With so many people feeling shocked and saddened about the unexpected permanent closure of Annie’s Annuals and Perennials in North Richmond on Oct. 3, Richmondside asked readers to share photos for an online gallery to celebrate the plants that have beautified East Bay backyards for more than 30 years.
JC of El Cerrito, who submitted the photo above, eloquently summed up the sentiment of many: “This ‘Zowie’ zinnia is one of countless plants I’ve brought home from Annie’s over the years, from stately manzanitas that form the backbone of our garden to impulse-purchased annuals,” they said. “The loss of this unique business is a horrible blow to local garden lovers, not to mention all the employees who were let go without warning. Wishing the best to them.”
A Richmond reader who goes by “pagingdrflowers,” shared the photo of a beautiful bouquet of flowers (above) and wrote: “I fell in love with making unique bouquets from Annie’s plants. I made so many I was able to showcase them on Instagram. Here’s one of my favorites: lavatera trimestris pink blush with pelargonium strawberry shortcake. Too pretty to eat!”
Lucinda Johnson from Roseville shared the photo above and wrote: “Although I never experienced an in-person visit to Annie’s, I have made many purchases and raised many plants from the nursery. I spent hours reading the seasonal catalogs and even recently used the colorful catalog pages to decoupage a metal tin that holds my watercolor paints in mini, gold-edged clam shells. I really hope they somehow bring back the store — my “wish list” reminder had just come via email last week.”
Justine from Berkeley, who sent us the photo above, wrote: “Annie’s has been a vital part of my gardening business for over 20 years. It was a place for me to find inspiration and to acquire speciality plants. I have thriving Annie’s plants growing all over Berkeley and Oakland.
“Last year I planted a Clianthus puniceus “pink flamingo” and it has been magnificent. It put out a huge bloom in the spring and is priming for another big bloom right now. I truly hope a buyer will come through to keep Annie’s going. Thanks and gratitude to the wonderful and knowledgeable staff. You will be missed!”
Richard Williams from Rodeo shared photos of what he termed an “unsightly water feature’ which he transformed with the help of purchases from Annie’s into a “Gloxima, Passion Flower green waterfall.”
Sharing the photo above, Maureen Decombe from Point Richmond wrote: “The generosity of an Annie’s person, loading me up with Verbena ‘De la Mina’ for planting around the neighborhood… Mind you, I didn’t ask for a discount, but she gave me one. When I asked why, she said she’d heard of our little native plant garden, and they want to support local community gardening.
“We were just getting ready to freshen up with more, from Annie’s, of course, when we got the news. May all efforts to save this community treasure be successful!”
Katie Hawkinson from Berkeley, who sent in the pictures of several different gorgeous varieties of poppy, above, wrote that it is going to be “hard to imagine a February without my first of the year visit to Annie’s Annuals to get the spring garden started not to mention the spring, early summer, late summer, etc trips to the Richmond flats to fill in spaces that need a little attention.” She continued: “I’ve been going out to Annie’s since around 2002 with friends and family. The plants are the main draw but the people who worked there, the sample gardens and planters, the various cats and dogs all contributed to a fully delightful experience.”
Liz Hamm from Richmond wrote: “It’s always a joy visiting Annie’s! I’ve been thinking a lot about all that I have learned from Annie’s: the books I’ve purchased from there, the authors I’ve met, all the notes I have from the various talks. Annie’s garden beds are an inspiration and the staff always helps me troubleshoot my miscellaneous garden problems. I’m heartbroken to lose this place of beauty.”
Cherie Carson of Richmond sent in this photo of some beautiful marigolds. “So many times I went to Annie’s to build out my garden and ask questions,” she wrote. “I received great support and advice in building out my edible garden. These are my prized Hariquin marigolds.”
Margaret F. from Berkeley wrote: “I am a native plantist. However, I recently went [to Annie’s] to pick up some nonnatives to add a bit of color. Above is the beautiful Tweedia caerulia, what an amazing blue! I spoke with two employees who were so welcoming and friendly and I completely enjoyed chatting up the glorious world of plants with them. I am so sad they no longer have jobs and that beautiful places is shut down. I do hope miracles can happen and it reopens.”
