Annie's Awesome Newsletter Archive

It's time to plant our favorite shady ladies!

Hardy Hellebores ain't afraid ...
of DEER, CLAY or SHADE!

Tough, tenacious and hardy down to USDA zone 5, Hellebores are luminescent ladies of the shade, whose nodding beautiful blooms light up the Winter and early Spring garden like no other lover! And now is the PERFECT time to plant them!

Evergreen here by the Bay (and in all temperate climes), these long-lived and reliable garden compadres won't up and die on you after a couple of years. Perhaps best of all, they're DEER, DROUGHT and CLAY resistant. Happy in shade – even dry shade – most garden pests don't bug 'em (just be sure to bait for snails when young).

Dreamy, dramatic and delicious, we're over the moon to offer large crops of our favorite hard-to-find Peruvian Lilies – finally! Gloriously large flowered and TALL (to 3-4'), long strong stems make them one of the most iconic cut flowers you can grow, lasting a couple of weeks in a vase. Easy and carefree in almost any soil – although you'll get a crazy EXPLOSION of bloom in rich soil with regular water and adequate drainage – they'll spread to a 3-4' wide colony over time (or grow them in a large container if you don't have room for them to spread out). Long-blooming late Spring to Fall, they're heat tolerant, long-lived, disease and deer resistant and hardy to USDA zone 8.

Annie Shows You How - Sat, Sept. 29 at 11 am!

Want to know what we do here at the nursery to get our gardens in tip-top shape for maximum magic? Want to know what to plant right now? How about a preview of some of the neatest plants we've grown this year? Be here and behold - Annie will share all this and more at our FABULOUS FALL PLANTING PARTY!

It's our favorite time of year to plant AND a great time to start planning your Spring garden! We've got a huge selection of CA native wildflowers, drought tolerant perennials, hardy annuals, Winter veggies, plant-now-for-Spring-bloomers, succulents, Winter bloomers and more!

As always, we'll be celebrating with music, dancing, free snackies, gardens in Fall bloom, talks, and of course, our ever-popular SUPERMARKET SWEEP where two lucky people will win 15-MINUTES OF FREE SHOPPING each day! Bring the kids for amazing FREE face painting with Budderball The Clown and giant bubbles and stilt walking with Giant Puppets Save The World! Wheeee!

Let's welcome back our favorite fluttering fauna as they return to their overwintering sites along the California coast!

Join us for a fun and info-packed celebration of all things Monarch at this day-long event featuring experts, educators and enthusiasts imparting a wealth of important information for the home gardener and butterfly lover!

Learn how to plant a garden that welcomes Monarchs (best plants, best practices), where to see Monarchs overwintering in the Bay Area, learn about Monarch biology and natural history and more! Panel presenters will discuss critical issues facing Monarchs today, providing gardeners with the latest information and ample time for questions and concerns.

Learn how to make a statement with beautiful, useful palms with Jason Dewees, Sat., September 1 at 11 am!

Join us for a fascinating and fun exploration of all things palm and how to use them in Bay Area gardens with Jason Dewees, horticulturist and palm expert at SF’s Flora Grubb Gardens on Saturday, September 1 at 11 am!

We can grow some of the coolest palms in the world right here in the Bay Area, and many are easy from seed! Jason’s enthusiasm and knowledge of palms will open your eyes to their beauty, diversity and versatility in different garden styles.

Small garden solutions with Author Susan Morrison on Saturday August 18 at 11 am!

Attention, space-challenged gardeners!

Have a small backyard, front yard or side yard just begging for a makeover? Landscape designer Susan Morrison, author of The Less is More Garden: Big Ideas for Designing Your Small Yard, joins us at the nursery on Saturday, August 18 at 11 am to show you how to turn a modest yard into a lush, inviting haven!

Susan will share strategies for small-space designs that incorporate some of her favorite high-performing, problem-solving Annie's plants, including the best narrow space, double duty, kid-friendly and low-water options.

Bring brilliancy to even the darkest garden!

There's no better place to escape the Summer heat than a lush, shady garden! However, it's easy to get carried away planting ubiquitous big-leafed beauties like hostas and ferns. Hey, we get it! They create such a rich, sultry, tropical feel and they're totes easy to find in any garden center. But if all you're planting are big green plants you're in for a monotonous view! So here are a few plants to bring some much-needed color and life to your shady snatch!

Lift it up with a mid-Summer planting – Annie tells you how on Saturday, August 4 at 11 am!

Here it comes folks, our prettiest, sunniest time of the year!

The kind of weather that makes you want to hang out and enjoy your lovely backyard ... oops ... did I say something wrong? Your backyard is not so lovely right now? Hey – don't dismay! It's totally EASY to get ready for a glorious Summer/Fall bloomiferous happening – just when our weather is its most congenial – from now till mid-October!

Join Annie on Saturday, August 4 at 11 am and find out how to go from zero to nifty with simple, fast preparation for Fall. Find out her favorite and best plants to put in right now PLUS, as always, she'll sneak in some very awesome, rarely available plants in the nursery now that you should totally know about. Don't miss it!

Bees and butterflies need nectar! Plant Winter bloomers NOW with Tora Rocha on Saturday, July 21 at 11 am!

Winter is Coming!

While gardeners sometimes consider Winter a period of rest in the garden, that's definitely not the case for hungry pollinators. Bees, butterflies (especially Monarchs!), other pollinators and beneficial insects need sustenance more than ever and NOW is the time to plant nectar-rich Winter bloomers!

Join Tora Rocha, tireless pollinator advocate and founder of Oakland's Pollinator Posse on Saturday, July 21 at 11 am for an enlightening discussion, Winter gardening best practices (hint: how to protect important habitat for burrowing insects by NOT cutting back grasses, etc.) and her favorite tried-and-true Winter nectar wonders. Timing is everything, and Tora will cover how to plant a succession of blooms to sync with the first winged arrivals! Don't miss it!