Heat Wave

We're having an early heat wave here...and a very dry June. Today it was 98 F and the same or higher is expected for tomorrow. We're just not used to this!

This is Lobivia 'Easter Bonnet', which was flowering recently.

Overlook Park message

On most mornings Lynn-Marie and I go over to Overlook Park and walk a mile before we go have our morning latte. The park overlooks downtown Portland and has a large playground, two baseball fields and a couple of soccer fields. A nice trail is about 1/3 of a mile long and there's some nice shrubbery and a fantastic, old, American Elm.
In addition, homeless people sometimes set up a makeshift tent or sleep under the shrubs. One morning, as we were walking, we noticed these bags next to one of the trash bins.

They'll probably never see this, but this serves as a "thank you" to the homeless couple who cleaned up the mess, including some discarded hypodermic needles, and giving notice to the park cleanup crew so they wouldn't get hurt.
It's a disgrace that, here in one of the most prosperous nations on earth, we have so many people just struggling to survive.
Back to plants in the next post! :)

Bananas in Oregon

 

This is the second time our banana trees have produced a flower (along with some tiny little inedible bananas). It's hardly what people really think of when they think of Western Oregon.

But one of the things we do here is shatter stereotypes. We are indeed a place of rainy, gray days. No denying it. Yet, for the past 3 months, we've had no rain...only .6 of a centimeter since July 1. Of course we'll make up for it this weekend when we'll probably get over an inch (2.54 cm) of rain. The cacti are rushing for shelter (mostly in the arms and hands of Lynn-Marie), especially as the temperatures start to fall, but the banana tree is waiting to slurp up all that water! I assume it is; I haven't really asked it. After all it's an Oregon banana.  :)

Powell's City of Books

No plants today. Didn't even go into the greenhouse other than to turn on the exhaust fans. After going to church this morning we went downtown and spent the afternoon at Powell's - drinking lattes and browsing books (cactus books, of course). I know, the picture above doesn't really look like much, but this is the old entrance and it's a little deceptive. Described by most as the world's largest new and used bookstore, I don't have any doubts. It takes up a whole city block (+ technical books across the street). It's so large, you need a map to find your way through it. And it's one of the largest tourist attractions in Portland. Here's their own description:
"Located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and occupying an entire city block, the City stocks more than a million new and used books. Nine color coded rooms house over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles"  It then goes on to say:
 "A few facts about the City of Books:

• 68,000 square feet packed with books.
• We buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day.
• Approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day.
• Another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee.
• We stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections.
• You'll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on our shelves.
• Approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City's shelves every day in Portland and via the Internet.

So is our mother ship the world's largest bookstore? Heck, it may be bigger than your whole town."
When you're in Portland - especially since our nursery isn't open to the public - you'll have to spend some time at Powell's! So...when you coming???

Summer Show & Sale July 20-22

Our second show and sale of the Oregon Cactus and Succulent Society is coming up fast. This one will be at least twice the size of the last one, with a huge selection of plants. Plus, there will be an interesting Expo table of weird, but wonderful, succulent plants. Come and let your imagination run wild. This is the summer event where weird is not only permitted, it's encouraged! I'm talking about plants of course, but if you want to include yourself in that category, go for it!

The hours are 9-7 Friday and Saturday, and 9-4 on Sunday. Hope to see some of you there!!!

Haworthia truncata var. maughanii

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty obvious that Spring was here. The greenhouses were almost getting too hot during the day and the trees are all in blossom. And then tonight. It's snowing. On the first day of Spring, it's snowing. And sticking. About an inch on the ground as I go to bed. Enough already! It's spring!

Oh, and yes, these are specimens of Haworthia truncata var maughanii, growing in one of our haworthia trays. I think they want some sunshine too!

Portland's Roosevelt High School Thespians

This is a wee bit off topic, but I can't help but share this about my high school alma mater, Roosevelt High School here in Portland. A few years ago they didn't even have a theatre group, but this year they made it all the way to the Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's quite an honor for them.

The review of the play they produced is located here.

Ladybug Update

A couple of people have asked for an update on Ladybug, our mini horse. As most of you know, she's one of the "helpers" at the nursery, but she had a rough last year. A little over a year ago she foundered, with laminitis that made it difficult for her to walk. However with the help of a good vet and an excellent farrier she is totally recovered and is back to her old self. She continues on a low carbohydrate diet, but now regularly pulls a cart and goes for walks to the local park and to the University of Portland campus.

These photos were taken by Lynn-Marie a couple of days ago.
Back to succulent plants tomorrow.

Angel and Lynn-Marie

We have a new member of our family - "Angel" - a Peruvian Paso. No, this isn't our back yard; it's the Abbey Creek Stables where we board Angel. She just made the huge transition from just outside of Phoenix, Arizona (100+degrees F) to Portland (pushing 70F). Actually, we would like to come up with a new name, maybe in Spanish, to fit her heritage. Any suggestions???

By the way, Jardinera is at a new home; her "spirit" was a little much for our grandchildren!

Portland Fish Pond

It's been one of those days. Getting ready for company coming from Phoenix, Arizona while at the same time enjoying the late summer early Fall weather we often get here in Portland. Generally at this time of year it's in the 70's and 80's with mostly sunny skies. But we do get the occasional Pacific Ocean storm through to cool things off. Tomorrow and Saturday we should approach 90 F.

So it was a good day to sit on the deck overlooking the fish pond with a late summer drink in hand...

Peace.

Brrrr!

The cold weather has arrived with a vengeance. I've been out in the greenhouses improving the insulation throughout but tonight is going to be the cold one, so we'll see. And more snow on Wednesday.

Enough already!

We're having some beautiful Fall weather and I just couldn't resist taking a telephoto image of Mt. Hood. This was taken a couple of blocks from our place, from what is called "Mock's Crest".

Out & Around in North Portland

A nice stand of Opuntia here in North Portland in the University Park neighborhood, growing on the Southeast side of the house.