Mom Finds Agave Love at Cistus Nursery

On an unseasonably sunny day last week I drove me mum out to Cistus Nursery to help her spend my Christmas present to her, a Cistus gift certificate towards her first agave. She had never been, so this was to be an adventure! 

When we arrived at this, one of my all-time favorite nurseries, it was picture perfect. No wind, a sunny day, crisp with a bit of warmth in the air and who was there to greet us? The man himself! Sean Hogan! He was busy collecting cuttings to take to the upcoming Yard Garden and Patio Show at the Oregon Convention Center. With a handful of hardy eucalyptus branches in hand, he greeted my mother with a big smile, to which she said, "Oh, you're famous! My daughter talks about you all the time!" I think I turned a little red. Sean is so kind. We talked for a bit about the hardy eucalyptus (soaking up their wonderful scent), talked about the virtues of arctostaphylos species then my mom got distracted by all the other cool plants surrounding us. She was off on a mission to find her agave.

No problems here.

Just one of the many many manzanitas or arctostaphylos species in the display gardens and, by the way, they were covered in bees. These hardy natives like it dry in the summer; they are great for West Coast gardens. Cistus and Xera Plants both have wonderful selections. 

Here we go, into the Big Top! 

I think at this point my mom stopped breathing (she was so excited).

I think she read every label on every plant. I'm not kidding. We were there a while.
Ok, note the large single Agave parryi below the Yucca rostrata. Nice, isn't it. At this point, she was still thinking small for an agave.

Opuntia, opuntia, how I love you so and how my fingertips hate you so. Also, here's an update: Luisa from the fabulous blog Crow and Raven I.D.'d the lovely plant in the foreground for us: Tephrocactus articulatus var. diadematus is the elongated pine cone -- gorgeous white flowers. The paper spine variety, T. articulatus var. papyracanthus. Thank you, Luisa!

Better shot of the beautiful agave. Price tag $125. But Oh So Gorgeous!

Backlit phormium goodness.

Spiky wonderland under the Big Top.

I learned recently that the white water spots on the plants at Cistus are from the water they use; it comes from the Columbia River. The spots come right off, so no worries.

Fuzzy, right?

Under the Big Top with Brodie (behind the wagon) coming over to say hello.

Brodie is a sweetheart. Kind of hard of hearing, but very kind and loves to get some rubs.

 Abutilon megapotamicum 'Teardrop'

Oh, those colors.

 Mom scoping out each and every succulent under the Big Top. See what I mean?  I think we'd been here for 45 minutes and she had moved about 8 feet. She really enjoyed seeing everything. She's a gal after my heart.

 Oh, phormium, I love you so, but I am not ready to commit. Again. You are too fickle for me. I've had too many P.K.W.'s in a row (phormium killing winters).

Outside the plant tables were filling up nicely. Sean had apologies saying there wasn't much out there but as you can see, there is plenty.

Not quite a pollo, close enough.

What a gorgeous day to spend with Mom. At Cistus. All day.

Narcissus bulbocodium nodding in the sun.

This beauty is Camellia lutchuensis, fragrant camellia. So tiny, a beautiful special tea camellia.

Here are some Ephedra nevadensis. I blogged about a different species of ephedra that David saw up near Mt. Everest this past November, you can read about that here. I considered getting this in honor of that trek, maybe I'll go back. They're kind of cool.

Check out those buds! Stachyurus 'Magpie'. Why did I not buy it?

Here's a less cluttered but slightly blurry shot.

Corokia x virgata 'Orangerie' - a Cistus introduction.

Here's another work of art by Bay Area artist Mark Bulwinkle.

I know...another phormium photo. Eye candy for me. Have to share.

That wonderful, blinding late winter sun. Sorry East Coast friends, we feel for you. I wish we could send some your way.

Polypodium californicum 'Sarah Lyman'

So here's Mom's varied Cistus haul. She had a good time, to be sure. But wait, where's the agave? That's why we came here, after all. After going through every...single...single...agave, she picked out an Agave 'Sharkskin' at a decent size, but not that big. Then I suggested a couple smaller Agave parryi but with an ulterior motive: Get her to add up the cost of all the agaves and realize that she needed to put the small ones aside and step up and go for it. Get the big one. Go for the, in her words, "big honkin' agave!" And she did.

This agave moment is being interrupted by a cat. When my mom is involved, cats come first. Always.

Kitty! Don't know this cutie's name, but we've seen him/her before at the nursery. Seemed pretty darned contented.

Back to the big honkin' agave. Here it is!  I think she should name it Carl. She doesn't like that name. What do you think it looks like?

**Sniff** I'm so proud of my now agave-addicted mom. She's a gardener, that's for sure. She even went out and bought a proper pot for it. I will help her get Carl into his new pot and onto his new patio soon and welcome him home.
**UPDATE** She named it Oscar. Acceptable name, Mom. I approve.

She's in love.

There's Deanna, the happy camper! What a great day out with you, and thanks for the gift of the Tsuga mertensiana or mountain hemlock from Cistus. I'll treasure it.

That's it from this corner of the world this week, what's happening where you are? Thank you for reading, thank you Mom for the great day out, thank you Sean for the warm welcome and "big honkin' agave!" (mission accomplished, you now have one more devoted fan), and happy gardening to all! May spring arrive to our East Coast friends soon. Very soon.