Next up was Swanson’s Nursery. We wanted to time this to have lunch in their great Seasons Cafe. What a riot of color as we walked in – Primroses – Tulips – Daffodils – Hellebores. They also had a great sale on hellebores – 25% off so I picked up the Hellebore. I thought I wanted Cinnamon Snow that I had seen at the Seattle Arboretum but I didn’t like how it looked later in the season. G mentioned it might be nice if the hellebore also had some interesting foliage. Hmmm… I looked further and decide that I really liked Winter Moonbeam . I liked the silver veins on the leaves, the compact growth and the bright blooms. It will go great in a shady bed we have with a Magnolia sieboldii and primroses.

We had a great lunch of sandwiches and soup in the Seasons Cafe. It was a good place to warm up. The cold wind started to blow. But we still had time to quickly cruise the nursery. We really loved the Edgeworthia chrysantha. We had one several years ago but it never thrived and finally died. We are tempted every spring.

Swansons also has a great bare root select of shrubs. G was excited to find Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ which he was looking for to provide some winter color to the front bed. Our friend also recommended a Amber Jubilee Ninebark for some gold color to the bed. The bareroot shrubs were 40% off which made it even better!

Colorful Primroses	Iris reticulata
Anemone	Anemone
Seasons Cafe	Koi
Clematis armandii	Magnolia
Edgeworthia chrysantha	Edgeworthia chrysantha
Bareroot stock	Our purchases