New Plant Saturday for February 21st

Happy weekend, garden geeks!

This week we received a big order of all sorts of new goodies from Annie's Annuals & Perennials! Check out a few of our favorites below!
(all photos courtesy of Annie's Annuals!)

Aeoniums 

We are a HUGE fan of this family of plants! Easy to grow, funky & fun, they bring a delightful dynamic to ANY style of garden! We have several varieties in stock right now:

 Aeonium cilatum

 Aeonium heirrense - huge, and really cool 'trunk'!

 Aeonium simsii - small and super cute!

Aeonium urbicum - huge flower head!

Aeonium "Sunburst" - one of our favorites, great color!

Delphiniums 

We have LOTS of delphiniums in stock right now, about 8 different varieties, in fact! Two new ones just arrived from Annie's: Double Innocence, grown for it's striking bright white blooms, and "True Wild Form", a hard to find specimen that is super hardy and almost electric blue in color!

Hollyhocks

Towering giants of any garden, Hollyhocks are quite easy to grown, and fairly drought tolerant once established. They are a bit prone to a rust that affects just their family of plants. While it's not all that pretty, it's not really going to damage the plant, is easy to address, and really, a few dots on a leave are worth it when you see the blooms these plants produce! We have the varieties below in stock right now; all take full sun, average to low water (once established) and will grow between 4-8 feet tall!

 Hollyhock "Halo Apricot"

 Hollyhock "Halo Blossom"

 Hollyhock "Black Knight"

 Hollyhock "Halo Cerise"

Hollyhock "Halo Lavender"

Papaver Poppies

Another late winter/early spring favorite: poppies! These are not your run of the mill poppies, though. These unusual specimens - many of them 'heirloom plants' that have been around for centuries!  are grown for their show stopping, fun blooms! Check out a few of the ones we have in stock right now:

 "Ladybird"

 "Crimson Feathers"

 "Danbrog"

 "Lavender Fringed"

 "Lavender Semi-Double"

 "Orange Chiffon"

 "Queen's Poppy"

 "Sugar Plum"

This is, of course, just the tip of our 'new plant iceberg'! Other new plants from Annie's include Petunia axillaris, the popular California Ranunculus, all sorts of Salvias, and some really cute violas! Plus, we have a great selection available from some of our native growers, lots of succulents, and more!

The nursery is looking really nice and full right now, a great time to stop in and visit us, and perhaps take home some of your very own botanical goodies!

New plant Saturday is here!

New plants have arrived! Our nursery is looking particularly full with all sorts of new arrivals from Annie's Annuals & Perennials and Native Sons Wholesale Nursery!

Annie’s fans: have you received your catalog yet? We have all your favorites in stock, with about (50!) new variety of plants arriving yesterday! We also have some really cool new plants from Native Son’s, another one of our favorite growers: lots of sedums, cool and unusual and DROUGHT TOLERANT California natives, and much more! We'll have a blog post up soon with more details of all that is now in stock...

We hope you can stop in and see us this weekend! Thanks for the ongoing support - we love our garden geek community!

New plants!

Hi garden geeks!

Below is a sampling of some of the new plants we just got in stock from Annie's Annuals! You can also email us with any questions or special requests!

Dianthus ‘Bliss’
“Perpetual Carnation”
This old fashioned dianthus is just adorable! We love it! We also have "Cheshire Cat", "Mad Hatter", and the "Queen of Hearts" dianthus in stock as well! All are in 4" containers.

Aeonium simsii
 This is a new aeonium for us, and we love it for its daintiness! It's small - maybe three inches across each 'bud', and grows low - almost a funky cool groundcover. The yellow flowers it produces in late spring are suppose to be quite amazing!

Delphinium elatum
‘Sweethearts’
Delphinium are among our most favorite of plants! This 'Sweethearts' variety does not disappoint - maybe we just have Valentine's Day on the brain already, but we loooove the sweet pink blooms! We have a few other varieties of delphinium in stock as well: "Bellamosum", "Dusky Maidens" and "Clivedon Beauty" are all available in 4" containers, ready to be planted now for some spring blooms!

