Interesting plant sightings at Lowes

I was at our local Lowes yesterday to pick up some parts for our drip irrigation system, and I made a quick pass through their garden center. Usually their offerings aren’t too exciting, but every now and then I see something good—like when the clearance table is well stocked. But even though the clearance plants were a sorry bunch this time, a few others did catch my eye.

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So many strappy-leafed beauties on this table!

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Yucca gloriosa ‘Variegata’

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Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’; the three in the front had a neat pink tinge that I’ve never seen in my own specimen

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Cordyline banksii ‘Electric Pink’

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Succulent arrangements are all the rage. Candy “Sweetstuff” does so much better!

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Good to see cacti with glued-on strawflowers are alive and well!

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Flats of sedums and iceplants

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Here’s a plant I’d never seen or heard of: Andromeda polifolia, or bog rosemary

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It needs constantly moist acidic soil; not sure many gardens around here have that

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I love this columbine (Aquilegia hybrid). Columbines are among my favorite spring flowers.

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Helleborus × ballardiae ‘HGC Pink Frost’. This is the most beautiful hellebore I’ve ever seen. I love the dusky rose flowers and the burgundy stems. I’ve had good luck with my Helleborus ‘Janet Starnes’ so I decided to cough up the $$ for this beauty.

NOTE: These photos were taken with my new smartphone. I’m very pleased with the quality—on par with a compact digital camera, I’d say.

Comments

  1. Wow! Your pictures reminded me that I haven't been to the box stores in a while. Your Lowes has some cool plants! Picture quality is amazing for a phone.

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    1. I noticed that Lowe's now carries plants by Monrovia. They are higher priced, but larger and usually of better quality.

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  2. We should switch Lowes sometime -- then we could be excited by each other's "common" plants.

    Bog andromeda was one of the first plants I bought 10 years ago, and it lasted a few months before dying. It was a good lesson learned: not every plant is "put it in the ground and forget it".

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    1. Whenever I'm out of town, I try to visit a local nursery or box store just to see what they have.

      I'd never heard of bog andromeda before. It's a beautiful plant for sure, but so specific in its needs. Water is a scarce resources in our neck of the woods, so I passed on it. I'm rethinking a lot of water-thirsty plants, including bamboo...

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  3. Quite a surprise to know that the photos were taken by a smartphone, the quality of photos looks at par with digital cameras indeed, just shows how much camera phones have improved.

    Not a bad selection there. I'm curious about that Andromeda polifolia now!

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    1. I'm really impressive by my new phone. It's a Nexus 4, sold directly by Google in the U.S.. Move over iPhone, there's life outside of Planet Apple :-).

      Regarding that bog andromedia, you get enough precipation in the U.K., you should give it a try. According to Wikipedia, it's "found across northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere."

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  4. Funny we were at Lowes this weekend too and I was blown away by some of the plants, of course I was also saddened by the gorgeous succulents with absolutely no labeling whatsoever that indicated they are not hardy here in Portland.

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