Spring garden (I missed that one), and the second was about interesting plants for the early Spring garden, which I attended. It was both fun and interesting. He's an entertaining speaker, and showed slides and videos of some wonderful plants. Too bad it was too dark in the lecture hall to take notes.
Now -- have you had enough of new plants?
Me neither.
On Thursday I received an order from Annie's Annuals.
I got a gift certificate from my husband for Christmas, and went to the website and made a wish list. Many of my wish list items became available soon after, so I ordered. I had never ordered from them before, so had no experience of them. The order arrived quickly, and in great shape. Well-packaged. I highly recommend them if you live on the West Coast. They have a lot of California/West Coast native annuals, but also plenty of perennials, as well as vines, shrubs, trees and grasses.
What did I buy?
Mimulus lewisii x cardinalis
Look! Another interesting leaf!
Also in the boxes -- Mimulus aurantiacus 'Apricot', Sidalcea hendersonii "Henderson's Checkermallow", Verbascum 'Southern Charm', Lewisia cotyledon 'White Splendor', Claytonia sibirica -- and that's just the perennials.
Annuals -- Platystemon californicus "Cream Cups", Cerinthe retorta, Clarkia concinna 'Pink Ribbons', Collinsia 'Purple'
And Phacelia viscida
Now I just need some dry weather, so I can spend some time on my knees, planting.
