Some cool plants from The Desert Northwest in the mail today. I’m not going to mention any plants by name, so killjoys won’t tell me these plants have no chance making it through the winter. Of course they have a chance.
Not mentioned by name are Ceanothus cuneatus, C. prostratus, Aesculus californica, several manzanitas, Juniperus oxycedrus, Penstemon barrettiae, etc.
For one thing, winter is not the issue here; the big deal is getting the plants through the first summer. (The f.t.w. thing, coupled with what Geoffrey Charlesworth called overexcitement of the acquisitive instinct.) Right now I’m letting these plants get used to the lower oxygen levels at this altitude (like if they start growing too fast they might get dizzy); they’re going out in the garden tomorrow, though I could use some more prayer flags, and maybe even some, well, you know, rain.
The way winters have been going here lately, the plants will probably be under six feet of snow during any cold spells that might come, and for another, the fact that “they might die” has no effect on me at all. If I only bought plants that I was certain would not die, the garden would be empty.
Just yesterday I noticed my plants of Pediocactus winkleri, grown from Mesa Garden seed sowed in 1992. Totally hardy cactus, painstakingly grown from seed, suddenly dead. I think this was the point I was trying to make.
Pediocactus winkleri, r.i.p.
the miserable gardener 