Northern Cal-Annie's Annuals

I am looking for anyone who has done business with Annie's, in Richmond (Bay Area). They have some plants I want, but, never have in stock for mail order. I have called them, begged them for their seeds sources, offered them extra cash to help me out, without any success. The answer is always the same: Put it on your wish list, we will email you. One time I called them asked if they had a Gladiolus dalenii, they said yes, they would set one aside if I would come in and pick it up. I told the young lady that I wanted it for mail order. She told me it wasn't good enough for a mail order(if it is not good enough then why are they selling it?). I told her I did not care as long as it was alive. I was told that it wasn't possible to send it mail order because....it wasn't good enough. They have several plants that I know they stock in retail but are too 'busy' for mail order.

The plants I really want are Sesbania, yellow and white. They set seed like crazy and was hoping that someone might have one or both of them in their garden. I would love to trade for some of those seeds. I have other plants that I would love to get my hands on from Annie's, and would be willing to compensate/trade anyone who might be inclined to help me. Any takers?

I just love Annie's Annuals. If I lived closer, I would be there all the time. I've only made it once this year. I'll let you know if I'm back there again. It's about a 1.5 hour drive for me, so I have to have a large block of time to devote to the trip.

They do sometimes sell plants on-site that are still very small. The prices at their on-site nursery are quite reasonable, so people are often willing to buy things that have only recently been propagated. I can imagine what would happen, though, if they sent those same plants by mail. If you spent more than the on-site price and paid the shipping costs, then received a smallish plant, you would probably be quite unhappy. Also, a plant of immature size might not even make it through the mail. They are probably just protecting their reputation by refusing to sell mail-order plants that wouldn't meet most people's expectations. At least with the on-site plants, you get a chance to see what you are buying.

I would love to see a lily storm. Heck I would love to see a coleus storm...etc.

When I lived in SF I used to go on a shopping tour of the east bay. I would go up to Strawberry Canyon tour the bot garden and see what was in the plant shop, then down to Berkeley Hort, then E.Bay, then Magic Gardens, then HD over by 580 and back across the bridge. A great way to spend the afternoon.

As to Annie's I am their source for Dioscorea batatas tubers, Chinese Yam. I was hoping I could just trade my tubers for some of their time and help in getting plants, I was willing to pay full price and willing to accept inferior plants/risk of loss etc. A badly grown rare plant is better than no plant at all. I found them to be very nice and very corporate.

I am sending them a new set of packaging for their mailorder dept. The way they send plants by, mail, is very cumbersome (50's style). It uses too much material and was time consuming to put together. I get plants from Europe that are packed and shipped with speed and a minimum of packing materials.

I would be very grateful if you could include me and my wish list on your next trip. And of course I would be in you debt. If you need any kind of tropical let me know. We do have some plants here that would be rare in your neck of the woods.

This tree is hardy and would do well in the south bay...

I get up there occasionally too...used to live much closer and was there all the time, but now I'm a little farther away and have a much bigger mortgage so not much money for plants anymore and it's a half hour drive at least rather than 15 minutes. But if I do get up there I'll let you know, or if one of the plants you really, really want becomes available you could probably talk me into making a trip (it's only ~30-40 min from here if I go in the morning before traffic gets bad, and on my way back I can go past Berkeley Hort and some of my other fav's!). Can't guarantee my plant packing skills since I've never done it, but if you give me good directions I'm happy to try! And come fall I know I'll be up there a bunch, planning to spend this year's bonus on landscaping for my new house so I'm sure I'll be making several trips up there at least.

I'd love to see your list of tropicals. I wish I had room for another tree, but I have several mature oak trees, so my yard is just about treed-out! I love all kinds of rare plants though.

I'm sincerely hoping to make it to Annie's Annuals again this year, so I'll let you know in advance before I go.

Hi, I'm not to far from Annies. I go by there once in a while. The problem I would have is packing and shipping. I have never done that before. But I could give it a try. Its very hot here right now in the 100s and I also don't know if shipping in this heat is ok.. I live in Concord and I work in the Berkeley/Albany area so I go by there all the time. Last time I was there the plants were tiny. This year has been hard because everything got a late start because of our weather here.
Linda

I didn't expect such a nice response, my thanks to all.

