Do I Really Need a Schefflera taiwaniana?

One plant everyone always seems to drool over is the tropical looking Schefflera taiwaniana.

I saw this one at Portland Nursery recently for a mere $170-ish.

My only experience with ANY Schefflera, was that for the longest time, there was only one houseplant actually IN my home - it was that ubiquitous Schefflera houseplant that lives in the same crusty old soil and pot for a decade, off in a dark corner of the living room.

No matter how much I ignored it, mine would not die of neglect, lack of light or water. It would get scraggly and I could cut it back to nothing and it would resprout.  It took a few months, but it would eventually look good again.

It wasn't until it kept dropping leaves on the floor and I got tired of picking them up, that I finally ditched it on the compost pile.

Probably better for me not to have a Schefflera again... 

Chinese Garden with 妈妈 (Mom)

I can say from experience that a good place to take a visiting mother with a broken foot in a boot is the Lan Su Chinese Garden. 

The garden is easy to get around in and packs a wallop visually in a pretty small space.  Mom could walk, just not a lot, or very far.

There is a lot to see in this very small space and the views change around every corner. As you move through the garden there is an element of surprise as new things are revealed and views open up.

You can point your camera at just about anything and have a beautiful photo. It is hard to take a bad picture here, but you may have to wait for people to get out of your shot if you go at a busy time.

This garden is a good place to go during the different seasons, just to see how it changes and to see different things blooming.

I always look for the"four gentleman" of the Chinese garden - the orchid, the bamboo, the chrysanthemum, and the plum blossom, each representing the seasons.
 

Courtyard of Tranquility

Punica granatum 'Nana'  (Dwarf Pomegranate) - a symbol for sons and lots of them!

Mom in the Knowing the Fish Pavilion

Lots of water lilies here!

I could use a few Lake Tai rocks in my garden!

Knowing the Fish Pavilion from across the pond

The bridge across the pond.

Poncirus trifoliata 'Flying Dragon' (Chinese Bitter Orange) - pretty and hardy, but not edible.

The Hall of Brocade Clouds

Moon Locking Pavilion

Lovely black bamboo

Looking back through the Scholar's Courtyard.

Water lilies in front of the tea house

Oak?

Beautiful stonework path

You can take a gardener out, but you can't make him wear appropriate shoes... 

The modern "borrowed scenery" is more apparent from some angles.

Water Lilies

Since I recently talked about my love for Hughes Water Garden Center, I thought I would show the water lilies and water plants grown at The Lents Farmer.

There are so many beautiful water lilies, some of which can be grown in tubs in a sunny spot.  It's really worth considering and it's fun!

I've had four water lilies for about six years and there are three that are new for 2013.

The tubs sit on the end of my driveway and get full sun almost all day.  There are always a few flowers blooming each day. In the evening, the black walnut tree starts to shade them as the sun sets and the flowers will begin to close for the night.

Nymphaea 'Mayla'

Nymphaea 'Mayla' - How gorgeous is this! Perfection!

The lilies are all grown in plastic containers. I prefer plastic as it can handle freezing in winter without breaking/cracking. Unfortunately, beautiful and expensive Vietnamese ceramic water dishes would crack over a Portland winter and since they are generally too heavy to move and there is nowhere to store them, plastic it is! 

Nymphaea 'Hazorea Dagan White'- Just a hint of pink in there.

Nymphaea 'Hazorea Dagan White' - Lovely speckled foliage on this one.

All the lilies, goldfish and rosy minnows have overwintered successfully in these plastic tubs. In winter, the top several inches of water will freeze, but I have not had them freeze solid. Having the lily crowns actually freeze would be bad...

Nymphaea 'Burgundy Princess' - This plant is young, the flowers will get more intense with age.

In the spring, when the water is a little warmer, I try to clean out any "gunk" on the bottom of the ponds and remove any tree leaves from last fall. I have a big wire mesh strainer for this. I don't go nuts, just get the big chunks. I'll check on the water lilies too and remove any rotted leaf parts. I don't change all the water ever, Portland's water comes out of the hose too cold and will kill the fish. I do top off the tubs in summer when the water line gets low due to evaporation.   

