President's Day Weekend SALE & New Plants

The air is full of pollen and love at Johnnye Merle's today!

As part of Country Roads Antiques & Gardens President's Day Weekend celebration, all of our plants will be 20% off! "OMG, for reals???" For reals, indeed.

All those cool new Annie's Annuals & Perennials, the great new stuff from Native Sons Wholesale Nursery, all the fun new seasonal color, all of the AWESOME herbs and veggies: on sale! We don't have many sales, only a few a year, so be sure to stop in and take advantage of these great garden discounts!

New plants for this week: fairy garden low growers, including Leptinella Platt's Black, Irish moss, baby tears and ivy. A BIG selection of Delphiniums, all sorts of cool blues and even a dark blue 'almost black'. Juncus spiralis, the 'corkscrew grass' that everyone is obsessed with (which we have in super cute, small 2" sized pots for a very low price!), some great 'Valentine color', Jasmine wreaths (and a few Jasmine hearts, but get them while you can, as they will be moving fast today!), Nemesia "Shooting Stars" (check out the photo below!), Clarkia (in six packs!), Heliophila "Angel Eyes" (also in demand and will probably go fast!), and lots of other cottage garden goodies!

With the sale prices in effect for only three days, stop in sooner than later and take advantage of the great prices on some very cool plants!

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!

New stuff makes everyone happy!

A sampling of plants that arrived yesterday....

Thunbergia alata 'Spanish Eyes'   - yes, we finally have black eyed Susan's in!!!! 

We have the  "Pure White" variety in as well!

Sisyrinchium hybrid 'Devon Skies' - a great plant, and always seems to be in demand!

Scleranthus biflorus "Australian Astroturf" - another popular one that we haven't had in a long time!

Phytolacca acinosa "Himalayan Pokeweed" - it's weird, it's cool, you should have it.

Orostachys iwarenge "Chinese Dunce Cap" - this is one of my most favorite plants ever...

Eucomis pallidiflora - what???? Giant pineapple lily. For reals. You should have this in your yard.

There are many many more unusual plants in our gardens just waiting to go home with you - stop in and see us soon!

Happy summer!

-Brande

In the garden this weekend...

Took a few quick shots this afternoon of just some of what we've got in the garden this weekend. These mild summer days are just begging us to get planting! A big order of Annie's Annuals came in yesterday too, stop by and check it out - some really cool stuff.... enjoy!

We heart euphorbias!

Sedums! Lots of 'em!

"Regal Lilly" - this one bloomed a little prematurely in the 4" container (!) but soooooo cool - come take one home and be wowed each spring!

We have lots of asclepias varieties in right now - great plant for butterflies!

Gunnera - one of our all time favorites!

Begonia Gene Daniels - we promise it will make you re-think begonias, it totally changed our mind!

Pretty asters!

Dicliptera suberecta  - we LOVE this one, have it growing i our own gardens!

Scleranthus biflorus. Australian Astroturf. You need this. Trust us. It attracts gnomes.

Echiums! Lots of fun varieties of them! Everyone should grow echiums!

Red leaf hibiscus. Really unusual. And awesome. Looooooooooooove.

Lovely rumex!

Been Watchin These Two!

These are two Annie's Annuals I planted last year from JM Gardens & Nursery. They are called, I think Crown something or other. Brande will have to edit this and give you the correct name of the plants.
As you can see in this picture, these plants are ready to bloom any day now and I have NO idea what the flower will look like. I think that is why Spring is one of my favorite time of the year. Our gardens always have special little surprises waiting for us!

It's All About the Backdrop

Johnnye Merle Gardens and Nursery is really a unique place to visit, whether you are into plants, or the story behind the creation of these gardens, or about the "backdrop". Just like the interior of Country Roads, we've created an environment with our gardens that is rustic and primitive and so different than any other you will find anywhere! I just wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures of our gardens.







As I said, these are just a few of the pictures I wanted to share with you. There are many more settings and vingettes in our gardens. We ARE different than any other nursery you'll visit. You can "feel" the love that has been put into our little piece of paradise! Hope to see you soon, and just stroll around out back and take a break of the hectic world we all live in today!