Good luck with those new plants, Pat. Sounds like you did pretty well for your money. I'm expecting a shipment of new perennials this week. I ordered them months ago, but had to put the order on hold for fall planting.

Lorna

Pat, you did get some great plants! I love the varigated Solomon's Seal for shade. And feverfew has always been one of my favorite filler plants which reseeds but in a nice way, not invasive. I looked up the euphorbia "chocolate" and it sounds delicious :-)

I haven't grown Astrantia so you'll have to let us know how it does for you. I've never met a campanula I didn't like so that's exciting too.

Was it crowded at the sale? I have heard that our plant nurseries are really going through some tough financial times due to the economy in general and the weather problems in many areas. So it's good to support them as much as possible.

Happy planting!

bloominganne

Wish there was something like that around here, but I have yet to find it. We always have the same-old, same-old, and to get anything new I have to mail order a teeny tiny plant and pay big bucks for it.

I'm not familiar with some of those, but it sounds like you did great. I look forward to seeing some photos in the future!

Cameron

Nice haul Pat! We have a plant sale like that here. Its held at our Manito Gardens (public gardens) every spring and fall. Its my favorite too because the plants are healthy, reasonably priced, and hard to find. The fall sale was held several weeks ago, and I only managed to do $42 worth of damage.
We also have a "plant" sale at the community colledge in the spring. I used to like it a lot, but lately they seem to be selling everything BUT plants.
I noticed last April, when I was in Seattle, that there was a plant sale being held at one of their public gardens. I was a week too early for it though, darn.
CMK

When I lived in the 'tick, the local hort society, which I belonged to, had a great sale Spring and Fall. I would alway bring lots of volunteers, and get a few really cool different things. I'll check it locally, to see if the equivalent exists out here.

Hey - Carleton Place - are you on-line - what's out here!!!!????

Nancy.

So, did you get your plants in the ground yet? Congratulations on your purchases. I love plant sales, too. I'm in a group that has spring sales. I'm hoping the decision was made to have next year's later, though. Our last spring came late, and we didn't have as much up as we'd like to have. The year before that was a late frost.

Thanks for helping me remember the name of my new bellflower I purchased this year, and divided into two plants from the one pot. Here is one. I'm thinking it will get more blooms next year, but I sure love those Pink Octopus Campanulas!

I like my Chocolate Joe Pye Weed, (Eupatorium), too. It gets wilty with the heat of the day, but recovers. Mine is about to bloom.

Enjoy!
Sue

I am one of those lucky Pacific Northwesterners with temperate weather and lots and lots of terrific nurseries. We have an active Hardy Plant Society (which I belonged to one year, but found myself with no time to attend their activities) with the two above-mentioned sales. The spring sale is usually much more heavily attended than the fall sale, because, let's face it, most people are out planting their gardens in the spring. However, this sale is more for discerning gardeners--addicts, if you will--so the fall sale is pretty well attended too. I always like this fall sale because of fewer crowds. Also, I love to plant in the fall, because it gives those plants a huge jumpstart over those planted in the spring, comparitively speaking.

We have many other small sales here and there (plant clubs, botanical gardens, farmers' markets), but we have this one HUGE, HUGE SALE in May that is put on by one of the local more populated county's Master Gardeners at their county's fairgrounds. It has EVERYTHING--annuals, big gorgeous hanging baskets, herbs, grasses, perennials, succulents, native plants, xeric plants, shrubs, small trees, garden art and locally crafted garden furniture. It is row, upon row, upon row, upon row of nurserymen and vendors--you get my drift. I am in hog heaven at this place!!

Otherwise, I can get my fix at many of our wonderful local nurseries, and several of them have very nice display gardens to wander around in getting ideas.

My parents were originally from the Boston area; my Navy brat childhood was spent mostly on the East Coast (Philadelphia from age 12 to 21) at which time I relocated to Portland, Oregon, and I am definitely hooked on this part of the country. I did not discover gardening until I moved here, so I have limited gardening experience outside of this region. One of the reasons I enjoy this forum so much, is that I get to garden in other parts of the country vicariously through you nice folks!

I did not get to plant my great finds yesterday. I went out to dinner with DH then off to Home Depot to get some more compost for a new little area of my yard I had prepared the day before. It was dark when I got home. I see some time freeing up on Friday and Saturday to finish this. No time after work any more with days getting shorter :o(

Thanks for your great responses.

Pat

-Sue I saw that Campanula at our sale too. I liked it, but didnt get it because I was afraid it would spread alot (that episode with the Cherry Bells was enough to scare me away from certain Campanulas). Keep us updated on how it is doing...
-Pat, I always make it a point to go plant shopping when im in Seattle every year. They have such wonderful nurseries!! I dont belong to our plant sale club, which allows you to get into the sales early, before the general public. They charge $35 for one person, which is rediculous to me, especially if I dont buy many plants there.
CMK

I'm a PNW fan. It's been years since my visits there, but I remember the front yards that resemble jkom's and Steven's, the Rose Garden in Portland, the grape holly at the Seattle Airport and somebody's dahlias near the side of the road as if it were yesterday.

Nell

I've never been there, but may one of these years. Pat, it sounds like you are having fun. I can't always garden when I want to, either for different reasons, one of which is we watch our 8 month old grandson every Saturday. It depends on what DH is doing, how much I get to garden. The days are getting too short for me, also!

CMK, I love the leaves as well as the flowers of this campenula, but am getting a little concerned that it may be spready. Pat, it will be interesting to see if one of us has more spreading than the other. We'll have to both give reports. Anyone else out there with the octopus bell flowers?

Have fun getting those plants in! Oh, and I heard on the radio that there is going to be a fundraiser at a church, and they will be selling plants. I just didn't catch whether it's this weekend or next. I'll have to check the radio's website.