Rhipsalis burchellii
"Mistletoe Cactus"
This meets our qualifications for "funky cool and weird"! We've never had this plant before, so it's new to us as well. Here is what Annie's website says: "This RARE & highly unusual plant is actually a thornless, tree-dwelling cactus! Best planted in a hanging basket or large container, it forms an elegant cascade of delicate branches than can reach down to 5’! Lovely creamy white flowers emerge along the stems, eventually making way for darling pink fruits. A wonderful choice for a shady patch of the garden or for keeping as a houseplant." We are pretty excited to try it out!

Lathyrus odoratus
‘Route 66'

Sweet Pea time is here! Oh, how we looooooove sweet peas! We'll find an excuse to plant this just about anywhere! "Route 66" is a new one for us this year - this fast growing variety has some pretty amazing two-toned color going on! In addition to "Route 66" we also have "Almost Black" "Annie B. Gilroy", "Blue Vein", "Cupani", and "Fire and Ice" in stock. These tend to sell out quick - and we will likely have more in next week (1/17/15), so email us if you are looking to come in after this weekend so we can make sure they are still in stock.

Aloe wickensii
Even if succulents aren't your thing, if you have a bit of space, this super cool aloe is worth it! The photo makes it look bigger than it is; the grower states it gets to the 2-3 foot range. The color is what makes it amazing; the plant itself kinda reminds us of...well, of a reptile! It has greens, and dark patches, and light patches - it's really cool! And the bi-color blooms, which will surprise you next winter, make this a really unusual specimen of aloe! We have it in 4" sized containers right now.

What else?
Also just arrived: two varieties of yarrow (achillea "Moonwalker" and "Rosey Red", both great drought tolerant, fun plants!), centaurea (bachelor buttons, our Grandma's favorite!) in blue and red, buddlea in white and blue, succulents, helleborus 'Gold Bullion' (which we LOVE!),  nicotiana in white and lime green, papaver poppies, salvia, verbascum and many more! This was a pretty big order, so lots of new goodies are to be seen!

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more day to day updates!

Garden Geek Updates for the Week of January 5th

Happy happy new year, our fellow plant nerds! 

Garden Geek Updates for the week of January 5th 2015:

We have a biiiig order of Annie's Annuals arriving this week, likely in on either Thursday or Friday. Lots of fun goodies - big selection of sweet peas and poppies (including some new varieties!) for your winter gardens, some new succulents, and much more! If you have any special requests, be sure to email us with those by Tuesday (1/6/15) evening.

We should also be getting some more of the always popular ornamental kale and spiral grass later this week as well! And possibly some new and funky herbs and winter veggies - we'll know for sure in a day or so and will update accordingly.

We totally embraced this spirit of 2012 (a joke, get it?!?!) and finally started an Instagram account! Yay! Follow us there for daily photos of botanical goodness.

We are starting up our first new design project for 2015! A client in Los Angeles just got her turf removal rebate approved, and we are helping her design her new lawn free (ditch the lawn!), native plant, low water, awesome looking landscape! If you are interested in having us help you do the same, email us!

In the spirit of the new year, we put together some fun 'garden resolutions' to inspire your dirt digging this year. Check out our post for more info!

Speaking of new years resolutions, we are going to try to make sure we post a weekly update each and every Monday! If you are interested in staying on top of our latest breaking news, you can sign up to get these posts emailed to you (check out the form on the right side bar!) or follow us on Facebook.

Wishing you a happy and productive first week of our new year!

-Brande and the Johnnye Merle's team

New plant day!

Happy day, plant people! A new order of Annie's Annuals has arrived, been priced & displayed and is waiting to go home with you!

ALL SORTS of cool new goodies, including the awesome Caulanthus inflatus “Desert Candle”,  and the ever popular black pansies, both pictured below! Come see us this weekend and be happy!

Sale this weekend!

Happy holidays, garden geeks! We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

We are excited to announce we'll be having at 20% SALE on ALL of our plants this weekend!

