SEATTLE — "Okay, anybody that knows me knows that I love rare plants," said Seattle gardening expert Ciscoe Morris. "My goal in life is to have every one of the plants on Earth in my garden at the same time and I am three plants away right now!"
"So, I am so excited because when I walked into my local nursery I found this rare, exquisite plant," said Ciscoe, showing off a ferny looking plant with pink blossoms. "This is Grevillea Pink Pearl — you see that great flower? It's pretty beautiful. I tell you who else loves this. Hummingbirds are nuts for this plant. And this has got buds all over, it is going to bloom all summer long!"
"It needs a really hot, baking spot," said Ciscoe, putting it in a part of his garden that will receive full sun come summer. And, for once, he is not working organic fertilizer into the soil before he plants his Grevillea. "Not with this guy, this is in a family life plants called protea. And these plants hate fertilizer, they come from an area in a world where there's very little nutrition. So if you add more nutrition, it will overwhelm the plant and kill it."
"By the way, this plant is very drought resistant," Ciscoe added. "I'll hardly have to water at all once it establishes good roots."
But Ciscoe did water it in after planting, as he does with all new additions to his garden.
"That'll just make sure there are no air pockets around the roots and give it a really nice drink of water to get it off to a good start."
Ciscoe's Grevillea Pink Pearl will become a 4 foot tall by 6 foot wide shrub in no time, and he can't wait to see all the hummingbirds it attracts. Also, now he's just got two more to go until he has every plant on earth, according to his count.
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.