I received my first shipment from Annie's Annuals and Perennials.

I've ordered from a lot of places. I'm a fan of Bluestone. I've ordered from Parks, High Country Gardens, White Flower Farm, and many others. Most of the best mail order places send healthy plants in pots that are maybe 2x2x3. Annies sells bigger plants in bigger pots. They are in monstrous pots by comparison to the trade - about three or four inches in each direction. I think they have at least twice the volume of most potted plants I've received mail-order - maybe as much as four or six times the volume. Since I am such a terrible gardener, this extra margin for error really seems helpful. The plants look incredibly healthy - most of them. And the leaves were still slightly damp when I opened he packages. I'm sure that in the east wet foliage in transit would be a bad thing, but out here where one tends to lose plants to desiccation much more frequently than to fungus, it's a real plus.

I really love the wish list feature of their site. And I love the chatty descriptions of each plant. My only quibble is that they ship with peanuts. And peanuts go everywhere, especially when it's windy weather.

I've planted the Sedum forsterianum "Silver Stone" and the Muhlenbergia rigens -"California Deer Grass." Still to plant, Kniphofia citrina, Dianthus "Rose de Mai", Salvia argentea, Caryopteris incana "Blue Beard", and Cheiranthus "Siberian Wall Flower".

My impulse is to rush right out and buy more plants. But I'm trying to exercise some restraint. Not going to order more until ... the plants on deck are in the ground. One plant that is stuck in my mind is the tree lupine with brilliant yellow pea flowers. Anyone grow that one?

Steve - I tried to grow 2 of those lupines w/the yellow flowers last year, neither one made it. I'm going to have to check out this Annie's!

http://www.anniesannuals.com/

Toni - Thanks for the info. And the link.

It's wondrous in person! I take a minimum of at least 2 hrs going through all the isles and reading all the tags despite having my printed wish list in hand.

There is no place quite so glorious as a nursery run by people who absolutely love plants and love sharing plants with other people. That's how Annie's strikes me. When I took up gardening I had a ritual of eating breakfast at my favorite b'fast restaurant, then poking around the local nursery for an hour or so. I can still remember the exact moments when I discovered confederate jasmine and mandevilla Alice du Pont. My nose found them first, and I just followed my nose. This is one aspect that shopping online sorely lacks. I'm not completely convinced that even the best owner-operated nursery in Prescott is quite so passionate about fragrant plants.

In any case, I am very pleased with all the plants I got from Annie's earlier this year. The sedum was ravaged by a nibbling animal and I lost maybe four of six. But everything else has survived despite a rather high level of neglect. Of course the first real test will be whether they make it through the heat and dry weather of mid-summer. The second real test will be whether they happily return after being brutalized by winter and spring's seductive yo-yo weather. (We got a smattering of snow here yesterday. High on Friday is supposed to be 80F. Cannas have not been happy.)

Steve - I feel your pain.. I got sunburned and my plants were wilting from the heat.. and it's snowing right now.

OOOH NOOO...

I've been putting in extra hours watering and I'm pretty sure it is making a difference. At least to the weeds.

It's a cool day here, too. And the top of my head is peeling from a heedless morning I spent in the sun a few days back. I sometimes forget the Tilley hat. The sun feels good for a while. Then I forget. Then I regret.