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A Visit to Lux Perennials

I've been wanting to visit Lux Perennials for years now and finally got a chance last week. In a word - Wow! The nursery is located at the owner's home, located west of Portland, up in the hills on Skyline Blvd. The property is breathtaking with fantastic views. A small nursery features perennials propagated from plants in the garden. There were also some plants from commercial sources, notably Proven Winners. I mainly was interested in the display garden but of course I did end up buying some plants. Of course! The nursery is located on the front side of the house and the garden is behind it. Taking the path leading back to the garden, the first thing I spotted was this stunning Monkey Puzzle Tree. Michael has wanted one of them for ages. I finally bought one last year and have it in a pot. I have no idea where such a thing would fit in our garden. Fact - the first time I ever heard of the Monkey Puzzle Tree was in one of my all-time favorite films (and one of the few films
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Black Tupelo - a spectacular tree for autumn color


This is my favorite tree at the moment. It wins the prize for the most colorful leaves. It is known by a string of different common names - 'Black Gum' (also spelled as 'Blackgum'), 'Black Tupelo', ' Sour Gum' and 'Pepperidge'. I like the name 'Black Tupelo' since we used to live close to Tupelo, Mississippi (birthplace of Elvis). The scientific name is Nyssa Sylvatica - Nyssa after the Greek water nymph and sylvatica is Latin meaning 'from the woods". It is a member of the dogwood family (Cornaceae).

The tree will probably get much larger than I'd like and I'm sure it will cast a lot of shade - not necessarily a bad thing. I did not know until recently that it is a major bird and insect attractant. The female tree produces purple/blue drupes that bees use for honey production and birds love to eat. 

The fall color is spectacular - a combination of bright orange, yellow and deep reds but it was one of the last trees to change color. It does hold them nicely and still has leaves at the moment despite some really strong winds. 

My video shows the tree is various stages over a three week period. The tree is 3 years old and was planted in September of 2018.


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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  1. chavlinessNovember 9, 2021 at 8:18 AM

    Once you explained the name's meaning, Water Nymph From The Woods, I was totally invested in memorizing the latin name Nyssa Sylvatica. The fall colors are wonderful and would get even more impressive the bigger the tree gets.

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  2. Kris PetersonNovember 9, 2021 at 9:11 AM

    Wow! It's spectacular.

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  3. Hoover BooNovember 9, 2021 at 4:41 PM

    A very beautiful tree. The autumn color is spectacular, but the growth habit is also lovely.

    Of course I had to go listen to Van Morrison 'Tupelo Honey'.

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