Nursery Visit: Springtime at Xera Plants

Oh boy, one of my favorite nurseries, Xera Plants, is open for the year!
We visited this past weekend to see what they've been up to.

Although not every shelf was filled, they have quite a respectable amount of stock on hand. Let's look around.

 Quite a lot to see for early February; we were pleasantly surprised.

This is officially the shade section, although there are lots of sun lovers sprinkled about, too.

The people at Xera are known for growing a few specialites. Grevilleas is one.

Yes, Grevilleas ARE fascinating shrubs from down under and they make it feel more like summer time. Wait, it is summer down under, isn't it?

How can one resist such an explosion of color on a gray February day?

Grevillea juniperina 'Molonglo' - the yellow version.

Let's take a visual tour of some of the highlights of our visit. 

Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki'

What a sight for sore eyes...it seems like it's been a long long winter, although a mild one to be sure for us on the West Coast. Great to be out at a nursery.

I felt like a kid in a candy store.

My husband? Maybe not so much, but he is a trouper.

Oh, the dark beauty of it. I did not get the name of this hellebore. 

Polypodium guttatum

Primula vulgaris

Helleborus 'Winter Jewels'

Viburnum x b. 'Charles Lamont'

Jasminum nudiflorum 'Aureum'

Sempervivum 'Pacific Zofic'

Ranunculus ficaria 

Raphiolepis umbellata

Choisya x 'Aztec Pearl'

Brachyglottis monroi 

Vaccinium ovatum (A Pacific Northwest native).

Gorgeous Arctostaphylos and friends in one of the display beds.

Sweet Arctostaphylos blooms.

That's right, Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) for gardens here in Oregon and beyond. Great plants.

So many from which to choose.

In fact, on Xera's website, there are a couple of great pages dedicated to the species Arctostaphylos. One focuses on the shape and size of the plants, see it here.

There is more information about them on this page, too.

Loropetalum, hellebore and others.

Cupressus glabra 

Trachelospermum j. 'Mandianum'

One of the many reasons I adore Xera plants is their commitment to the environment. I, as a consumer, vote with my dollars, so Xera and like-minded nurseries that do not use neonicotinoids are the first ones who I turn to for plants. They are an important source for not only pesticide-free plants but also climate-appropriate plants for my area. I feel so fortunate to be able to simply hop down to Xera on any weekend (they are open Thursday - Sunday) to go shopping. Many other nurseries also carry Xera products, so I can buy them at a number of nurseries. I hope that other growers get on board with this mentality so that everyone has the opportunity to buy plants are not treated with neonicotinoids. After all, we need our bees!

This was my haul - I have a project in mind, they have been holding these for me. I also bought a few other delights, a Primula vulgaris, a couple of these

 Ruschia pulvinaris

And a couple of those Pacific Zofic Sempervivums...

So I have some late winter planning and planting ahead. I hope you enjoyed the plants at Xera. I sometimes think just visiting a good nursery is half the fun of gardening. That's it for this week, thanks for reading, and until next week, happy gardening!