Fall in the Pacific Northwest is gentle for those of us lucky to live on the westerly side of the mountains, perfect weather for planting and fall clean up. The good weather can sometimes even last into December. Soon, according to the weather reports, we should have some rain. The roses and a few other late shrub and perennial purchases I bought at bargain prices from several nurseries, who were anxious to cut down their inventory, will be planted in the moistened earth with plenty of time to send out new feeder roots before the cold months ahead.
Shopping for plants right now is like end-of-the-season clothes sales with a little picking around and a discerning eye you can find some real treasures for next year. Mind you, a few pointed comments about the pathetic state of the plants can also help to bring the price down. I was able to add two of the new 'Romantica' roses to my collection, 'Abbaye De Cluny' and 'Fredric Mistral' for five dollars apiece, plus a well grown Rosa glauca. I really love this later rose if only for its wonderful plum colored foliage and tall arching habit. It fits well into perennial beds because it doesn't take up much room. I have the pink flowered clematis 'Hagley Hybrid' running through my mature specimen.
Also acquired at bargain prices were a pink Styrax japonica, regularly priced at thirty-nine dollars, a real deal at ten dollars. I am anxious to find a place for an ever-greened holly, Ilex latifolia (Chinese Lusterleaf Holly) The description says it is a multistemmed tree with dark grey bark and large, striking, toothed leaves with bright purple petioles and fragrant white flowers followed by red fruit. Two other evergreen trees or shrubs are the Michelias, members of the magnolia family they were new to the nurseries this year and I suspect they did not move very fast because no one was sure what they were. I picked up two varieties, Michelia platypetala, thick, evergreen leaves with fragrant white flowers and Michelia figo (Banana Shrub), with glossy dark green leaves and creamy yellow, red-edged, banana-scented flowers in spring, followed by fragrant seeds in October- November. This plant is apparently valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
If you haven't sent away for your catalogs there is still time. I am planning to use
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