Here are five garden specialties that I stumbled upon while wandering around one of my favourite local nurseries, Western Independent Greenhouses, here in Burnaby.
- Wired hen composed of houseleeks. This is wire framed chicken is packed with different colours of hardy houseleeks (Sempervivum tectorum) also known more commonly as hens and chicks. The frame costs about $50 but it takes some time to get the houseleeks placed carefully. Each one needs to be pinned into a bed of moss inside the chicken which is first lined with the moss and paper and filled with soil.
You can also get a pig. But once this is done it will last for years. The plants are also hardy which means they can be left outside in winter, ideal under some cover, but they are indifferent to frost.
2. Fairy garden in a wheelbarrow.
I thought this was kind of novel. A moveable feast of a garden with so much attention to detail. I can imagine it being a magical find for a child to come upon this in her grandad’s garden. It has a tropical flavour because of all the succulents used.
Notice the sleeping mermaid on the bed of turquoise stones guarded by the moose in the sedum woodland. Very imaginative.
3. Blooming aeonium
This aeonium is in full flower. And what a magnificent specimen it is. Who ever sees aoniums in bloom. Rarely, if ever. But this one is not only blooming, it looks sensational with its majestic cone shape. It’s a real stunner. I spent a lot of time walking around it to view it from all sides.
4. Echeveria hanging basket.
This is a stunning hanging basket composed of dozens of Blue Rose echeveria. I got one for myself but it was simply too heavy to hang, so I have placed it on a pedestal on the deck as a superb centrepiece for summer. The beauty of this product is that if I protect it over winter and let it dry out, the plants will produce more offshoots and it will bounce back next spring and become even more crowded with rosettes. I am looking forward to seeing just how much fuller and more magnificent it can become.
5. Awesome aeonium pot
This pot full of Aeonium arboreum Zwartkopf would make an exciting centrepiece on a patio or terrace all summer. I have some of these already and when they grow and start to snap off, you simple push them into a pot of soil and keep them in a shady spot until they have rooted. Their main growing period is in the fall into winter, so the key would be not to get them too wet until they have got their new roots established. But if you get good at this kind of propagation, you can create some of your own giant aeonium containers.
If you want to see any of these things for yourself, just pop into WIG. The address is:6151 Thorne Ave, Burnaby.
I love the chicken! May have to try something similar.
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