One of my trusted sources for shrubs, perennials, ferns, and conifers is celebrating a milestone: its 100th anniversary.
Not long ago, the wholesale plant company, Monrovia, hosted a Centennial Celebration Expo at their Dayton, Oregon location - a week-long open house that welcomed customers, industry professionals, and garden enthusiasts. More than 1,000 guests attended, enjoying expert talks, guided tours, and gardening demonstrations. The event also included an exclusive luncheon to celebrate "Landscape Legends" who have helped shape the horticulture industry over the years and inspire Monrovia's extensive plant selection - I was honored to be one of those recognized. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the festivities, but my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, was there to tour the showcase, participate in some of the activities, and explore potential additions for my gardens.
Enjoy these photos.
This Monrovia Nursery is located in the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland. It is where many of the company’s conifers, maples, broadleaf shrubs and other cold-hardy plants are grown. Plant displays like this one are created especially for the annual open house event.
Monrovia Chief Marketing Officer, Katie Tamony, took Ryan for a tour of the fields. Monrovia’s nursery is spread over more than 1000 acres.
This is Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula.’ It is a striking evergreen conifer known for its cascading branches and vivid steel-blue needles. I have several of these trees growing in my living maze.
Another section was filled with Golden Globe Thuja, a widely admired variety known for its vibrant color and dense, yellow-golden foliage.
This is Daub’s Frosted Juniper. Ordinarily, this is a type of ground cover, but Monrovia grafted it onto another juniper variety to create these beautiful “trees” – perfect for containers!
Challenges were special to the week-long event. These mini workshops allowed visitors to get first-hand training from Monrovia’s own horticultural experts.
This is a topiary training challenge. Topiary is the practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs, and subshrubs to develop and maintain specific shapes. The term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way.
Here’s Ryan grafting. Ryan practiced grafting Japanese maples under the watchful eye of master craftsman, Antonio Ceja. Monrovia promised to grow the Japanese maple and send it to us when it’s ready.
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique where tissues of various plants are joined to grow together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. These are scions ready for grafting.
At the breeder showcase, Ryan sampled new varieties of berries for 2028! Here, he tried the sweetest, most golden raspberries, which are thornless. Ryan is with breeder, Robert Bett from Plant Haven, Katie, and Monrovia CEO, Jonathan Pedersen.
This is something new at Monrovia – Fyre Wing Heuchera from Terra Nova. I have lots of heuchera at my farm. Heuchera, or coral bells, is a colorful perennial, with attractive foliage and bell-shaped flowers. It comes in an array of colors and forms, and grows wonderfully in shade gardens.
This Heuchera is Fyre Wing ‘Amber.’ It has autumn tones of honey, copper, yellow, and orange, and deeply cut lacy foliage.
This is Hot Rocks™ Dark Leaf Red Sedum, Sedum telephium, with its a compact habit, and vibrant deep red flowers on dark chocolate foliage.
These are Jurassic ferns from the Dan Hinkley Collection at Monrovia.
These are different types of Royal Hawaiian Colocasia – tropical, compact, clumping plants with striking variegated foliage. I love Colocasias and display mine outdoors in ornamental urns every summer.
Guests were invited for lunch under a large outdoor tent. Guests included garden center customers, media, plant breeders, and friends.
Look familiar? Andrew Beckman, on the right, was a longtime garden editor for my magazine, Martha Stewart Living. Here he is with his husband, landscape designer, Bob Hyland.
My friend, plantsman Dan Hinkley, gave an interesting talk about his latest finds and memorable adventures hunting plants in China, India, and Nepal.
While I was unable to attend the event in person, I did address the group via Zoom, and shared photos of my living maze, which Monrovia helped me complete. This photo was taken from the carriage road of my Boxwood Allée, high up in my Hi-Lo tractor looking at my three-acre maze.
It was a very successful, interesting, and productive visit. Happy Centennial, Monrovia – here’s to another 100 years.
In order to keep my farm and its gardens, allées, and groves as beautiful as possible, I pay lots of attention to the maintenance and care of all my trees and shrubs.
Smoke bushes, Cotinus, are among my favorite small trees - they have superlative color, appealing form, and look excellent in the gardens. Healthy, established smoke bushes are vigorous growers and can put up to three feet of new growth in a season. This week, many of these trees are being carefully pruned and groomed to keep them well-shaped and beautiful.
Enjoy these photos.
These are the very interesting leaves of the smoke bush, Cotinus. Depending on the variety, these leaves can range from bright greens and yellows to deep purples and reds.
The leaves are about one-and-a-half to three inches long and ovate, or oval like, in shape.
There is one leaf per node along the stem. The leaves are also deciduous, meaning they drop off in winter, or wither and persist on its branch.
The name “smoke bush” comes from the billowy hairs attached to the flower clusters, turning a smoky pink to purplish-pink as the weeks progress.