Ilana Kaufman of Berkeley shared several photos of poppies in her garden and said: “Each year I’d post portraits of my poppy blooms. I have friends all over the country — each season we post pictures of our poppies and brag about them like we do our children.”
Jeff Ballantine from El Cerrito said Annie’s helped nurture his interest in native plants. “Last year I converted my front yard to native plants with verbena lilacina, mimulus, penstemon, ceanothus, salvia, and buckwheat plants,” he wrote. “It’s been a joy to see all of the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds visit the plants.”
AS of Berkeley shared a photo of an antirrhinum majus (above), which she thinks is either a chantilly or a double azalea bronze. “Annie’s was an ethereal place,” she wrote. “Their catalogues were the best ones of all, and I’d pore through every picture and description. The nursery gardens — aspirational. I even loved how Annie’s bestowed all the neighboring strips with gorgeous blooms. I took my sons there this past weekend for the Fall Sale and let them each pick out a flower. They got some adorable dianthus and a Delphinium I’m excited to see take over my garden.
“Walking around her nursery always brought me so much joy and peace,” she continued. “I left that weekend with 24 plants but had I known it was the last, I think I would have snagged double! I was truly saddened by this news, my husband laughed at first but then realized I was really heartbroken. I wish Sarah Hundley the best of luck with her health and hope that she is able to recover soon.
Bertha Magana of Berkeley shared a photo of her Big Bear sunflower (above). “The Big Bear sunflowers were gorgeous this year,” she wrote. “The Stormy Pink Salvia has always been a reliable consistently flowering plant. The Pee Wee Oakleaf Hydrangea was one of the last plants I bought last week. I have yet to plant it in the ground.
“Annie’s is where my plant addiction started,” she continued. “I loved going there with my family and having my kiddo learn about new plants as she read each sign. We especially loved going there for Mother’s Day, but any day was always a good day to go to Annies. We will miss it.”
Darwin BondGraham, News Editor at Richmondside’s sister publication The Oaklandside, shared photos (above) of milkweed, giant marigolds and Mumulus — all bought at Annie’s. He described the nursery as, “literally one of my favorite places in the world.”
Commenting on Richmondside’s Instagram, one poster wrote, “So shocked by the news and sad for the employees and customers! Annie’s was one of my favorite guilty pleasures.” Another wrote: “A real loss for gardeners, near and far. My heart goes out to the employees of this beloved nursery.”
Tovin Lapan, like BondGraham a Cityside employee who is the Editor of Nosh, was distraught to hear on Thursday that the Richmond nursery had abruptly closed.
“Going to Annie’s each spring had become a tradition for our family,” he said Friday. “We’d pick out tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, chile peppers and flowers. Our pre-schooler goes through her body weight in fruit each week, so I bought two blueberry plants in 2023. This year they fruited in early summer and my kid loved coming home at the end of the day and picking the bushes for her afternoon snack.
‘We always let our daughter pick out her own flowers to plant, and she gets a big kick out of seeing them grow and bloom. The best part is using all the fruits, vegetables and spices we grow in our meals. Nothing beats homegrown tomatoes!’
Annie’s Annuals was my magical place, my haven. My late husband would sit patiently on a bench while I took one of their old red wagons and trolled the pathways. Soon the wagon would be filled with plants as I made my way from Section 5B to 8C and finally way over to 15. My husband would always say”I think you went a little overboard” but for a flower floozy there was no going overboard. I will dearly miss this place.
I hope the possibility of turning Annie’s into an employee-owned business is being explored. If the employees have the capacity and are interested, hopefully the former owner would be willing to work with them to transition. Oceanview Cafe on 4th street recently made this transition successfully, saving a popular, locally owned establishment. Fingers crossed the employees at Annie’s can do the same!
Devastating loosing Annie’s my favorite garden store just over the bridge from Marin!!