GardenDesignOnline

Conifer Paradise

Iseli Nursery, Boring, Oregon

The next time a client of mine wants a perennial garden, I'm going to scream! I've never been able to understand why so many so-called "gardeners" dismiss needled conifers as plants they simply don't like.  What on earth could they be thinking? This picture above is boring???

During the APLD (Association of Professional Landscape Designers) conference earlier this month in Portland, several of us sneaked away one day for tours of two incomparable Oregon nurseries, including Iseli.  It's only open to professionals for special tours, but if you ever get the chance, don't miss it.  The Iseli offices are surrounded by acres of gardens featuring some of the most incredible plants and combinations I've ever seen.   I always tell my clients they simply cannot have "one of everything" because it's bad design ... but in an instant, I succumbed at Iseli.

 

As you drive into the nursery, you pass a Mobius strip (seen above in the distance) woven from golden Deodar cedar.  It's probably 15 to 20 feet high and at least a few hundred feet long.   It's a long, chartreuse colored undulating wave that is one of the most amazing "plant" sights you'll ever encounter.

A "Green" Grower

Steve Hutton, President of Conard-Pyle, Inc., is a grower with a vision. He spoke recently at a regional meeting of the Garden Writers Association and gave an astonishing presentation about his company's efforts to promote sustainability and protect the environment.  You've all heard the bad raps about growers -- that they're not concerned about invasives or pesticides or trucking plants for thousands of miles -- they're just in it for the money. 

Hutton has thought hard about of lot of these issues, and Conard Pyle is making every effort to be eco-friendly.  Consumers are one of the company's biggest problems.

Here's a photo of a pink "Knockout' shrub rose growing next to a 'Mr Lincoln' hybrid tea. No pesticides or fungal sprays were used on these plants, and while 'Knockout' is doing fine, 'Mr. Lincoln' is definitely struggling. Despite the plant's problems, Conard sells thousands of Mr. Lincolns every year. Hutton told us if he were in the toy business, the government would probably shut him down.

Hutton advises planting more natives, but he says they are usually the last thing consumers want.  When they show up in the nursery, he says, they look at a plant and ask "Does it do anything?"  Hutton is high on the native Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur,' but in the plant's home neighborhood of the Delaware Valley (PA), Conard Pyle sells 10 Mr. Lincoln roses for every V. 'Winterthur.'

(click on image to enlarge - image: Conard Pyle Inc.)