This mature smoke bush is near the front of my home, where guests can see it. The fine, feathery clusters remain attractive for many weeks from now to fall.
Cotinus prefer full sun and well-draining soil, but some varieties can tolerate dappled shade. We’ve also had a good amount of rain this year. Look how much this Cotinus has grown – it is one of several outside my Tenant House.
And these are some of the 100 royal purple smoke bushes I planted in the allée in my middle hay field. The London plane trees behind have also grown so much this year.
The smoke bushes around my pool have been pruned twice already this year. This is new growth just from the last several weeks.
Pasang Sherpa is my resident tree pruner. He does a wonderful job overseeing the maintenance of all the trees here at my farm. I like as much of the pruning and grooming to be done by hand, so Pasang trims many branches with his pruners – one by one.
Pasang uses his Okatsune hand pruners. Pruning shears, hand pruners, or secateurs are a type of scissor used on plants. They are strong enough to prune hard branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes up to an inch thick. Everyone on the crew has a pair.
He also uses two STIHL tools – loppers and a long reach pruner.
Pruning means to lop or cut off any superfluous branches or shoots for better-shape and better growth. These trees look fuller every year – in part because of the regular pruning.
Pasang cuts off any dead or crisscrossing branches first. The rule of thumb when pruning is to cut the dead, diseased, damaged, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted plant material.
He goes under the tree to examine all the lower branches.
Dead branches, or those without any signs of new growth, are cut, so the energy is directed to the living branches.
A bow saw, or pruning saw, cuts on both the fore stroke and back stroke and is designed for cutting thicker, older branches.
Here, a long handled pole pruner is used to remove harder to reach branches. Pasang takes these tall branches out to keep the tree’s full shape.
Pasang is a thoughtful pruner. He often looks at the tree to assess where he needs to cut. Any branches which interfere with the tree’s shape or create a dense framework should are removed.
As the branches are cut, Pasang gathers them in one place, so they are easy to collect later and take to the compost yard.
And then Fernando loads them up and takes them away.
Pruning is crucial in preserving trees, retaining their form, and encouraging healthy growth.
At my farm, one lesson I constantly emphasize to my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew is to "use the right tool for the right job." It makes all the difference, not only in efficiency but also in safety.
I've been a longtime user of STIHL products. STIHL offers an impressive range of tools, including professional-grade chainsaws, trimmers, blowers, pressure washers, brush cutters, and more. My newest piece of equipment is the STIHL KombiSystem, a versatile landscaping solution built around a powerful KombiMotor and a range of interchangeable attachments. The brush is ideal for cleaning the cobblestones around my stable courtyard.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I store all the STIHL tools in my large Equipment Barn where they can be kept organized and ready-to-use.
This is a STIHL FS 361 C-EM Z 20-1/2 inch 37.7cc Gas Powered Brush Cutter with Spark Muffler for heavy duty cutting and thinning.
One of my favorite tools is the STIHL HSA 26 Battery-Powered Garden Shears. It is lightweight with a rubberized handle for a comfortable and secure grip. I use this tool all the time. It can also be used with the STIHL GTA 26 Extension Shaft for almost five feet more reach.
Last spring, I got a new fleet of STIHL mowers – both gas powered and battery operated. They’re great for using in large lawn spaces as well as any flat, narrow, tight areas around my home.
They are all kept safely in my Equipment Barn with all he other hand tools.
STIHL’s most well-known tool is the chainsaw. STIHL designed and built its first chain saw in 1926 and 100 years later, it is still one of its best pieces of equipment.
And this is my new KM 131 Gasoline KombiSystem with the STIHL Bristle Brush Attachment Head.
The brush head features durable nylon bristles and a wide sweeping surface that covers a two foot wide area as it moves.
The brush’s strong bristles are safe and usable on paved areas, walkways, driveways, uneven stone floors, and the cobblestones in my stable courtyard.
The unit is easy to carry and has a durable body strap for extra stability.
A loop handle provides comfort and control in tough spots.
Pete put it to use right away. These cobblestones needed some regular cleaning to remove the dirt and grime that accumulates with use.
Pete goes from one end to the other in rows – the brush only removes the surface dirt and doesn’t disturb any of the mortar between the cobblestones.
Here’s a closer look at what debris is brushed out – mostly dirt from my horses when they return from their pastures.
It looks great after just one pass.
Here, one can see which side is cleaned and which side still needs sweeping.
Pete also used it along the cobblestones near the carriage road of my linden tree allée.
The engine provides strong consistent power to loosen and remove the unwanted dirt.
Next, Pete uses the STIHL battery-powered blower around the building and ornamental planters where the brush cannot reach.
And uses the more powerful backpack blower to push the dirt completely off the courtyard. I’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm.
The entire courtyard is done in less than an hour. Using the right tool for the right job definitely works.
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