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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Visiting Tsugawa Nursery for the First Time


News Flash!  

We just shared the first tomato from the greenhouse.  It was a Sungold and probably picked a day too soon but it tasted marvelous!  Of course there were tiny tomato plants at McLendon hardware so covered with red cherry tomatoes that one could barely see the leaves (how do they do that?) so cheating was an option. At $4.00 for the 4" pot  that must have had at least a pint and a half of fruit, it would have been not a bad deal.  Really, these plants looked very sad but the fruit was amazing.  There was a whole shelving unit of them and tomatoes were falling all over the ground beneath.  Sorry for the digression.  Really excited about that first tomato. Three Early Girls are also starting to turn red.  Very fun.  As my blogging pal Jean (Dotty Plants Greenhouse Journal) says, "Gardening is cheaper than therapy -- and you get tomatoes!"


Tsugawa Nursery, in Woodland is visible from Interstate five.  When driving from Tacoma to Portland, the sign on the side of the freeway means that we're almost in Portland and lots of fabulous nurseries too excited to get to P town to stop but curiosity always elicits a promise to stop on the way back.  On the way back it's often past closing and if not, plant lust has been sated for a while and the plant mobile is full of treasures. Urged on by posts by Evan (The Practical Plant Geek) and Loree (Danger Garden.) I finally decided on a recent trip to Oregon that we'd leave early and make time to visit Tsugawa.  It was a good decision!  Here's a little of what I saw on our fast walk through the nursery:

From the road, it looks nice enough but I wasn't prepared for how large and well-stocked the nursery is.

The great conifer selection goes on and on.

Oh, and you get to park in a lot across the street and peruse a discount center the size of a small nursery. Lots of temptations!

Taylor's Gold Tip Pine seems to be following me around but I must remind myself that I don't really have space for a pine.  They tend not to like growing in the dark beneath a bunch of other foliage. Funny thing that.

Shrubs for any situation. 

Meanwhile, back in the conifer section the cones of Abies koreana 'Silberperle' were looking very sweet.

Abies koreana 'Silberlocke' is so tempting but they grow into trees for which I've no space.  How long do you think I could keep it fairly small in a pot?

Rhododendrons everywhere.  Don't remember the name of this one but isn't the yellow and orange combination gorgeous?  A background of ceanothus blooms doesn't hurt either.

Delicious!

And deserving of a second look. 

A little tropicalismo.

Opuntia 'Santa Rita Tubac' is so handsome with it's purple pads which are, unfortunately, covered with glochids.

Okay folks, what is it with just about every nursery carrying citrus plants that have to live inside during the winter?  I'm not faulting the industry, just wondering if this a new trend?
 The main indoor area is full of wonders.

Setcreasea dies to the ground in cold weather but in a mild winter like the one we just had, it resprouts.

Many beautiful begonias but these two were especially interesting. 

Begonia 'Elephant Ear' almost came home with me but there are already enough of begonias in the Outlaw collection!

 Pretty fuchsia.  The humming birds were urging me to buy more.

So what's the big thing about pot being legal in Washington?  These have been available in nurseries for years!  This is the only kind of pot that excites me. (okay, that's a lie, I also like plain terra cotta)

Is there a color, besides true blue, that isn't represented by a petunia?

Bonsai.

A whole building devoted to water gardens.

Water lettuce anyone? 

No fish in this large pond?   There were small koi for sale in a room behind the yellow wall.

More water.


Cute benches!


More annual fun!

This gravel path is flanked by hoop houses each containing great stuff.  Two are full of rhododendrons, a couple overflowing with veggies, etc.  This is not a nursery that one can easily breeze through.  

There was a Japanese Maple area, another devoted to fruit trees, yet another to shade and flowering trees.  This is a full service nursery with very little stuff and lots of great plants!  I won't drive by so quickly again!


