Hey - Does Anybody Recognize This?

I've posted a picture in the Plant ID forum, but I thought I'd check here, as well.

I picked it up at a nursery a couple of years ago to put on my deck. Paid too much for it, I'm sure, and now I can't remember what it is. Can't find it in my plant tags or journal, either.

It's done okay, but I can see by the leaf loss this summer that a south-facing deck is just too much for it. I'm going to transplant it, but I'm not quite sure how shade a location I should select.

The brown things are catkins - they were never blossoms. Someone suggested buddleia, but it really doesn't look like my buddleia (and, as I said, there were no blossoms). I thought at first that it looked to be a willow of some sort.

Anywa, any suggestions?

Thanks,

Kathy
Woodinville, WA

And here are the catkin and leaves close up.

Kathy
Woodinville, WA

Did it flower last Spring? If yellow flowers, possibly a Laburnum.

No never flowers. And I think it's a tree.

Katie ...when you find out what it is let me know...I would love to pot one up that looks really neat!
Happy gardening, Carla

Catkins are flower clusters.
Birch, Willows, Poplars, Alders, Hazel, Hickory & several others all have catkins.

Can you get a shot of the leaf/branch detail up close? Catkins, too if possible.
I'm curious about the identity of this mystery plant.

Wow. I can't believe I forgot to post what it is. Found out in the Plant ID forum (I spread my question pretty thick :-)). I seriously thought I had come back here and posted. So sorry, cocoajuno.

Turns out it is a grevillea. Victoria Grevillea 'Murray Valley Queen', to be exact. Check out the following picture. Clearly mine is suffering a little. I think it likes the heat, just doesn't take to the pot very well. I thought I had killed the one Grevillea I had bought - LOL. Didn't remember that this was one, too.

Katye, I just meant that it wasn't a blossom in the conventional sense, but more of a catkin, such as a tree would generate. Funny, I was so sure that it was a willow until someone figured it out for me.

Here's a link with some neat pictures of different grevillea's in the PNW: http://www.angelfire.com/bc/eucalyptus/other_grevillea.html

Kathy

Yea! Mystery solved & we all get to find out about Grevilleas.
In last Sunday's paper there was an article by Valerie Easton regarding Dan Hinkley's "10 Indispensibles" - Grevillea victoriae was #1 on his list.
I knew what you meant about the flowers - they are atypical, or at least not what most are used to.
Did you bring it inside over the winter? If not, you must live in one of the banana belts of Woodinville - lucky you!
I am having second thoughts about the Drimys I planted in-ground: hope it makes it through the winter. I just don't have room to bring the tender ones inside.
Thanks for the link - I'll make sure to take a paper towel with me so I don't drool all over the keyboard...

PS - give Allegro a little ear & neck scratch from me - I hope he is feeling better tomorrow & that he heals up quickly. It's good to know he lives with someone who loves him so much!

You are sweet!! Allegro says thank you. And I thank you, too. He's a big guy, so crawling around on garage doors that move wasn't the best thing. I think he's used 2 of his 7 lives and he's only 2. LOL

Firevicar mentioned the list to me and I looked it up online. I did see that Grevillea was up there. I liked about 8 of his 10 suggestions. Probably would like all 10 if I could see them the way he used them.

I just don't think of catkins as flowers - maybe they are technically???? I just wanted to separate them from flowers like you see on a buddleia or on a "flowering" tree.

This is Allegro sleeping on the countertop last winter. We've moved away from that since these guys aren't kittens any more. But they do love the overhead light. Heh.

Kathy

Have a good night. Meet you soon . . .

Cats definately pick interesting places to sleep. I had one that would curl up in a very tiny bathroom sink (that's gotta hurt!), and a feral kitty that adopted us choosing a particular burner on the gas stove. I think it was the warmth from the pilot light, but maybe she knew something we didn't!

