The Green Pages: Annie's Annuals & Perennials (E-Commerce Companies)

I have ordered perennials via mail order almost every year for more than twenty-five years. With most suppliers I have had very mixed results. With only a few notable and outdated exceptions, either the cultivars were just wrong for my location and would not grow, regardless of how healthy the plants might have been when they arrived, or the cultivars were suitable, but far too many of the plants themselves were in bad shape when they arrived, or I could not order them at the one time of year best suited to planting them.

These problems have (almost all) disappeared since I found Annie's. They have a large selection of plants well suited to the Western United States, and their website is very good at helping one find plants that are cold hardy, drought resistant, deer and rabbit resistant, and so on. The plants (almost) always arrive in tip-top shape. And I can order for delivery during late monsoon season, which is early August.

I've been especially happy with their selection of fragrant pinks, which seem to persist in my garden, adding fragrance for great swathes of the calendar year. Their gaillardias, too, have become a mainstay of my summer borders. I've had less luck than I expected with their anchusas, and I cannot keep either their 'drought tolerant' St Johns wort or their cheiranthus alive through a hot summer, even if I were to stand over them all day with a watering hose. I'd love it if there were a few more agastaches and salvias to choose from. Still, there's a good selection of suitable plants, and my success rate - as compared to other sources - is high.

It is clear that Annie (or maybe Annie's copywriter) has great taste and seems to get a genuine and infectious thrill out of growing, propagating, and writing about plants. The whole experience begins to feel a bit like a guilty pleasure. Hard to do better than this.

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I can't comment on mail order because I have only purchased locally. I saw one comment about shipping costs, and I do understand how difficult it is to ship live plants such as she has. I enjoy the variety of plants. Annie always seems to find something new. Even if you can never go there, sign up for her e-mails. They are to drool over. My wife calls this kind of stuff "plant porn," but as a quilter, she gets "fabric porn."

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Always my first area to browse at the garden center - interesting selections, all neonicotinoid-free, so safe for bees & butterflies.

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Good company. Selections change periodically. Some unique plants. Focus on California climate, zones, and locations, though the rest of us are not forgotten. Packaging well done, shipping costs significant.
I won a couple of not-a-raffle raffles last year and got 2 fifty-dollar cards good for as long as there's a balance. Thusly, I was able to order and receive plants this spring.

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I have known Annie for years, and she is always a pleasure to talk to and a wealth of plant knowledge. I continue to enjoy her new plant introductions year after year. Great place to visit if you come to San Francisco.
Sequoia in Oakland, California

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Love to visit the Richmond location. The display garden is a delight. Its organization is top notch. Interesting and unusual plants. We have purchased many perennials and biennials from there and from a local nursery that stocks some of her plants. She has visited The Historic City Cemetery and the Hamilton Square Perennial Garden here to see how her plants do in our location. We're big fans of Annie's Annuals & Perennials and I think she is a fan of ATP. She donated a raffle prize recently!

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Annie has some great plants, well packed and shipped. I do wish she would use Sunset Western Gardens climate zones, though, as many of her zone 10 plants don't fare well in MY zone 10, or are unavailable for my planting times.

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Beautiful, healthy plants well-packed, well-shipped. No drama! Great follow up, great customer service. A pleasure to deal with!

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