Annie's Annuals Labor Day visit (and sale)

Annie's Annuals in Richmond, CA is having a big Labor Day sale: 20% all plants, both in the nursery and online. If you can't make it to the nursery, you still have until midnight Pacific Time tonight (September 3) to place an order on their web site.

I made the 1-hour drive to Richmond on Saturday morning, armed with my wish list and camera. As an Annie's follower on Facebook and Instagram, I knew that their display beds were bursting with color. Unfortunately, the battery pack in my camera gave out early—I'd grabbed the one that doesn't hold much of a charge anymore—but I still got a few dozen good photos so you can get an idea of how picture-perfect the plantings are right now.

Always a sight for sore eyes

Yes, this place got attitude—the right kind

Lilium 'Miss Feya'

Alstroemeria 'Tricolor'

Senecio candicans 'Angel Wings' looking great in Richmond's mild coastal climate

Dudleya brittonii, Lavandula 'Silver Anouk', and Salvia 'Ignition Purple'

Dudleya brittonii, Lavandula 'Silver Anouk', and Salvia 'Ignition Purple'

Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Dudleya hassei, Salvia 'Ignition Purple'

Brachychiton discolor

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Xanthos'

Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'

Phygelius capensis 'Magenta' (left), ×Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' (right)

Echeveria elegans and Scleranthus biflorus (Australian Astroturf)

  

Digiplexus 'Illumination Flame' 

Agastache 'Black Adder' (back)

Geranium 'Rozanne'

Eucomis autumnalis

Mask flower (Alonsoa meridionalis)

Agave polyacantha

Agave polyacantha and Eriogonum nudum 'Ella Nelson's Yellow' 

Agave vilmoriniana

  

Aloe africana

Serpentine columbine (Aquilegia eximia)

Puya alpestris (back), ×Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' (front)

Agave ovatifolia and Tanacetum haradjanii

On my way to the Succulents section...

Always the first section I check out

I wish I could grow sempervivums. They hate our summer heat.

Who can resist a sign that says "Rarities!"

Looking towards the Gift Shop/Checkout trailer

Knautia macedonica, a recent addition to my garden from Digging Dog Nursery (I didn't know Annie's had it, too)

I agree with the sign, definitely one of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen. I had no idea it grows in the Bay Area. It needs a ton of water and can't take any frost. Check out this photo I took on Maui in 2013.

Abutilon 'David's Red', a cultivar growing in the garden of Bay Area garden designer David Feix for the last 20 years, now available exclusively at Annie's. Check out the massive flowers!

This is why I've been trying repeatedly to grow Lupinus albifrons! I just lost another one. Our summer heat is a killer.

I was very excited to spot this compact version of Salvia apiana. I love ours (the regular form), but it's too tall for its space. I could have sworn I put one in my cart, but it wasn't there when I unloaded my plants so I must have left it at the nursery. Next time!

Family jewels tree (Asclepias physocarpa)

Bye, Annie's! See you in the fall. (The plant on the right is Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia.)

And here's my haul. I bought more than I had expected. But that's hardly a surprise, considering there are temptations wherever you look. Annie's signage may be heavy on the superlatives and exclamation marks, but it works like a charm on me!

List of purchases for future reference:

Abutilon ‘David’s Red’	David’s Red flowering maple
Agave havardiana	Havard’s agave
Aquilegia chrysantha ‘Flore Pleno’	Flore Pleno golden columbine
Arthropodium cirratum	Renga lily
Blechnum spicant	Deer fern
Clematis ligusticifolia	Western white clematis
Dicliptera suberecta	Uruguayan fire cracker plant
Dudleya farinosa	Powdery liveforever
Dyckia ‘Brittle Star’	Brittle Star dyckia
Geranium ‘Rozanne’	Geranium Rozanne
Helichrysum splendidum	Cape gold
Ipomopsis rubra	Skyrocket
Lippia repens (syn. Phyla nodiflora)	Lippia
Lupinus sericatus	Cobb Mountain lupine
Plectranthus barbatus var. grandis ‘White Rhino’
Salvia reptans ‘Giant West Texas Form’	West Texas grass sage
Solanum umbelliferum ‘Mount Diablo’	Mount Diablo bluewitch
Sonchus palmensis	La Palma sow-thistle
Tanacetum haradjani	Silver tansy
Yucca harrimaniae	Harriman’s yucca

Agave havardiana and Yucca harrimaniae are hardy to zone 7 (maybe lower); I'll plant them in my mother-in-law's garden in the mountains of far Northern California. I've started to experiment there with cold-hardy succulents.

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