Big sale at Morningsun Herb Farm, Vacaville, CA

Morningsun Herb Farm is a small family-owned nursery located just outside of Vacaville, CA, about 25 minutes from my house. While they do sell a wide variety of herbs, their main focus is on perennials, all grown right there in their own greenhouses. When I buy plants from Morningsun, I know they are used to our climate and need no acclimatizing. That’s not the case for plants from Bay Area nurseries; they’re used to a much milder climate and often go into shock upon arrival.

Look for these signs when you visit the nursery

Many perennials in our garden, especially in the front yard, came from Morningsun and have done phenomenally well. While most of the plants Morningsun sells are in 4-inch containers, they quickly take off after you put them in the ground so I don’t mind starting out with somewhat smaller plants. (They’re cheaper, too.)

Narrowleaf California fuchsia (Epilobium canum)

Right now, Morningsun is having a giant fall plant sale: Until October 14th, all plants are 35% off. And if you spend $200 or more, the discount is 50%. I went yesterday with a friend, and my initial concern that their stock was low and there was little left was completely unfounded. The nursery is fully stocked.

The sale area is on the left past the greenhouses

Since I’d never done a post about Morningsun before, I took my camera along so you can get a better impression of what the nursery is like. It’s not one of those fancy design-oriented places; it’s small, clean and totally unpretentious.

While they don’t carry a lot of succulents,
there must be enough demand to offer these classes

Sales desk

Haitian metal art; we have two pieces in our back yard

All the plants on the tables on the right and on the left are lavenders. Morningsun has a huge selection of lavenders; I got two white-blooming ones (‘Edelweiss’ and ‘Coconut Ice’)

More plant tables

Here are some of the plants that caught my eye:

West Texas sage (Salvia reptans)

Euphorbia × martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’

Variegated Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha ‘Variegata’)

Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’, one of my favorite salvias

Agave americana in one of the display gardens

Brugmansia ‘Miner’s Claim’. I had one of these before but it died. But the variegation is so beautiful that I bought another one.

Datura metel ‘Ballerina’, a double-flowered variety. I couldn’t resist. Check out this photo and you can see why.

My friend and I pooled our plants so we would hit the $200 mark and get the 50% discount. Our net was $2.26 per 4-inch plant. That’s what I call a bargain!

Our haul from Morningsun

My plant purchases. Fortunately, our heat wave is about over so Saturday will be a big planting day.

Morningsun Herb Farm is located at 6137 Pleasants Valley Road in Vacaville. Click here for directions and hours.

They also ship plants but their mail order prices are higher than in the nursery.