If you need I can send all of you a sample packing materials for the plants. I have saved many and found one type that is easy and simple to use. All you would need is a cardboard box to ship them in. Once you see the "holder" for the plant you will never ship any other way. I have even made them myself with cardboard and tape. And there is no patent on the method. Just Dmail me your address, the cost of sending you one is under a dollar.

My wish list is: Salvia aleriensis S. candelabrum S. lavandulifolia S. merjamie also Digitalis obscura, Sesbania (white or yellow or both?)

They have so many plants that are exotic, but, the ones from Spain are the ones that have done well for me (the ones I could get). Plants from the Canary Islands also do well in the heat. I am still going through their website catalog, they have hundreds of plants, what a job.

The following photo was taken by someone at Filoli, a place I used to love to stroll...

Lilystorm, here are some photos of some of the plants I grow in the backyard...

another of a climbing fern, some deep purple tradescantia and impatien that reseed themselves. I am Jewish so we don't call it wandering jew, after all look at the English, they wander much more than we ever have :-}

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 6:04 AM

one more if I can find one...

Last one, this is the weekend house in Napa of one of my SF clients, they used to pay me to drive up there and take care of the place.

Great pics! Love the orchids especially!

You may be out of luck on the S. algeriensis, their website says not in production, rather than the usual add to wishlist option. For the rest, I got a red Sesbania there last year, I think in the late summer, and I think their salvia collection also increases later in the summer, so hopefully one of us can track some of these down for you later this year! I have found though that some of their plants are very rarely available, I figured each year they would have certain things at the same times but it hasn't worked out that way, some things I got a couple years ago have never reappeared and there's some stuff that's been on my wishlist for almost that long but hasn't put in an appearance yet. The S. candelabrum I saw there fairly frequently last year and bought a couple on a couple different occasions, so I think that one's just a matter of waiting (sorry, can't offer you any cuttings...they all got left behind at the house I just sold). The rest (except for maybe the Digitalis which I don't collect), I don't recall seeing since I've been going there.

Once I'm a little closer to being ready to make a trip up there (probably August sometime) I'll send you my address and you can send me the sample packing material so I know what to do in case I find anything. Also, do you just want one of each or multiples?

I go quite often, in fact last time I went I did a big shopping list for seedpicker in TX. I just got a few more items updated from my wish list and as much as I don't really need more plants, I may have to go this week for a couple that I have been waiting for. I prefer going during the week. If you like, I can check on your list. Sometimes some will be available there but not enough to list online. By the way, the yellow Sesbania has been on my wish list for a while.
I would be very interested in your packing method too, I was overwhelmed and a nervous wreak sending the plants to seedpicker as I had only previously sent daylilies, which are the easiest.

This message was edited Jun 27, 2006 8:22 PM

Can you post a pic of your packing material? I would love to see a good way to send plants. I am a disaster at it.

Dale,
Will keep your list in mind when visiting Annies ( just a 20 minute ride from my humble abode ) and or next time I bump into Betsy Clebsch, author of "The Book of Salvias" . She hasn't been to the last few Cal Hort meetings , which is where we usually see each other to catch up on news.
I'm familiar with Filoli ( was a gardener there and while working there lived with Betsy Clebsch ) and that particular photo I believe looks like a Saxon Holt pix.

The orange blooming Sesbania is pretty common in my hood and should be popping out its seeds in another 2 months or so.
Interested in orange ?

Would like to see a photo of your packing system.

hiya dale,

I'm a huge fan of Annie's and couldn't give a bigger agreement with Calif_Sue or anyone who does business with them. Pam and I got our first chance to visit the nursery in person last month, but until that fabulous visit we were frequent mail order customers and will continue such behavior, even though it may eventually cause me to refinance my barns or rent out the house and go live in the barns....lol.

I grow the white Sesbania here and have seedlings but just started with Clianthus from Annie's this season and am hopeful that our heat doesn't do them harm. And as a fairly serious collector of the genus Salvia (And a huge fan of Betsy Clebsch) and a fellow Heeb (boy that's a lot of ands), I also recommend her Salvias. I got my white Sesbania (grandiflora) from Top Tropicals in your neck of the woods in Florida.

huge hugs kell, Calif_Sue, and to all who refer to Tradescantia as Aimless Goy...lol.

best,
don

I just remembered I have an image of the Filoli bed.

