Blue blue blue...

We have a bunch of new plants slated to arrive on Friday, including these lovely blue treasures pictured below!

Adding shades of  blue to your garden is a great way to bring in some unusual color and add accents and variety. We just LOVE these plants...

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

These photos make us just want to run out and plant a blue and white garden! Or maybe a blue and orange garden?????

All of these plants (and more!) will be available in 4" containers and priced from $3 to $6, depending on the plant. Come visit us this weekend and take some home!

More garden 'upcycling' ideas!

Some more great ideas to add some funky charm to your garden...

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New plants coming in this Friday - we'll have more updates soon. Happy gardening!

Rainy day gardening

We've been rained out of our gardens the last few days here in Southern California. That said, rain of course, is in fact a very very good thing for us all, a nice change, and the best water your garden can get!

But, if you are itching to get your hands in some dirt, check out this cool idea for an indoor herb garden....

Source: lilsugar.com via Brande on Pinterest

Some fun 'upcyling' ideas for your garden!

Check out some great recycling, or really, 'upcycling' ideas for your garden, courtesy of the wild world of Pinterest!

All are very easy to do, and cheap - materials could be easily found at your local antique shop or flea market. Fun stuff! Have at it, gardeners!

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LOVE this idea for succulents on the wall - great for a porch!

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Seal the chairs with a good wood deck type of sealant and you'll be good to go for some time. Keep your eye out for curb side chairs and other furniture for projects like this!

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What a cool idea! Succulents don't need that much drainage if you don't over water - and with a container this small, you could easily just 'tip out' excess water. Depending on the ladle type, you could also probably drill or even nail some holes in the bottom, then line with a thin layer of gravel. Super cute - I love this!

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What a great solution to the constant 'garden hose' issue! And good use of materials lots of people have!

More plants just for you!

A few more new plants to our garden:

Zaluzianskya capensis "Night Phlox" AKA "Midnight Candy"

I'm a little obsessed with this plant. It's growing in an old bucket right next to my front door; I LOVE it when it blooms in the evening! The smell and color are both so intoxicating! It's really one of my most favorite of favorite plants right now!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

We have it in "Midnight Candy" in 4" containers right now, for about $4.50.

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Mollie Rilestone’

Everyone needs some sweet peas in their life! This is a new one for us, and we just love the old fashioned look of it - and the cute name!

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All of our sweet peas are in 4" containers are priced between $3 and $4.

 

Have a great Monday - and happy MLK day!

Happy Sunday!

Some words of wisdom on this lovely, sunny, Sunday morning. Enjoy your day, gardeners!

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More of our awesome new plants for this week!

A few more of the goodies that arrived just yesterday:

Pelargonium ‘Veronica Contreras’

This isn't your generic geranium! Check out the blooms on this plant. Best part? You'd have to really try hard to kill this thing - it's toooouuugh! We love it!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

We have 'Verionica Contreras' in 4" containers for just $6 right now!


Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’

So, you can't have a cottage garden without at least trying to grow foxgloves. It's a rule somewhere in the garden universe. We LOVE this foxglove - look at that flower!?!? Amazing! Long blooming, too!

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Get this foxglove in 4" for just $4.50!

Cotula leptinella ‘Platt’s Black’ “Dollhouse Fern”

This might be the coolest ground cover ever. How awesome is that color?!? Great plant to tuck into the edges of your garden beds, tough spots you want to cover, or even a pot. It gets pretty 'rooty' so give it room to spread, it also divides easily, so one plant will give you lots of mini plants that will grow and spread! Native to New Zealand, and everything from New Zealand is awesome, so you should totally have this in your garden! All of this for just $5! Can't beat it!

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Echeveria amoena   

The picture below really doesn't do this echeveria justice. We love love love echeverias, and when we unpacked this one yesterday, were were immediately in love. Yes, you can fall in love with a plant at first site. It's so cute and little and colorful! It needs to go home with you! Echeverias are great, 'diverse' plants - they work in so many garden types, and are hardy, drought tolerant, and beautiful! These are in 4" containers and like most of our succulents are priced between $4 and $6.

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Happy gardening! 

Sneak Peak...

Check just a few of plants we have coming in today!

Camissonia cheiranthifolia "Beach Primrose"

A beautiful, whimsical, coastal native. Looks great in borders - my garden design clients by the beach LOVE this one, but it also fares well further inland.