I have 1 female now (another rescue) and look forward to having my usual 3 or 4. We have a Rhodesian Ridgeback that insists on trying to convince us that all cats are Evil Intruders & should be dispensed with posthaste! The Lab follows the RR's lead & so, additional kitties will be a future situation.

As far as the catkins go, I had no clue until I looked at one under the microscope (acquired for homeschooling my son). Pretty cool. If I remember correctly, they are wind-pollinated.
More fun stuff - people that do not garden miss out.

Hard to bid farewell to summer this year, but a necessary passing of the seasons to aid the growth of all the new plants that now look young & gawky.
Time for diversions - like bulbs!

Beautiful tulips!! I assume they're yours? I haven't had the foresight to invest time in bulbs, but maybe with the inspiration from my new-found gardening friends, I'll get my act together and start planting. Of course, I'll have to compete with the moles. And, if I plant in the back yard where the dogs are, I'll have to compete with Magic, my pup who likes to bite the buds off beautiful things just before they pop. Didn't see a peony this year . . . luck for him that he's so cute and perfect in every other way. LOL

Interesting fact about the catkins. I guess I was out from school that day.

Dogs and cats are all friends here, which is kinda weird since all my dogs are sighthounds. Here's Gemini (polydactyl calico kitty with mild cerebellar hypoplasia) sharing the dog bed with Magic. She just won't leave him alone and he's perfectly happy to cuddle with her. Silly, really.

Fall is certainly on its way. Here's hoping that Mother Nature will take it easy on us this fall and winter.

I'm thinking about investing in garden planning software this winter to take the chill off. It would be cool to have a diagram of the yard to chart my progress. We'll see.

Kathy

Here's hoping that Mother Nature will take it easy on us this fall and winter.

I second that. I don't know if I could take the stress of another windstorm. Snow, that's okay.

Tulips: Queen of Sheba. These were in a container for years; I kept forgetting about them. I do bulbs in pots or in-ground. But I find it annoyingly necessary to put slug bait out. I worry about my animals.
On a positive note: the 2008 Farmer's Almanac is out, so I peeked at the "forecast" for the PNW winter. According to them, January will be our coldest month. Yes, with snow. Overall, a milder than normal winter. Well, except for January.

Yay!!!!! And the funny part is that everybody went out and upgraded their generators after last winter. It would be wild if they weren't needed at all this year.

Kathy

We bought ours after the windstorm last year along with lots of others. Even if this winter is mild I will still go out everyday and give it a kiss. Best purchase we've ever made.

Great image. I would have kissed it last year, for sure. There's nothing worse than going on your 8th day without power or warm water and leaving the house only to hear the hummmmmmm of everybody else's generators. All I could imagine was that they were showering and drinking coffee. LOL

My neighbors were great and made sure that I got a hot shower and a bowl of oatmela every once in awhile, so I shouldn't complain.

Someday I, too, will have a generator.

Kathy

I harassed dh the day of the windstorm to just get another as the original had died & gone to generator heaven. He begrudgingly went to Lowe's & got the very last one. Thank God it has an electric starter, so it was easy to use. The only problem was that there was no gas available on the Eastside.
So for those that reside on the Eastside - in the event that this happens again: go to Seattle for gas - most stations were open and had plenty. We knew people that waited for a couple hours to get gas. he drove over & back in 45 minutes.
Better yet - keep several containers & use a stabilizer. What we did not use for the gen went into the vehicles.

That is a really good idea Katye. We haunted Craigslist using wifi from a hotel in Kirkland ( no hotels on Carnation or Duvall) and found a generator in Renton I think. DH when running down and got one of the few. We had to fight for our room in the hotel as it was, the reservation site messed us up and we sat around for an hour or so. I have to say the people at the hotel did all they could to get us a room. Our five year old could not sleep at home in 32 degrees and no heat. We had to run extension cords from outside through the pet doors to the pellet stove and the TV and a lamp. That was it for a few days in terms of appliances, but it was good enough. Gas was not hard to get out here. Thank Goodness.