63 Grass Farm’s Garden Accents
August 5, 2022
65 Summer Annuals
September 1, 2022
Good Things Come in Twos
O n one of our Oregon trips, AP and I visited 45 nurseries in 5 days. (Yes we have super powers—actually more like obsessions that make us unstoppable!) Out of those 45 nurseries—plus others we visited on a different Oregon trip—there are probably 20 nurseries that AP cannot find all her photos for. She says they’re in a cloud somewhere that apparently floated away into the unknown!
But I wanted to share two nurseries with you that we visited one after the other one morning. So here are my photos and a few of AP’s that didn’t make it to the cloud. These two nurseries are wonderful, magnificent, must-see nurseries located in Corvalis, Oregon.
Shonnard’s Nursery
6600 Philomath Blvd, Corvallis, OR 97333 • (541) 929-3524
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The first one is Shonnard’s Nursery. That morning we hopped out of bed, got dressed—and we may have eaten something, not sure, but breakfast is not all that important on these trips. Nurseries are waiting!! Then we hit the road, navigated right to Shonnard’s, pulled in and parked.
I looked around at an empty parking lot. “Boy it’s quiet this morning,” I said to AP. Then I looked back at the entrance and saw this…
A barricade in the middle of the driveway! I had swerved around it without thinking.
Well, that’s how I roll, Readers. Me, pay attention to items blocking the road? LOL. Not when there’s a plant nursery up ahead!
I checked our itinerary—which I myself mapped out. I had listed Shonnard’s as opening at 8AM.
Nope, 9AM. Not the first or last time our itinerary has gotten the details wrong!
The front of the place looked inviting enough so we discussed our options.
- We could sit and wait for an hour.
- We could leave and come back later. Though both of these would mean wasting precious time.
- We could sneak in through an unlocked gate we noticed and waltz through the grounds pretending we didn’t know any better.
We chose 3 of course! OMG, that was funny—as AP’s gumption usually keeps up with mine! We slipped right in and nobody stopped us. But I had the feeling there were hidden cameras everywhere and that some employees—for kicks and giggles—were watching us the whole time.
I hope we made their day.
It was nice to have the place all to ourselves (meaning nobody got in our way or slowed us down). We stayed for a good 40 minutes “oohing” and “ahhing” over plants like this one…
Rhododendron ‘Pink and Sweet’ (Pink and Sweet Azalea)
I actually had this Rhododendron in my garden once and LOVED IT. But I happened to kill it and so was on the hunt for another one. I was so happy to find it at Shonnard”s!
But I couldn’t buy it.
Closed!!
I also found this fragrant giant exotic vine that won’t run amuck…
Lonicera periclymenum ‘Inov86′ (Honeysuckle Peaches & Cream)
Today (2022) you can find this honeysuckle in just about every nursery. But the year of our trip, it had just come onto the market and we were seeing it at just about every nursery in Oregon.
AP did end up buying one. But obviously not at Shonnard’s.
Closed!!
Here’s another plant we saw that AP fell in love with and just had to have…
Agastache ‘Kudos Ambrosia’ (Agastache Kudos Ambrosia)
But wait…
Closed!!
As lovely as Shonnard’s was, we had other nurseries to waltz through and couldn’t wait until 9AM just to give them our money. Sadly empty-handed, we slipped out through the gate and back to the car. Once again we swerved around that barricade as we made our way to Garland Nursery.
Garland Nursery
5470 NE Hwy 20, Corvallis, OR 97330 • (541) 753-6601
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How to sum up Garland Nursery? Let’s just say…LIFE CHANGING!
We arrived only about 10 minutes before they opened, but we did not wait patiently.
Remember those old Mervyn’s commercials with the lady tapping on the window saying, “Open…open…open…?”
That was AP and me ‘cuz we had to pee and Shonnard’s was…say it with me…closed!!
This was years before I got my porta-potty enabled van, so life could be hard back then.
Anyway, 10 agonizing minutes later, the doors opened, pee happened, and waltzing through this fabulous place began.
As you know, I’d been on the lookout for a wrought-iron umbrella plant stand, and Garland’s had this one for $155!!
But as I said, those days were pre-van, and this plant stand would have taken up too much room in the SUV we’d rented for the trip. AP would have demanded big rent from me to use up that much of her half of the SUV.
Wasn’t worth it. Walked away.
Yup…AP’s photos (of course, succulents) that somehow she did NOT lose in the cloud. I love succulents too, and Garland’s stunning arrangements and displays really warmed us up.
Another impressive thing about Garland’s—and you can see it above—is that all their holding tables are well crafted from nice lumber. Which tells me that a lot of money went into the nursery to show it off well.
And I do love good staging!
I loved this humongous red poppy, too!
Papaver orientale var. bracteatum (Great Scarlet Poppy)
Could not resist buying it. Got it home and in the ground, and I’m telling you those blooms were 7-inches wide. And the stems grew to about 4-feet tall. It was amazing!!!!
Yes “was amazing,” past tense, because I ended up killing it. But I got to enjoy it for one season. Glorious!
You’ll find beautiful and unique fountains at Garland’s. Love love love this one…
Wanna’ talk conifers?
HOLY CRAP!!…is all I got to say.
Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were in 3-gallon or larger containers. Again, had to walk away. Not enough space in the SUV. We had a lot of nurseries still to visit. I needed to be sensible.
So HARD to be sensible in a nursery like Garland’s.
The young man checking us out (at the register…lol) was originally from Davis, California, in the Central Valley and near my stomping grounds. Like many people we get talking to at nurseries, he sure got a kick out of hearing about our travels.
It IS surprising I guess. Who else is plant-compulsive enough to do what AP and I do? As far as I know, we’ve never crossed paths out there with any other Nursery Waltzers.
Just like some plants we’ve come across, the two of us are a rare breed!
Think Garland’s yellow resin chairs are right up my alley?
Looky what I have in my yard.
Summer’s end is not far off, Readers. Time to cop-a-squat in a favorite outdoor chair and enjoy the fruits of your labors!
Good things sometimes come in twos. But I haven’t done the justice these two nurseries deserve. Please click their website and social media links to see inspiring photos that have not been lost in a cloud!
