Outing to Annie's Annuals, April 2021

On Saturday, I finally made it to Annie's Annuals in Richmond. It was my first visit of the year. I'm not sure why I waited so long, considering that temperatures are warming up and the fall/winter/spring planting window is almost closed. But I'm happy to report that all my purchases except for one are already in the ground or in pots.

A friend of mine went to Annie's recently in the middle of the week and had to wait outside for a while before being allowed in. An employee stationed at the entrance keeps track of how many customers are inside the nursery at any given time to maintain social distancing requirements. Once capacity is reached, people need to wait outside until somebody leaves. I arrived at 10 a.m., and to my surprise I was able to walk straight in. However, by the time I left at 11:30, people were lining up at the entrance.

The display beds near the entrance were as beautiful as ever—like living pages of Annie's Annuals' printed catalog. Which they are, seeing how many photos in the catalog are taken right at the nursery. I noticed improved labeling of the plants in the display beds. In addition to the plant name, the tags now also indicate the nursery aisle where the plant can be found for purchase. A terrific idea!

Here are some photos I snapped as I was pushing my Radio Flyer wagon around. I linked the plant names to the corresponding page on the Annie's Annuals website so you can read more information if you like.

Euphorbia 'Blue Haze' and Aeonium 'Jack Catlin'

Aeonium 'Jack Catlin'

Arctotis 'Large Marge'

Arctotis 'Large Marge'

Ground morning glory (Convolvulus sabatius)

Ground morning glory (Convolvulus sabatius) and Dianthus 'Raspberry Swirl'

Sisyrinchium 'Devon Skies'

Agave 'Blue Glow', Yucca 'Magenta Magic', and Golden Guinea everlasting (Helichrysum argyrophyllum)

Agave 'Blue Glow' and Arctotis 'Fire'

Aloe tomentosa and Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'

See below for details

Echeveria elegans

Aloe striata

Unlabeled, but the Plant Snap app on my phone thinks it's Petrosedum sediforme

Dudleya brittonii

Dudleya brittonii and an unlabeled Lewisia (potentially Lewisia longipetala 'Little Plum')

Dudleya brittonii and an unlabeled Lewisia (potentially Lewisia longipetala 'Little Plum')

Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Strain'

Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco' and Lewisia longipetala 'Little Raspberry'

Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'

Echeveria runyonii 'Topsy Turvy'

Puya dyckioides, must be a new plant Annie's is trialing because it's not on the website yet

First time for me to see Puya dyckioides flowers!

Ferocious dinos scaring visitors in the spot where the famous Annie's cow used to hang out

One more dinosaur, this one a bit friendlier looking

Octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana) and fan aloe (Kumara plicatilis)

Octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana)

Octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana)

Sea lavender (Limonium perezii) and Greek poppy (Papaver sp.)

Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', sea lavender (Limonium perezii), and Greek poppy (Papaver sp.)

Puya alpestris, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', sea lavender (Limonium perezii)

Theeeeere is the cow! Glad to know it wasn't put out to pasture.

Towering flower spike from the Australian spear lily (Doryanthes palmeri)

Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Flow' with its signature flower spike

Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Glow' and Doryanthes palmeri in the background, Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' in the foreground

Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'

Another clump of Arctotis 'Large Marge' (I love that name!)

Red Pagoda crassula (Crassula capitella)

Crassula 'Campfire'

Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' and Arctotis 'Fire' (not on website yet). The "grass" is orange New Zealand sedge (Carex testacea).

Another flowering Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Glow'

Here are my purchases:

Six of these (three Lupinus albifrons and three Bukiniczia cabulica) are for a friend

Giving Yucca aloifolia 'Magenta Magic' a try. It's a dwarf version of Yucca 'Blue Boy' and supposedly less prone to flopping over as it matures.

Lewisia longipetala 'Little Raspberry' is another trial candidate. I haven't had much luck with lewisias (aka bitterroots), but I was told to give them excellent drainage and water only little in the summer. Unless most other species in the genus, Lewisia cotyledon typically does not go dormant in the summer.

Dudleyas planted in a community bowl. Left to right, start at the 9 o'clock position: Dudleya cymosa ssp. pumila 'Figueroa Mountain' (not on website yet), Dudleya traskiae, Dudleya cymosa 'Orange Form', Dudleya brittonii

List of my plants for future reference:

Drosanthemum micans

Dudleya brittonii 'Giant Chalk Dudleya'

Dudleya cymosa (orange form)

Dudleya cymosa pumila 'Figueroa Mountain'

Dudleya traskiae 'Santa Barbara Liveforever'

Lewisia longipetala 'Little Raspberry'

Limonium perezii

Lotus crassifolius var. otayensis 'Otay Mountain Lotus'

Pseudonoseris glandulosa 'Andean Aster'

Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'

Yucca aloifolia 'Magenta Magic'

With warmer temperatures nipping at our heels, it's time to prepare for the long dry summer ahead—and start making plant lists for the fall.

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