Nymphaea 'Texas Dawn' - This one was divided and re-potted in 2013 giving me three plants.

Nymphaea 'Texas Dawn'

I fertilize lilies with Pondtabbs. I have a giant flat-head screwdriver that was found buried in the yard, that I use to dibble a hole in the lily pot muck, then insert the Pondtabb and cover. I do suggest a helper for this, as it can be messy, stinky and sometimes leachy. 

My fertilizer schedule is probably not the best, but starting around April or May, I give them two tabs per month per plant (most of the pots are 1-2 gallons of soil) when the temps are cool and they begin growing, then give the same dose but every three weeks or so when the temps are 70-80s. The emergent plants get a few tabs here and there when I think about it, which isn't often.

Nymphaea 'Wanvisa'

Nymphaea 'Solfatare'

Nymphaea 'Perry's Almost Black'

Nymphaea 'Sioux'

There is also Pickerel Rush, Juncus carmens (Carmen's Japanese Rush), Juncus effusus 'Lemon Swirl', and Thalia dealbata (Powdery Alligator-Flag) growing in containers filled with garden soil and topped off with several inches of water.

The two large 100 gallon Rubbermaid horse troughs each have two water lilies, a few "feeder" goldfish and a small, but ever growing, school of rosy minnows. The two 40 gallon round tubs have a mixture of baby rosy minnows and small fantail goldfish.  I have only bought inexpensive "feeder" fish due to raccoon invasion and fear of winter freezes.

There are small fish (baby rosy minnows) and "George" the Siamese Fighting Fish who is summer vacationing in the Thalia, that keep the mosquitoes at bay, but I have to watch the water level on the Pickerel Rush and Juncus or it's a mosquito farm in no time.

Pontederia dilatata (Royal Pickerel)

The Thalia is just to the right of the blue chair and the Pickerel Rush to the left.

Today's Favorite Plant - Cypella coelestis

Of course this plant had two blooms open the day AFTER my open garden!

Goblet Flower is an Iris relative and blooms July-September. Each stem blooms multiple times, but each flower only lasts a day.  The flowers open in the morning and start to fade before night fall. Cypella coelestis has lovely pale silver-blue flowers with a brown and yellow interior. This one gets about 2' tall and clumps in full sun, in good, well-drained soil. It does appreciate some summer water though.

Hughes Water Garden Center

My summer is not complete without a trip to Hughes.

Hughes is out in the boonies of SW Stafford Road in Tualatin, but are well worth the trip and the gas. They are the only place I know of to buy a high quality water lily and all of them are beautiful.

My garden dream is to have a big built in pond with rocks, a waterfall, huge koi and areas for emergent plants.

But instead, I have two 100 gallon horse troughs and some small water dishes with "raccoon protection". At least twice a year I get "raccooned". Most recently July 4th at 3:30am. Little bastards! 

Perhaps some day there will be a built-in pond or another "pond" alternative with a raccoon missile defense system, but until then, the troughs will have to do. At least I have a place to grow my water lilies, all of which came from Hughes.

The plants Hughes sell are a mixture of tropical, cactus/sedum/succulent, all manner of emergent/floating/water plants and water lilies and lotus. 

They also have a nice selection of fish, pond liners and other pond supplies (fish food, net pots, pond filters, etc.).

One of my favorite things to see is the two hoop houses with Lotus and Lilies. One houses the hardy lilies and the other the tropical lilies.  It gets pretty steamy in there!  But there are so many photo opportunities with all the blooms.  I'm just afraid I will drop my phone in the water leaning over to get a good shot of a flower. 

There is also a hidden natural pond, so be sure not to miss that when you visit. 

Lots of great water features and fountains.

 

I have a spot for this in my garden!

Another cool sculpture.

Sedum/Succulent table

Mushroom fountain - I can't decide if this is a tad obscene or not?!? Just me?

A nice display to get an idea of how big the plants get. The sculpture is great too!

Lots of varieties of lilies to choose from. Great plants, reasonable prices.

Gorgeous Lotus in flower.

There are also lots of tropical lilies for sale.

Lotus in the hot house.

Tables of emergent plants.

The sale area for the hardy water lilies - don't miss the pond at the back.