Nursery Visit: Xera Plants

While planning a post on another Portland garden I instead decided to sneak in a post about one of my all-time favorite nurseries, Xera Plants....they are having a sale, after all! Today, Thursday October 2 thru Sunday the 5th, everything is 30% off. Really.

 While it is a wholesale nursery specializing in climate-appropriate plants for our area, Xera opened a small retail location last year on SE Clay at 11th. I go there often. The staff is like plant family: Greg, Adinah, Paul, and others - I always look forward to visiting with them and inevitably, I run into someone I know. The nursery has the best plants so I'm not surprised to see familiar faces.

Bob Hyland of Hyland Garden Design and Contained Exuberance has a shop connected to the nursery. Everything in his shop is also 30% off. I picked up a few great pots, too. Someday I am going to buy that gorgeous Medusa head planter, I declare!

 Retail hours are Thursday through Sunday. I found the sale on September 25th (it was also on last weekend). The sale continues October 2 - 5th, so if you are in the neighborhood, stop by.

 Happy shoppers getting in on the action. I have purchased many plants from them over the years - from their retail space, yes, but also through other nurseries such as Portland Nursery.

 While not a huge nursery, they cram a lot of plants in there. They take special care to showcase climate-adapted plants for the Pacific Northwest. That is to say plants that can handle our wet, cold winters and our very dry summers. They carry perennials, trees, shrubs, vines, evergreen and deciduous. They always have fab succulents, opuntia and agaves, too, for the Danger Gardner in you. In fact, Danger posted about their opening last year, you can read about it here.

 A few of their specialties are arctostaphylos, crape myrtle, abutilon, western natives (yay!) among many others. They have plants found nowhere else and all are nursery grown, locally in Sherwood, Oregon, at their wholesale site. I love supporting a locally-owned business. 

 Oh, those dangerous plants...love them.

 Succulents, anyone? While some of these may not be hardy for my zone, I can bring them indoors for the winter, which I plan on doing this year.

 Arctostaphylos, or manzanita, trained as standards. Wowsers!

 Now you know my source for Cotula Hispida (left). I think Greg and Adinah share the same love of these funny little plants as I do. On the right Hebe ochracea 'James Stirling. I have both of these plants.

 Crape myrtle, one of their specialites.

 One of the many genera they specialize in--crape myrtle. A gorgeous selection, and I swear I've seen more of these trees around Portland since they opened their retail space.

I always find something new here, it's a lot of fun for me to spend an hour just taking it all in. Since it's a fairly small space, it is easy to do.

A bee enjoying one of the toad lilies or tricyrtis.

 Adinah helping out a client . . . always so helpful!

Euphorbia rigida, I think that is Digitalis obscura on the right. I have both, oh  yes indeed.

Orange abutilon and pink tennis shoes go together well.

 They also carry a large selection of grasses.

 Dicliptera suberecta, one of my new favorites. Orange blooms, furry gray-green leaves, dies back completely in winter. I have several.

 Phygelius or cape fucshia in a nice shade of peachy orange.

 Xera plants has introduced me to many adaptable plants for our climate, which means less water in the summer (there's a misconception it always rains here, it does NOT - summers are dry), a broader range of plants, great textures, colors and adaptability. More adaptable plants mean less to no fertilizing and fewer pests. I like their philosophy, their selection, their practices (no neonicotinaoids, see below).

 I do support the ban, and am so glad Xera does, too. I wish more nurseries would get on board with this. Neonicotinoids are responsible, in part, for the decline of our pollinators such as bees and monarchs. Plus, they are not necessary.

 Adinah ringin' me up . . . my haul! Sorry for the blurry photo.

 You KNOW it's a cool place when they have a crow looking out for you.

My haul: A Digitalis obscura, Hebe ochracea 'James Stirling', Podocarpus macrophyllus 'Maki', Glaucum flavum, Schizachyrium s. 'The Blues', Fucshia procumbens 'Mary Miller', and Clematis cirrhosa 'Wisley Cream'. Oh, and there's an evergreen, climbing hydrangea in there for Mom.

That's the report from Xera plants. I had to tell you about the sale, plus they will be closing for the season soon so go shopping while you can.

Thank you for reading and, until next week, happy gardening!