another plant trade!

Long-time readers will see the image of the cardboard box and know what's coming next: new plants from another plant trade! Three or four weeks ago I sent Loree at danger garden a box containing a few different bamboos. (Loree once said she really didn't like variegated bamboo, and I had to show her what she was missing.) Since our climates are quite different, Loree took her time in choosing some plants that should work in my garden.

She didn't tell me what plants she was sending, so I'm eager to rip into this. Ready to open the box and take a look?

***

One benefit of plant trades is getting to see how different gardeners pack up plants for shipping. With bamboos it's pretty easy: cram it into the box. Other plants that are less durable require more care. 

Loree chose cardboard tubes to protect some of these. 

What's in there?

Ah, an Agave of some kind!

It's Agave parryi 'JC Raulston', which is really beautiful when mature. Nice! This will go great with my new-this-year Agaves -- once I decide where to plant them all.

A nice variety of five different plants. Let's take a closer look at each...

A Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies':

Yucca rostrata was one plant I was determined to get into my garden in 2012. It takes a few years to reach a decent size and start forming a trunk, so I didn't want to wait. I bought one of these earlier this year, but I don't like having single specimens of plants I really want to see mature, so I'm glad to have another of these!

A couple of very different Eryngiums:

That's Eryngium agavifolium with the somewhat Agave-like leaves (as the name indicates), and the next is Eryngium variifolium:

I have Eryngium planum growing in my garden now, and a couple of Eryngium yuccafolium somewhere if they survived the summer drought. They were small plants, just put into the ground this year. I'll have to check on those...

Finally a "throw in" plant -- I do that when I send plants too: include a plant that I have lots of, letting the recipient decide if it's worth keeping:

It's black mondo grass, Ophiopogon planicapus 'Nigrescens'. Although mondo grass is fairly common I don't grow any, and this more unique cultivar is beautiful -- it will be a nice addition to my garden. 

I potted all of these up, and will baby them for the rest of the year. The Agave is probably too small to put into the ground, so it will overwinter somewhere protected.

Loree also sent along some seeds:

Another nice bonus! 

So that's another plant trade completed. I don't know if there's a more fun way to get new plants -- you send off a box of extra plants, and you get a box back full of entirely different plants, for only the cost of shipping the box!

If you haven't done this before, I suggest finding a willing trade partner and giving it a try! (I still have extra plants if anybody wants to trade with me.)

.