Stop in now, because we JUST got an order of new Annie's Annuals & Perennials in, and they will go FAST at this price! :) This is part of Country Roads' larger weekend sale, so it's most definitely worth your time to make a trip out to Old Town Orange this weekend!

Don't forget too, that this Saturday is "Small Business Saturday" - so shop small & local!

Sale is November 29th - December 1st.

Open 10-5pm every day.

See you soon!

Lots of new goodies!

We hope you are all enjoying a lovely, relaxing Sunday morning! 

 Our gardens are looking mighty lovely right now, full of plants waiting to go home with YOU! 

We received a bit order of Annie's Annuals this past Friday. Our new sweet peas this week include "Blue Shift", pictured below, as well as "Black Knight", another unusual, fun favorite!

We discovered Primula "Yellow Bear's Ear" while pricing and cleaning up yesterday - REALLY cool plant, the photo doesn't do it justice. The gray foliage almost looks like a succulent!

 Hope to see you soon! Enjoy this AMAZING fall weekend!

Papaver!

Looking for ideas this Sunday? Try some gardening! 

We have several varieties of Papaver "poppies" in right now. These are the dramatic, TALL and very colorful poppies - nothing like the California specimens you might be used to seeing, though we love those, too! We have a variety of colors in, including a dramatic black, and the lovely lavender of "Sugar Plum", pictured below! 

Come in and try them out, they are only $3 for a 4" sized plant!

Photo courtesy of Annie's Annuals & Perennials

Sweet Pea time!

Nothing quite says 'cooler weather' to a gardener (well, to a gardener in Southern California that likes English and cottage garden classics...) like the mighty Sweet Pea! Lathyrus, the formal botanical name for the lovely Sweet Pea, is a large, diverse family of legumes. They are "native" around the globe in temperate climates, having been found in Europe, East Africa, South America, North America and Asia.

They are none for doing best out here in cooler weather, and are often planted fall through winter. Sweet Peas are pretty easy to grow - rich, "composty" soil, average water, and full sun is about all they need to do well. Be sure to give them a trellis or something to grow on - they are basically 'mini vines' that need support to do their best. About the only thing you can't do is plant them in really hot weather - they just won't do as well in the heat.

They are also kinda 'historical' - some of the varieties we carry were first bred a few HUNDRED years ago! Sweet Peas are part of a heirloom gardening tradition, keeping 'old' species of plants alive and in cultivation; you can read a bit about some of the varieties we are stocking below.

We have seven varieties of Sweet Pea's in stock right now, all grown by the always impressive Annie's Annuals & Perennials in Northern California. They in 4" containers and ready to go home with you! Check out the photos, provided by Annie's, below:

 The "Cupani" variety has a lovely 'two toned' color to it! Here is what Annie's Annuals has to say: 

"History & scentual pleasure! ‘Cupani’ was first cultivated by a Sicilian monk, Father Francis Cupani, who found this intensely scented wild sweet pea growing near his monastery in 1695. In 1699, he sent some seeds to a teacher in England & so ‘Cupani’ is the first recorded Sweet Pea to be cultivated. Though the beautiful deep purple-blue & violet bi-colored blooms are smaller than modern hybrids, ‘Cupani’ retains the original fabulous fragrance loved by Father Francis. No other sweet peas are this fragrant."

"Annie B. Gilory" is a pink variety first cultivated in 1907.  This variety tolerates heat a bit better than others, and has some of the best cut flowers (oh yes, Sweet Peas are GREAT in your flower arrangements!) of any Sweet Pea you will find!

Meet Lathyrus "Bary Dare": vivid, cherry red and ready to bring a boost of color to your yard! We love this variety for the bright dash of color it brings to a tradition of plants that tend to fall on the pastel end of the color scale. Pair him with some of the black varieties we'll be getting in soon!

"Erewhon" was cultivated in New Zealand, and we looooove the two tone color pattern! 

One of our very favorites!