I hadn't realized Filoli was salvia heaven!! Hi Dr. Don, the Salvia King, you are so naughty! Did you know you have me looking at salvia now, which by the way are for meandering gardens not for a stand and stare one like mine.

I have so many pics of Filoli! I urge everyone to go for a visit. My favorite time to visit is when the wisteria are in bloom, but any time is a treat!

Kell,
When I was at Filoli ( about 20 years ago ) it was just starting to get on the planting band wagon for Salvias
Mostly it was all due to Betsy Clebsch who lives several miles away.
As she built up her own collection she shared very generously with Filoli and other nurseries in the area .
It is amazing at how many Salvias we see here in the California nursery trade that actually came from the plant collecting trips that Betsy took and the many many many hours that she has spent corresponding with other Salvia / plant collectors across the world to collect, plant, observe , nurture , share and write about.

She is the patron saint of Salvias and makes a killer Apple Cobbler.

kell!

huge hug.

just came in to post directions to the roundup here at the ranch. Boy am I long-winded...lol.

Pam and I had the luxury of having kell take us to Filoli on our recent trip north and it was truly a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable experience made all the better by kell's familiarity and enthusiasm for this wonderful place. We were very fortunate indeed.

kell, I'm so glad you are scoping out Sages now as they really are great plants. I can only wish that some day I could meet Betsy Clebsch to shake her hand and thank her for the time she's taken with this genus for all of our benefit. What a great honor it must be deviant deziner to know her personally. She got me hooked on them, that's for sure. And with kell's help this last trip north netted me six new species for our collection that has now climbed to over 70! And you are right kell, they are for walking around and some of them get so big that walking around them seems more like taking laps...lol.

best,
don

A very rare occasion....pic of S. divinorum blooming last winter in my greenhouse.

Don,
I bet that if you dropped Betsy a letter and was up in her neck of the woods , she would invite you to her wonderful garden.

Back when I was a horticultural intern at Filoli I would put in a long hard working non stop 8 hour day in the garden.
It was nice to learn and work at Filoli but it was even nicer to finally get off work and go home to Betsy's.

She almost always had some kind of home made baked dinner or desert treat waiting for me as I dragged my tired arse up the steps and fell onto my bed for a quick little recharge nap before I went back out and helped her with a few little chores in her garden.

She is the only person I know who has their own herbarium and she used to let me go downstairs and study in it whenever I wanted.

Betsy has given many a young and old horticulturist a great education and a few of us have benefitted from her personal generosity by being given a beautiful room in her house to live.
After I left her home to go out on my own , she took in one of my best friends who was a horticulturist at the Fleishacker estate.
He lived with her for several years and when he went out on his own she took in another horticulturist from the area.
She offered us a warm bed, privacy, great conservation, wonderful homemade culinary treats , a great education and an enduring friendship.
Not only is she the patron saint of Salvias but also a savior for several young aspiring horticulturists who needed an affordable place to live in an area that is astronomically expensive to live on a gardeners wage.

Here is the packaging system:

1st step the tools and materials

The box is the crust of the biscuit:

Lightbulbs are packed this way sometimes.
exploded view

the goal

Wrap it up in plastic and twist tie the soil ball to conserve moisture.

Insert in 'box' and push tabs to secure rootball.

I always tape each plant box to the inside of the larger shipping box to keep the plant from moving around and to minimize that amount of packing materials. Good luck.

And I do love Annie's, just wish I could go myself. Of course I wish I still lived on Potrero Hill. But time marches on and so do I.

DD, Thanks for the offer, but the orange one grows wild here. State has it as a weed. I like it, the wild life loves it so what's the problem? It doesn't spread far and wide, like the English do :-}.