Sue

I'm fascinated by the difference in growing seasons by region. I see photos of fabulous gardens in NY, Canada, etc. and yet, the summer is so much shorter (temperature wise) than our long, southern summers. I see all these lush PNW gardens and I think with all the rain (or is that a rumor to keep folks from moving there) that it would be difficult to garden without more sunny days. We don't usually travel in the summer because we'd rather be in our garden, but I'm really wanting to get out and around the US to see summer gardens in all these different growing zones.

Gottagarden,
From looking at your posted albums, with all the variety in your beds, I thought you must run a nursery! In our forum (New Eng gardening, we have lots of area swaps -- we just had one for two (very small, admittedly) counties. I have gotten amazing plants from wonderful GW penpals -- and there are some wonderful cooks there too. Great picnics. Maybe you could organize one for Western NY -- or is it too big an area? I know there are fabulous gardeners -- and nurseries -- near Buffalo. Where do you get your mail orders from? That shipping and handling charge is always a killer.
lucia

Cameron I had to laugh at your post.
Yes, we do keep it a secret. In fact we have what is called the PNW Seclusion Act, which prohibits any residents to reccomend the region. We have even taken it so far as to scare away people from moving here with threats of unpredictable weather. ;-)
I live in the Eastern side of WA, which is quite diffrent in climate than Seattle and the coast. Our woodland areas are not wonderfully lush, but dry with lots of bull-pines and scrubby brush. We get wet springs, but not as much rain as the Eastern half. The summers are very hot and dry, but unlike Seattle, we never get water rationing.
Seattle and the coast hardly ever get snow (when they do its really a disaster), but we get loads of it. Its cold here in the winter!
CMK

Pat you're going to love Hadspen's blood, I've had it for quite awhile and what's nice about it beside it's wine colored flowers is it doesn't seed around like the species. Campanula "Pink Octopus" sound intriguing not familiar with that one I'll be looking it up as I LOVE Campanulas. I think you bought a nice selection of plants for quite a reasonable price.
Our garden club has a big spring sale every year in around April and has a fall auction in October, I've snared quite a few nice things at these two.
The other biggy where I snagged numerous choice plants is the U.B.C. mother's day sale on the mainland. The whole parking lot full of plants all laid out alphabetically. Everyone lines up for this one, it opens at 10. For $2 you can buy a plant list to peruse while standing in line. They let so many in at a time so best to go early. Knowing what they have and knowing what you want helps a lot, more chance of finding that certain plant in good time.

I was out helping my neighbor with Rhododendron choices at a couple of the nurseries last week when I found one I've been lusting after since I saw a picture of it this spring, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the name "Warlock" I've had a couple of specialty nurseries looking for it for a few months and here it was at my finger tips :o).
Annette

I moved to Portland, Oregon in 1984 from Philadelphia (with a four year stop at a university in Utah). A roommate in college took me home to Oregon at Christmas and I fell in love with the countryside. We are wet and green in the winter, which is FINE with me because hate the extreme cold and snow, and our summers are usually predictably sunny but not too hot. I remember back in Philly when you planned an outing in the summertime, there was always a good chance it would be rained out. It rains once in a while during the summer in Portland, but not commonly.

I have spent every baseball season, the whole season, under an umbrella--the first half because it is rainy, and the second hald because it is sunny and I am a melanoma surviver and don't do sun. We have our four seasons here, but wetness aside, none are severe. I love it.

We have experienced a huge growth over the last twenty years, which disgusts my native Oregonian husband plenty--especially the Californians! I remember a time when the Oregon state line had a welcome sign which said, "Welcome to Oregon! Enjoy your visit!" After receiving a lot of flak for that, the state now has a sign which says something along the lines of just "Welcome to Oregon." I am a transplant, so I cannot complain about our surging population, but some of our native Oregonians sure do!

I have a son who now lives in Seattle and I love to visit him there. It seems like almost everyone has some sort of garden in their yard--everyone makes an effort to put a cheerful face on their front yards, even if it is only a feeble one. Seattle is rainy all winter and sunny all summer, but it has this lovely breeze in the summer that comes off the lakes and the ocean, so it never seems hot to me in Seattle during the summer months.

There are not too many roadblocks to having a spectacular garden in the Pacific NW if you want to--if you have plenty of money, plenty of acreage, plenty of time, plenty of energy, and plenty of imagination. Temperate weather and availability of plant life and knowledgeable resources abound.

That said, it took me many years to discover why my own gardens did not always do so well. My garden beds are oh, so slightly recessed or sunken, and water sort of just pools there over the rainy winter. Once I figured that out, I have been trying to build up my beds with good dirt and compost to make them higher and provide sharper drainage, but this is harder to do with established beds. I have SO many new plants this year because I had to almost start from scratch (landscaper pulled most of my good plants in an effort yo help me clean up my beds), so I can't wait to see what does well for me over the winter. AND I still have lots of bulbs to put in and I am placing a big order with Select Seeds!!! :-)

It is also iteresting to observe our many microclimates, here and everywhere else. Something rhat does well in my yard can do so poorly in my friend's yard across the street. It is one of many things I find fascinating about gardening! Oops! I am sorry to run on so much! Thanks for listening to me ramble about something I love.

Pat, I enjoyed reading about your area, where I've never been.

Speaking of plants doing well in different microclimates, I gave some phlox to my neighbor across the street, I think before it came down with mildew or something like that. Now, any little phlox that comes up in that area gets the mildew right away, so I have to pull it and throw it away. The phlox I gave my neighbor is not as crowded, and she doesn't water much, and it gets big and full of blooms. Well, I guess I get to enjoy it from a farther distance.

I hope you get some good plants back, and your beds are high enough.

Sue