This purple delight is known as "Lord Nelson". The flowers are really almost navy blue, very deep and stunning; in addition to color, Lord Nelson is grown for the powerful, rich, lovely scent it carries!

Check out "Painted Lady", and other favorite! Here is what our grower, Annie's Annuals, has to say:

"One of the five original varieties of Sweet Peas grown in the 1700’s, ‘Painted Lady’ is definitely one of the easiest to grow & we are so grateful it retains its original rich sweet scent. Vigorous & heat tolerant, it’ll grow to 8’ tall, bearing hundreds of 1.5” cherry & white bi-colored blooms on 8-10” stems – totally the best for cutting! Self-sows reliably so you never have to go without!"

 

How awesome is THIS color pattern?!?!? This Sweet Pea is "Wiltshire Ripple" and it's very very nice! Chocolate and burgundy in color, this lovely variety has a strong, heady scent as well!

All Sweet Peas are annuals, but will self sow - meaning, they will drop seeds and come back on their own - if you leave them alone! Bait for snails when they are young, as snails do love them, unfortunately, as much as we do! Other than that, try a few of these garden classics out, and have fun!

*all photos by Annie's Annuals & Perennials

Burgundy Loosestrife

One of our other favorite plants of the moment is Lysimachia atropurpurea “Burgundy Loosestrife”. Doesn't look like much in its little 4" container, but plant it in the ground, watch it grow, and once it blooms - WOW! It's a showstopper! SUCH A COOL PLANT!

We ordered too many of them because we love them so much, so we even have them on sale right now for just $3 each! Come in and try a few out, we promise you'll love them AND will impress your garden nerd friends!

Black Coral Pea

Check out one of our newest additions to our gardens: Kennedia nigricans "Black Coral Pea"! We had this specimen in stock earlier this summer, and it sold out super quick! Easy to grow, this Australian native loves clay soil and is super hardy! Give it your toughest conditions, and it will thrive! Beautiful, unusual bloom, too! We kinda have a crush on this plant...

And don't forget, our sale section is nice and full right now, but stop in soon if you want to get in on it, our 'weekday regulars' will no doubt have it cleaned out by the end of the week!

Clean up, sale plants, and new Annie's Annuals!

     We've been working hard out in our garden, getting cleaned up from summer and our heat wave and getting all our new goodies out for you to take home! We'll be back at it today, so come in and say hi!

     We moved a BUNCH of stuff to our very popular SALE section (plants that just need a little TLC and are a great bargain) and we have a huge new order of treasures from Annie's Annuals & Perennials that just came in.

One of our favorites is Briza media "Quaking Grass": we looove grasses, especially in the fall, and this one is so so cool! It only grows to about 12-18” tall, and gives you these awesome small, heart-shaped florets that start out bright green from April thru June then turn golden with maturity, looking, as Annie's puts it, "like little fairy lanterns or the end of rattlesnake tails." Makes a really cool cut flower, too. Awesomeness. Get one!

The weekend is here!!!

Weekend time!!!!!!!!!! The perfect time to be outside. A big order from Annie's arrived yesterday with lots of treasures, including Clianthus puniceus “Parrot’s Bill”. This New Zealand native grows to about four feet wide and tall and puts on a show of amazing 'beak like' flowers! Easy to grow and adaptable too, a great 'anchor' shrub for the back of your garden.

We have them in 4" containers for just $4.50. 

 

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Hope to see you soon!

New plant day!

It's 'new plant day' at Johnnye Merle's! New arrivals today from Annie's Annuals & Perennials include all sorts of goodies: alonsoa, zinnias, dahlias, clematis, 'Day of the Dead' marigolds and much much more...including Briza media "Quaking Grass", pictured below! This easy to grow ornamental grass only gets to about a foot and a half tall, clumps (so it's not invasive!) & bears these awesome 'flowers' that look like little fairy lanterns, or the end of rattlesnake tails. Everyone always goes crazy over it when it blooms in our gardens! Super cute!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Coming tomorrow: Zinnia 'Raggedy Ann'

We've got some new goodies coming in from Annie's Annuals & Perennials tomorrow, including Zinnia elegans 'Raggedy Ann', one of our most favorite of all the zinnias!