Dr Don,

Temecula? Do they even have a grocery store up there? Where's the nearest Safeway - Bakersfield?
Salvia are an under used plant here. And I can say without fear that too many plants are under used here. We have the top 100 plants from the wholesalers and all 100 wholesalers have the same 100 plants for the same price. I miss the diversity of the CA plant industry. You have to get all the good stuff from 'collectors'. Every landscape in this town, done by a professional has at least one Ligustrum and a bed of Asiatic jasmine.
Top Tropicals has been hit by 2 big hurricanes and some minor storms too. Things are not going well for them and they don't have there 'normal' selection. Miami area has a great plant industry, too bad it is 6 hours away from home or I would go more than once a year.

Sue,

The last time I was at Filoli that bed had just been planted. I remember my 1st visit to Filoli. Was it 68 or 69. The gardens were in a state of disrepair or despair. Things have changed there and that is one nice photo. I used to work over the hill at the College of Notre Dame and I was always trying to get my boss up there so we could make the campus a little more cheerful. At the college turf ruled.

Kell,

You are right about the Wisteria display, walking up from the parking area to the front on the right day is brilliant. It is one of the best and their use of spring bulbs was great. Although if you drive around Berkeley they have some neighborhoods that put on quite a show too. A big part of the credit has to go to Berkeley Hort. Nursery. They have been carrying all the cultivars for decades and it really shows.

It is after 9 here and time to get ready for another day. I am spreading washed shell on a driveway tomorrow. I think I will pop a couple wheelies in the Bobcat just to keep the day interesting.
Dale, the Gardener

When was that picture taken, Dale, the Gardener? LOL. They are still doing that combo there. And it is so much fun to look at.

This last spring they had the best tulip pots I have ever seen. I was truly in ecstasy there. I will never forget the colors. When I went back a few weeks later with Dr. Don, they had those same pots filled with violas. Not quite the same impact or thrill. LOL.

How do you spell HEAVEN??

My photo was Bois du Bologne, Paris, 1992. I had the best time in Paris touring all the public places. I had the time of my life. Here is one from this spring, here in Tampa.

This message was edited Jun 29, 2006 6:21 PM

I was meant to live in that house in PINK fantasy land! LOL

Went to Annie's today, and while they had lots of varieties of salvia available, none were the ones on your list Dale.

Kell,

That Tabebia impentiginosa put on its best show ever this year, even the him a canes didn't damage it.

Calif Sue,

Thanks for you efforts, I really am grateful when people are thoughful. Is there any that I can pick up for you next time I am down at PHOE? It is time for me to get down Miami way, just so I can get out of town for a couple of days. Stay on Hollywood Beach, go plant shopping, ahhhh..

The him a canes? LOL Dale! Well she is a beaut! As is your cool and refreshing garden there.

OK Sue fess up. What did you get this trip to Annies?

Ok, I picked up these from my wish list, you'll have to look them up if these links don't work:

Ageratum houstonium 'Blue'
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=20&account=none


Coleus lanuginosa
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=1845&account=none


Combretum fruticosum "Orange Flame Vine"
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=2139&account=none

Dahlia imperialis ‘Double White’ “White Tree Dahlia”
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=2129&account=none

Leonotis menthifolia (they used Happenstance's photos!)
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=2411&account=none

Melianthus villosus "Honey Bush"
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=1233&account=none

Thunbergia alata 'Spanish Eyes'
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=2111&account=none

and then a few things from Longs in Oakland, a coulple of euphorbias, lots of coleus, a variegated plecanthrus forsteri and a few other thins.


This message was edited Jun 30, 2006 7:27 AM

Hi Calif Sue

I live in San Jose too near alum rock hills. I am going to Annies Saturday.Are they close to the Cal Berkley Campus? Just came from visitng our rose garden on Park Ave Myhusband helped plant a lot of them years ago.I love their yellow roses.
Angela

So where oh where will you fit all this? Some are going to grow BIG!!

Of course I just bought a Summer Chocolate tree and plan to stunt it in a container forever. LOL. I just couldn't resist its color.

Hi Angela, you are about 5 min. from me, near my Mom's!
Annie's is in Richmond, not in Berkeley. I always go the Berkely Botanical gardens and East Bay nursery just down from them (a must) after going to Annie's.

Have you visited the Heritage Rose Garden too? http://www.heritageroses.us/