I spent a week in Nevada/Arizona and just got back yesterday.  Temperatures there saw highs in the 80’s and lows in the 50’s–very mild/warm.   Parker, Arizona was my home base for most of that time.  There had been significant rains over the weeks prior, and the desert was starting to green up and bloom.

At a visit to Springs Preserve outside of Las Vegas, I saw a bunch of interesting plants.  The above agave was about to bloom, looking like a huge, blue asparagus.

The amazing agave above had bloomed earlier and the top of the flower stalk was covered with dozens of new plants!

One of my favorite plant families–Bauhinia, the orchid trees.  The leaves are wonderful and the flowers just add to the beauty.  Sadly, I’ve yet to find one that is hardy/happy in Seattle.  But seeing the beautiful leaves above will keep me looking!

I got seeds off this legume–didn’t get the name, so it will be a surprise.  It had typical pea-family leaves, but the new ones had a  blue/gray bloom to them.  The seeds are big and super hard, so I’ll need to boil them or something to get them started.

The structure of agaves is irresistible, and yet I need to resist it.  Christopher Lloyd put this in perspective in one of his books.  He warned against adopting plants that require too much effort for your region–he felt the work involved is rarely worthwhile and the effect is less than natural or effective.  I tend to agree.  While I would love an arid looking xeric garden with agaves, yuccas and cactus, it likely would be impossible and not worth the failed efforts.

Palms are a similar story–delectable color and form, and yet there are only a few that thrive in Seattle and they are tough to work effectively into a landscape.  I have grown palms from seed for the house and greenhouse.  Talk about slow growing!  I have a seven year old seedling of a similar looking palm to the above, and it is only a foot tall and has only a few strap-like leaves and no hint of a trunk.  The poor thing probably just wants some sun and warmth.

I am assuming this is a salvia, but I didn’t see a nametag.  The bees were out and loving it, and the color was the perfect foil for all the yellow flowers that seem to predominate the desert flora.

Close up of the same salvia showing interesting flower form and brilliant blue color.

Here is an Ocotillo near Parker, growing with a gray Brittlebush.  These are amazing shrubs–the Ocotillo with striking, vase-shaped form and loads of spines, while the Brittlebush is bright gray and displays prolific yellow daisies.  The Ocotillos were just leafing out while I was there and I’m told the flowers are brilliant hummingbird magnets.  I look forward to seeing that some day.

I golfed on a gorgeous county course in Parker and the scenery was inspiring.  These palms caught my eye in the morning light.  Often palms are manicured to the point of obsession, so it was nice to see some that still held their ruff of old leaves.

The friends who live there and who generously hosted us are trying to grow native plants on a very steep slope at the back of their property.  I gathered Palo Verde seeds for them and ordered seeds online of Brittlebush and Honey Mesquite.  I’ll try to start some in the greenhouse and I’ll pass the rest of the seeds on to them to direct sow.  I’m also going to try some evening primrose seeds and sand verbena to share with them.  Pictures below of these found blooming in the desert in one special place.

It certainly doesn’t feel like January right now–temperatures in the sixties and blue skies.  Warm and dry, more like summer than we have in June in Seattle some years!  Hard to imagine all the cold and snow in the East, when all is so calm and cozy here!

Yesterday morning I planted four more types of seeds in six packs in the greenhouse.  For seed starting, I’m using about 2/5 Black Gold seed starting mix, 2/5 Fox Farm organic potting mix and 1/5 coarse sand.

Myosotis arvensis–I’ve always loved forget-me-nots, and the Field Forget-me-Not promises to aggressively fill in blank spaces–just the type of plant that might survive and spread some color around the garden and create some self-sown surprises.

Lathyrus hardy species mixed–I’ve never met a lathyrus I didn’t love, and this mix is said to include:

Lathyrus aureus        Lathyrus chloranthus      Lathyrus laxiflorus     Lathyrus latifolius     Lathyrus pubescens     Lathyrus rotundifolius     Lathyrus tingitanus     Lathyrus tuberosus     Lathyrus vernus

Note:  I did not soak these seeds prior to sowing, but am hoping that by sowing them in good, moist compost in a cool greenhouse, that natural stratification will get them to germinate.  I may order another packet of these seeds from Plant World to start in late spring if these don’t germinate well.

Campanula Cottage Mix–another mixed packet which I’m hoping will get me some plants that I’ve never grown before, and in some quantity.  The packet was loaded with seed, and I didn’t plant them all–I’ll save some for late spring.  Plant World says this includes all of their upright types from their catalog and a few rarities that they don’t have quantities enough to list separately.

Sweet Peas–I plan to train sweet peas on the same trellises that my berries grow on to attract pollinators and give me something to distract me from my bad habit of picking the berries too early!

The wallflowers transplanted last weekend have transitioned well–they look pretty happy in their greenhouse within a greenhouse.  I was tempted to move them outside, but I reminded myself that it is JANUARY–it could freeze or snow any time and even tough wallflower seedlings couldn’t handle that!

While inspecting the yard and garden over the weekend, I saw that the Hellebores are doing well and either blooming or near to bloom.  The warm days have really moved this process along.  We have a big, tall forsythia near the driveway and its buds are swelling–should start to bloom in two weeks, given all this warm weather.  The winter hazel next to it is significantly behind, but then it always is–it extends the brilliant yellow early show.

A fairly windy storm hit Seattle Saturday night.  We have a big Douglas Fir tree in our yard that worries me–I expect it to become an uninvited bedroom visitor one day.  Luckily, that didn’t happen yet, but I spent some time picking up more twigs and branches off the street and lawn that had snapped off.  A new neighbor was out at the same time performing the same chore…I’m sure it was a scene repeated all down our street since these giant forest trees are quite common in this neighborhood.

We had warm weather yesterday, so I took some time to pot on some wallflower seedlings that I’d started in November.  I hadn’t expected all the seeds to germinate so quickly and well, so I had three 4 inch pots full of seedlings.  I moved two pots worth to six-packs in a tray with a humidity cover.  That will give me 48 plants to set out in early spring, assuming all survive.  I hedged my bets by putting two seedlings in each cell since I had so many.

Since this potting on provided more space on the heat mat, I sowed a few other types of seed:

Agastache nepetoides–the idea of a 6-foot hyssop is appealing to me, and should be great for bees and butterflies.

Freesia laxa Joan Evans–the standard form does well in the greenhouse for me, and I have seedlings of the standard and the blue form that will likely bloom in 2015;  I’ve read that this is possibly winter hardy in Seattle, so I’ll plant some out this year to see what happens!

Andean climbers mixed–very excited about these and hoping to get more than the Eccremocarpus to sprout–mixed seed in a packet said to include:

Leontochir ovallei          Luzuriaga radicans         Lapageria rosea

Bomarea salsilla          Mitraria coccinea           Boquila trifoliata

Tropaeolum ciliatum         Schyphanthus stenocarpus        

Eccremocarpus scaber         Herreria stelata          Tropaeolum tricolor

Tropaeolum polyphyllum          Aristolochia chilensis

Dierama species mixed–I’ve had luck with these from seed, so thought I’d try a bunch more.  I’ve read it takes at least three years from seed to flower, so best to get started now.

Polemonium yezoense “Purple Rain”–I’ve done well with Polemoniums (specifically Apricot Delight) from seed before and they are hardy and long-lived here, so it makes sense to try a new type.  This dark version appears to have gorgeous flower color offset nicely by the purple foliage.