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Cheirolophus burchardii

I loooooove 'pincushion' style plants! And this one is awesome. I don't think we've ever had it in our shop before. The blooms and colors are super fun, and the plant is quite hardy as well.

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Limnanthes douglasii “Meadow Foam”

Beautiful bloom, and fragrant too! So cute!

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Silene sp. ‘Starfish’

I think this plant is just about the coolest thing ever! Look at that color? As the description states, it looks like it belongs in a tide pool, not a garden! Easy to grow too!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

So those are just a handful of the many plants we have arriving later on today. Most of our 4" plants are priced between $3 and $5.

We hope to see you soon - some great additions to your garden are waiting for you!


 

Blooming in our garden this week....

Some winter color from our gardens!

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Source: flickr.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Brande on Pinterest

Garden Tip for the week: Weeds!

Newspaper! Newspaper is pretty much organic - made from trees, often recycled material now anyway, and interestingly, most US newspapers use soy based ink - it breaks down quickly, but provides a great cover to keep weeds at bay and even protect young plants during cold winter months.

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The key is to keep it moist, and to cover it - I would cover it with a layer from your compost bin if you have one, or leaves, then a thin layer of fresh potting soil or bark. If you plant more in the same area later, it's easy enough to dig through, but should do a good job at keeping weeds, especially grass seeds, at bay...

There is more info on it here and here.

Cold nights!

Happy Monday, gardeners!

With the cold nights we've been having here in Southern California - complete with both frost and freeze advisories - I though this article on protecting plants from nighttime cold would be useful!

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And have faith! While some of your plants might not be looking too great right now, because this cold snap is a fluke and not the norm for us, there is a good chance many of your plants will recover. As the article states, some of your annuals should disperse seeds once the weather warms up - so give them a chance! For plants that just have damaged tips and the like, we are waiting for it to warm up a bit, and will then give some of ours a gentle pruning to see if we can inspire some new life. And don't forget, some of those cottage garden classics you so love are actually intended for cold weather, so you should see some new growth in the early days of spring. Same goes for your cold weather bulbs.

Stay warm and have fun! We have some new plants coming in later this week, so more updates soon!

Light!

Happy happy Tuesday, gardeners!

I guess I'm a little obsessed with garden light ideas these days. Maybe it's the long winter nights, or missing my Christmas lights already (they just came down yesterday...) but I'm loving some of these cute and cheap ideas for bringing a little light to your garden!

Click the photo to see the play by play on how to do this one - such an awesome idea!

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In Our Gardens RIGHT NOW Just For YOU!

Some more new plants we just got in this past week:

Selinum wallichianum: REALLY cool Himalayan native that is remarkably easy to grow. An unusual, fun surprise for any garden!

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Poppies! It's still a GREAT time to plant your poppies to get some great spring blooms! We have all sorts of super cool varieties in right now, including some of the ones pictured below! Poppies are super easy to grow, and if you leave 'em alone, they'll reseed, returning to your garden year after year - they certainly make a great botanical investment!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Michauxia campanuloides - super cool, rare plant. A native of Israel and Lebanon, quite easy to grow and perfect for Californian climates. Stick it towards the bad of your beds for an amazing show of summer blooms!

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Achillea millefolium - a beautiful white yarrow that does well in both heat and wind. A must have for any cottage garden OR Californian native lover!

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Come see us soon! These and lots of other cool cool plants are looking for a home!

Garden Tip of the Week: Let there be light!

Thought this was a super fun idea. I think this would be cool year round in any garden or patio!

Source: candiecooper.typepad.com via Brande on Pinterest

Read more about it here.

Happy Sunday, gardeners!

Just in!

A sneak peak at some of our newest plants that just arrived yesterday!

Helleborus x sternii boughton beauty  - about as 'English garden classic' as you can get, and such a GREAT Plan for winter! Look at that bloom!!!!

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Calendula "Bronzed Beauty" - GREAT color! Love it! I want a million of these cut flowers on my kitchen table!

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Heliophila longifolia - want a fun, whimsical, cottage garden look? You can't go wrong with this, and you can NEVER go wrong with blues in your garden!

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Nigella hispanica "African Bride" - I never ever get sick of this plant. Seriously. I LOVE the color and structure of the bloom. I have one planted on my porch so I see if every time and I come home or leave!

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We of course have many many more plans than just these in our garden right now! But, it's a lovely winter day, and I'd rather be outside, so more pictures later.

Enjoy your weekend, gardeners!

Color from the garden

Some photos I took in our garden today...

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Source: flickr.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Brande on Pinterest