This lovely old fashioned variety grows 3-4' tall, bearing double flowers 4”-5” across with curved & twisted petals. Super cute, great cut, easy to grow, long blooming and self sows. OMG! Come in and get one! We'll have them out and ready to go by late Friday afternoon.

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

We hope to see you this weekend!

Dicliptera suberecta “Uraguayan Firecracker Plant”

Some new Annie's Annuals & Perennials are arriving to our gardens tomorrow (and hopefully this wind will be LEAVING!), including the lovely Dicliptera suberecta “Uraguayan Firecracker Plant”, one of our favorites!

Drought tolerant and hardy, this awesome specimen is a great way to bring some bright color to your garden, especially in those 'tough spots'. The grey foliage brings in an interesting 'architectural' element, too. AND hummingbirds love! It will be ready to go home with you by tomorrow afternoon....we'll have them in 4" containers for just $5!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Plant of the day!

Happy Tuesday, gardeners!

Our plant of the day today: Euphorbia lambii. Super cool, it's a touch Dr. Suess but also edgy and architectural, and quite easy to grow! We love all things euphorbia at Johnnye Merle's, and this is one of our favorites! Put it in a spot where you need a bit of height - it can get up to six feet tall!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

We've got 'em in 4" containers right now for just $4.50! Come in and take one home!

new new new!

Spring is here for sure - you can tell by the looks of our garden right now! We are PACKED full of SO MANY cool new plants for you to take home! We just received another shipment of Annie's yesterday, check out some of what we have in stock:

Romanzoffia californica “California Mist Maiden”

This NorCal native is pretty rare - and very cool! Likes shade and can take dry conditions. Has a super cute dainty bloom, and great year round foliage!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’

Verbena are just great plants! Easy to grow, cheerful, and colorful - a great addition to any garden. Blooms from spring through fall, drought tolerant, attracts bees and butterflies, and makes for a great cut flower. Need we say more?

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Phacelia minor

We are super into phacelia's these days. Known as "Wild Canterbury', these plants are just delightful - easy to grow, fun, and they reseed!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Keckiella cordifolia “Heartleaf Penstemon”

This is one of our all time favorites! Hummingbirds love it, and it's just such a cool, unusual plant! We think of it as a 'sorta vine' - it trails up, but takes on more of a 'loose shrub' form. But man oh man, those blooms are amazing!!!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Penstemon pseudospectabilis  “Desert Beardtongue”

As a general rule of thumb, we love all things Penstemon at Johnnye Merle's, and this plant is no exception! Check out that awesome color! The plant is like that feral cat you keep trying to pet - leave it alone, and it's gonna do just fine! Handles heat and drought like a champ!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Helianthus laetiflorus “Showy Sunflower”

So, we're not trying to tell you how to live your life or anything, but we know for a fact that EVERY garden needs some sunflowers in it at one point or another! And this sunflower makes a great one: BIG, BRIGHT, and SUNNY! We've got some growing in the garden that come back year after year, making us happy!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Diascia integerrima “Hardy Twinspur”

It looks like pink candy exploding in your garden! Who doesn't want that???? Super fun, easy to grow. BUY THIS PLANT NOW!!!!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Collinsia species 'Purple' “Chinese Purple Houses” 

We think this little plant is about the coolest thing ever. It doesn't look like much in a 4"pot, we gotta admit, but once you put it into the ground, LOOK AT WHAT IT DOES!!! LITTLE PURPLE HOUSES! (Like that John Mellencamp song, only not pink.) Amazing! It's a California native that bees and butterflies also love.

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

And you know what? WE HAVE WAY MORE THAN JUST THIS! Seriously, our nursery is kinda overflowing right now! Stop in, take home some treasures (and check out our sale section too!) and make your garden happy! 

All of these plants are in 4" containers and priced between $3 and $5. Cheap, easy fun! Happy weekend!