24 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review, just in time for me! I'm going down in a couple of weeks for the Plant Study Weekend, and I'm looking forward to stopping off at a new-to-me nursery. I'm so jealous of your tomato. I have lots of flowers on my cherry tomato, but no fruit yet and certainly none that re ripe enough to eat. I love that a ripe tomato is something to get so excited about that you had to put an addendum at the top of your post about it today!

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    1. You'll like Tsugawa! Isn't it funny how excited something as simple as a tomato can be. In a month or so, when everyone's swimming in the things, we'll wonder why there was any excitement at all.

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  2. This is a place I could really appreciate being near. Great that you had a tomato.
    I love gardening
    from my head
    To ma toes.

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    1. It's a wonderful place! You keep us laughing, Jean!

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  3. This is not a 'drive by' nursery. Need to pack up a lunch and make a day of it! I'm drooling over the Abies koreana cones. I find them fascinating. Nice memorial pond with the dinosaur plant. Did you get more koi?

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    1. You're right, it takes some time to really see all of this nursery! No more koi from Tsugawa but we now have eight fish from Hoshi Koi here in Tacoma. They always have a great selection of fish of all sizes from tiny things to huge, mature monsters!

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  4. Our 'Silberlocke' has been in a pot for ten years. We have finally decided it's time to liberate it, but we could just as well do some root pruning and keep it contained (I think). The cones are better than any flower, greeting us at the deck entry.

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    1. Hooray! Perhaps I'll succumb to the temptation next time!

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  5. That place looks great! I like BIG nurseries (and small ones too... any size really).

    To answer your question about Abies koreana 'Silberlocke': I'm certain you could keep it in a pot right up until it dies. ;) Seriously, it would probably do fine for a few years in a big pot, and then you could trim the roots bonsai style maybe to get more years?

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    1. We are nursery sluts, aren't we!

      Sage advice indeed; until it dies...so true.

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  6. Looks like a nursery that needs another good peruse to see everything, and perhaps spot more gems :)

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    1. Right you are! Next trip, more time for Tsugawa!

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  7. It really is a destination nursery. When I'm just passing by, it's always closed, or I get there just as it's closing which is worse. Best to just jump in the car and head there, but I guess that's a lot easier from Portland.

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    1. It's a little further from Tacoma but I'll definitely plan time for it in future trips. Have you ever stopped at the English Garden Nursery just down the I 5 a bit. Looks like it could also be interesting!

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  8. Congrats on your first tomato! Doesn't hat mean it's now officially summer?

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    1. Thanks, Kris! It should mean that but since I cheated by using a greenhouse, I'm unsure.

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  9. I love Abies Koreana with those lovely cones like candles. You must have one. Did you buy anything? Of course you must have bought something.
    I keep learning new words since I' ve been blogging. Glochids, that' s a new one. I have a couple of vicious Opuntias. Now I know what to say next time I get bits of them in my fingers.' Oh glochids!'.

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    1. You've convinced me, next time I'm drooling over Abies Koreana, I'll be sure to pop one in my cart! I bought a few coleus and some fragrant dianthus. Seems like there was something else but I've forgotten.

      Those sweet-looking furry things on opuntia are awful, aren't they?

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  10. Congrats on the tomato! And glad you finally stopped ar Tsugawa.

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    1. Thanks pal. I'm glad you encouraged me to stop!

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  11. Congrats on the tomato! Mine are just starting to flower. Glad you enjoyd Tsugawa. It's fun to see it from the perspective of someone visiting for the first time.

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    1. My seed-started tomatoes are just starting to bloom but I bought a couple in bloom a month or so ago and planted them in five gallon pots which will give us a nice early supply of tomatoes while the others grow on.

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  12. We too have driven by that nursery many times and have never stopped. Maybe we should.
    I see from your comment above how you got tomatoes already. It's a good idea, but it still feels a little like cheating. :-)

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    1. It does feel like cheating as I usually don't get tomatoes from outside plants until much later. Since I've run out of space outside but have extra space in the greenhouse in the summer, it was a good option. Jean was eating fresh tomatoes from her greenhouse in December. We'll see what there's space for once the fall migration begins.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.