Another Spring Plant Sale! (Part 1)

Today is not another Horticulture Club plant sale: it's the school's primary summer bedding sale. That means it's a large-scale operation. Much larger-scale. Also exciting is that this collection of plants has been in the greenhouse for a long time. I transplanted some of these. I've watered them all at one point or another. I drove most of these plants to the sale this morning. So today I get to show you a little slice of my work life.

Before that, though, here's a pretty flower I saw this morning.

When I returned to the sale to take pictures, these coleus were the first plants to grab my attention. The large-leafed coleus is called 'Emotions Passion,' or something similar. A floriculture professor remarked on these (paraphrasing again): "This is a case where people have created something nature never intended. Sure, these really grab the eye, but they get too tall to support themselves and end up falling over." Now we know. I like the kinds of coleus that smell sweet the best. My favorite coleus colors are deep violet and bright green.

Here's another coleus mix. This is a very diverse plant group, as evidenced by the various leaf sizes and margin shapes.

The silver-leafed plant here is a 'Looking Glass' begonia. I would have put this cultivar on my moonlight garden list, but I didn't know what it was called at the time. The leaves look gray in this picture, but they shine in person. And, like the Japanese painted fern, they provide contrast with their deep red undersides. This would also be valuable in a moonlight garden because it would break up the predominance of white and gray.

This plant is a cultivar of canna. The cultivar name might have been 'Tropical Bronze Leaf.' At any rate, I found the leaves beautiful. All the adjacent veins are slightly different shades of brown. This annual is typically purchased for its flowers, which I think is a shame. If I could get a perennial version of this plant as a houseplant, I would drool at it all the time.

This next plant might also have a place in a moonlight garden. This is Euphorbia 'Breathless White.' Its flowers are not overbearing, which would make it a perfect accompaniment to a more forceful flower.

I have no idea why I didn't put Dusty Miller on my moonlight garden list. It is a faux pas in the gardening world nowadays, but I like this silvery foliage plant regardless. I'd like the texture of the leaves, which to me feel like puppy ears, even if I didn't admire the color.

I was never a huge fan of marigolds until I found out that they repel aphids and other pests. I should have gotten a couple to plant near my tomato for this summer, but I wouldn't have anywhere to keep it in the meantime. There was an astonishing variety of these flowers at this sale, though! There were at least six different kinds, judging by flower coloration.

There are quite a few plants available in one-gallon containers. The hosta and the hellebores stood out to me (and that's coreopsis to the left). You can't tell from this picture, but these hellebores bloom white, yellow, and green, which would be refreshing to see in early spring. The hosta have a light purple color to them, which is nice. When I was growing up, we had a LOT of hosta, but they were all white-blooming.

Now we're moving on into the herbs. There was lavender on the perennials bench (as opposed to the herb bench), but since it falls under both categories, it works. I don't think the lavender bushes we have at home are of the 'Munstead' cultivar.

I didn't get the tag in this picture, but I believe these plants are rosemary.

The rest of the herbs and the vegetables are coming tomorrow! Plus bonus flowers! All these plants for sale just make me want a garden. Everything does, though.

Next post: plant sale, continued!

University Greenhouse, Part I

There were so many beautiful plants to photograph at the greenhouse that it will take several days to cover them all, since no one wants a 60-photo post. So I'll be posting these for a while (or when there's nothing else to report). Not all of the plants had tags on them, but I did what I could, and for identified plants I tried to find information about their common names and other characteristics.

We started out in a room populated largely by succulents. The first to catch my eye was  this Haworthia reinwardtii xanthorrhoeaceae. These plants are native to Africa, and they're very attractive. Their dots provide a unique texture. And the Haworthia's neighbor there is the infallible woodsorrel.

This shot provides a closer look at the white bumps.

This is a desert rose. They're funny little trees that put out gorgeous, hot-pink blooms in the summer. I have one at home, though it's smaller than this one. I will post a picture of mine in bloom this weekend. I got the plant for its interesting trunk shape, but the flowers steal the show (or the season, rather).

This plant was not tagged, but it looks like a desert rose, only it means business.

The greenhouse had a nice collection of Coleus. I prefer the purple-leaved varieties (or the variegated ones with really dark purple sections), but these were blooming, and seeing flowers when there's snow on the ground is always refreshing.

I don't know what kind of cactus is, but it looks like it's having a good time hanging out with that desert rose.

Next is a gigantic cactus with...leaves at the top? You don't see that much. The picture of it is very blue. This was unintentional.

Here's a slightly better picture of the top of this plant.

This next plant is a member of the Euphorbia family, though it doesn't look like any spurge I know.

These flowers come to you courtesy of the school's Jatropha japonica specimen. This plant's fruits are sometimes called "physic nuts," but they are poisonous when consumed in large quantities. The flowers sent me away with a healthy dose of cheer, though.

Enjoying plants is appropriate all year round, but getting out to see the greenhouse this time of year is especially nice because of how warm greenhouses are. My friend Jing and I had to remove our coats immediately upon entering. So, have you been to any greenhouses or gardens lately? Do you recognize any of the unidentified plants in this post? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

Next post: the best kind of salvage there is.