Annie's Awesome Newsletter Archive

Tried-and-true combos that'll work harder than you do!

One of the #1 things people ask for when they come into the nursery is help choosing pretty plant combinations. They see our demo gardens all a'bloom and want to know how they can make that same magic happen in their home gardens. Well, the secret is pretty simple – choose compatible plants that grow and bloom at the same time! You can totally do it and we're here to help!

Our 2020 plant trials are complete! We've measured the new recruits and the few that did survive the gauntlet of our expectations are starting to roll out! Here are just a handful of the beauties that blew us away in 2020 – with more to come! Grab them while you can, some are limited or only available once a year!

Cottage garden ICONS for a reason!

Name an iconic cottage garden classic that gets your gardener's heart pumping ... we'll go first. Old-fashioned and hardy "Foxgloves" are essential for any sun to part-shady garden needing color, height and movement (and that's like, everyone, right?).

Rising up from lush basal rosettes, cascading multitudes of finger-shaped (hence the Latin name Digitalis) blooms stud tall, sturdy spires to 30". What a sight! When they start blooming in our sample pots and demo gardens in Spring everyone wants one – but, here's the secret: you gotta plant them early if you want to enjoy flowers this year!

Spring inspiration starts NOW with our Spring Slideshow!
We're OPEN President's Day Mon. Feb. 15!

Greetings garden friends! The days we Western gardeners look forward to all year-long are upon us! Longer days, Spring showers (yay!!) and the the first sweet sounds of birdsong can only mean one thing ... SPRING is near!!

Let's give a shout out to California! Anything that brings joy these days is a good thing, and few floral displays are as pure as our state flower in bloom. Whether they're dotting the hillsides from afar, popping up on trails or even growing in highway medians, California poppies are here to bring cheer and NOW is a great time to plant them for Spring and Summer bloom.

There's still time to plant these giants for Spring bloom!

Here at the nursery, we're madly planting mighty and magnificent Delphiniums in our gardens and half barrel containers for April and May bloom – and you can, too!

We're long-time devotees of these hardy and hunky heartthrobs for their celestial and enlivening color, their bodacious cut flowers and their endurance in the garden. Some modern hybrids (which shall remain nameless) are short-lived and weak in mild climates – not these!

Your Fruit Tree Questions Answered - Virtually!

Tap-tap ... is this thing on? Comin' atcha with our first Zoom. Talk. Ever! We're excited to welcome back our dedicated and beloved FRUIT TREE GENIUS Phil Pursel of Dave Wilson Nursery on January 30 at 11 am via a virtual Zoom session.

And the nursery is OPEN Monday, Jan. 18!

No matter what size garden you have, there's room for at least one fruit tree! And January is the perfect time for us Bay Area gardeners to plant them. We're fully stocked with a huge order from Dave Wilson Nursery and this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous for cleaning up the garden and getting ready for Spring!

We're planting our favorite old-fashioned FRAGRANT

Sweet Peas right now - and you should, too!

Everyone knows old-fashioned
Sweet Peas, right?

One of the first flowers we learn about and love, their sweet fragrance reminds so many of us of childhood afternoons spent in grandma's garden. But did you know NOW is the BEST time to plant these beloved hardy annuals in temperate climates like ours?

The hour of Poppy planting is nigh!

Coming 'atcha in almost any color you can imagine, our Giant Poppies are the superstars of the Spring garden. And NOW, temperate garden friends, is the time to plant them for maximum Spring bountitude (our patient cold-weather garden brethren should wait to plant until the ground can be worked come Spring).