I'll set the stage for you...
Friday, March 18, 2011
Lake Bible Church, Lake Oswego - new venue
Doors open at 6pm
Event begins at 7pm
Having attended Nerd Night in years past (but not the last two) I knew quite well that lines begin to form at least an hour before the doors open. I arrived at 5pm - here's what I saw...
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| Line left |
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| Line Right |
I chose 'Line Right', obviously, right? Well, here's the catch...see that huge green mass of lawn? Well, that lawn is hiding pools of mud. Having experienced my fair share of muddy lawns, I walked around the lawn through the parking lot to 'Line Right'. Others, mind you, squished across the muddy lawn with some sort of wild abandon that I, actually, love and attribute to 'crazed' gardeners who must get a good place in line to wait for an hour to get a good seat in the audience to wait for an hour and buy their first of many spring plants lusts! Priorities!!
The doors open at 6pm and we, 'mooooo', made our way through to capture a seat and a look at this season's best new plants from Log House, Cistus, Far Reaches, Dancing Oaks, Seabrite and Terra Nova nurseries.
I really can't shop in these environments but I love to move to a safe spot on the fringes of the room to watch and absorb the energy of the crowd - these folks are HUNGRY!!!! A hunger and excitement fills the air as we see the newest and the greatest! The unfortunate part of my inability to shop in these environments means that I don't have any plant pics for you but I do have some plant info!
For the past 6 years, I believe, the Chorus has provided hilarious entertainment for the 'hort heads' at Nerd Night. They sing to music you may know but you won't recognize these lyrics. They are written by Linda Beutler and they are WONDERFUL!!
Each nursery gets 12 minutes to talk about their favorite plants for the year and/or old favs. If they speak beyond their 12 minutes, they get the 'gong' which is the Chorus singing 'Goodnight, Farewell, until we meet aagain'...from the Sound of Music.
Here are some favs from the experts:
Log House Plants - tender Petunias in cool, new, colors like black! Petunia 'Pin Stripe', 'Phantom', 'Black Velvet' and Alice Doyle's new grafted vegetables; tomatoes, eggplant and more!
Cistus - Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies', Manfreda 'Spot', Agave ovatifolia, Choisya 'Whetstone' and Trachelospermum 'Theta' - named by Sean Hogan for his mother.
Far Reaches- a pink Cardiocrinum, Ajuga 'Frosted Jade' - super-cool yellow/green variegation with deep blue flowers and not as much of a garden thug as most Ajuga, Kniphofia parviflora.
Dancing Oaks - Ribes 'Vampire', Ribes lobbi - flowering gooseberry, Fremontedendron 'Ken Taylor', Darmera peltata.
Terra Nova - Acanthus'Whitewater', Cyclamens, Tradescantia 'Lucky Charm'.
Seabrite Nursery - Hosta 'Gentle Giant - 4feetx7feet!!, H. 'Sagae', 'Earth Angel','Fire Island', and 'Praying Hands' - great in a container for its form.
A GREAT EVENT!!! Put it on your calendar for next year and GET THERE EARLY!!!!!
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| Line Left - 5:30pm |
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| Line Right - 5:30pm |
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| The scene from the stage...doesn't fully capture the 'crazzzzzed' feeling in the air! |
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| The 'Chorus of the Goddess Flora' prepares for their performance |
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| Mike Darcy, the host of the evening welcomes the crowd to the 10th Annual Plant Nerd Night! |
Here are some favs from the experts:
Log House Plants - tender Petunias in cool, new, colors like black! Petunia 'Pin Stripe', 'Phantom', 'Black Velvet' and Alice Doyle's new grafted vegetables; tomatoes, eggplant and more!
Cistus - Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies', Manfreda 'Spot', Agave ovatifolia, Choisya 'Whetstone' and Trachelospermum 'Theta' - named by Sean Hogan for his mother.
Far Reaches- a pink Cardiocrinum, Ajuga 'Frosted Jade' - super-cool yellow/green variegation with deep blue flowers and not as much of a garden thug as most Ajuga, Kniphofia parviflora.
Dancing Oaks - Ribes 'Vampire', Ribes lobbi - flowering gooseberry, Fremontedendron 'Ken Taylor', Darmera peltata.
Terra Nova - Acanthus'Whitewater', Cyclamens, Tradescantia 'Lucky Charm'.
Seabrite Nursery - Hosta 'Gentle Giant - 4feetx7feet!!, H. 'Sagae', 'Earth Angel','Fire Island', and 'Praying Hands' - great in a container for its form.
A GREAT EVENT!!! Put it on your calendar for next year and GET THERE EARLY!!!!!
4 comments:
So bummed I didn't make it...but was on press until almost 6, so no way I was gonna make it :-( Maybe next year!
Thanks so much for reporting on this! I was just lamenting that no bloggers went to this, and I'm glad to be wrong.
Choisya 'Whetstone' is already up on the Cistus site and it looks great. My regular Choisya looks so horrible after this winter, even though it's alive, I think it has to go, this one, though totally different looking would make a great replacement.
I've been wanting a Ribes too, so I'll have to check out the Dancing Oaks ones. The lobbi is already on their site.
I like Kniphofias and parviflora looks neat. I'll have to look up the meaning of parviflora, I also have Digitalis parviflora. The other Far Reaches introductions sound fantastic!
No I'm even MORE fired up about the HPSO sale than I was before if that's possible.
Thanks for the recap! Perhaps next year is the year I finally experience the fun/crazy/madness of it all.
Hi Scott - next year, for sure!
Ryan, you are most welcome. I have a new Choisya that I'm trying out called 'Gold Fingers' which faired the cold winter very well (or so I think!). Ribes 'Vampire' has huge pink/red flowers and a ton of them - its a goodie! See you at the plant sale!
Danger garden - you are welcome, you should try to attend next time, its fun!
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