Eisley Nursery in Auburn

First, let me apologize for the slightly fuzzy flower photo. When I took the picture, the wind was not cooperating. Let me also apologize for the prison-camp fencing designed to keep puppies out of forbidden areas. They jump the fence like track stars now, so I suppose it should come down...


Took my first trip to Eisley Nursery in Auburn yesterday. What a nice nursery! First of all, it's big. Inside the main building, they sell a dizzying array of garden gifts, supplies, seeds and bulbs. Outside, they currently have a nice selection of: color, herbs, perennials, peonies (herbaceous and tree), strawberries, asparagus, and more.

Nice pottery selection too! My friend splurged on 2 gorgeous glazed mexican wall pots. I got a nice (and very decently priced) trio of what I always think of as "British herb pots." They're like normal red clay pots, only taller. Since I had nothing in mind for the pots, I had to buy a lavender wallflower, yellow alyssum and edible Johnny Jump Ups (as seen in the above photo).

We both admired the soothing bamboo wind chimes (not at all annoying like some metal ones) but decided we'd already done enough damage to our wallets and would likely be back some other time.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. One staffer even gave me driving directions when it turned out I was on the wrong side of Auburn, with Hwy. 80 in between. She was pleasant and patient, something I don't often encounter with nursery phone inquiries. More times than I'd like to remember when calling a nursery, I've been told by the harried clerk, "I can't help you because I'm with a customer." Makes me think, "What am I, chopped liver? Last time I checked, my money's just as green as anybody else's. I promise, when I open my dream nursery, phone customers will be treated like real live customers.

Let's see, what other plants did I buy? Oh yeah, a little dill plant and a 'Magic Mountain' basil plant that made me swoon when I breathed in it's pestoriffic scent. And lettuce! Why did I buy lettuce? It's getting too warm for lettuce. I couldn't resist the fact that it was a variety six-pack and figured I might be able to squeeze a few sandwiches out of them before yanking the plants to make room for summer stuff.

Oh, and a 4" 'Jelly Bean' grape tomato plant!

Seeds I bought:
Cosmos 'Bright Lights Blend'
Nasturtium 'Dwarf Jewel Blend'
Nasturtium 'Mahogany'
Nasturtium 'Cherry Rose Jewel'
Chinese lantern
Gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields'
'Milas Rose Queen' Corn cockle
Pastel Blend balloon flower (blue, pink, white) (Platycodon grandiflorus)-- flowers the second year after planting from seed, but I've had a heck of a time finding single blue balloon flower plants in stock at area nurseries. There seems to be a preference these days for the doubles, but I prefer the singles.
Posted by Hello

I almost forgot to mention, if you get hungry while shopping, hep yer sef to Eisley's free popcorn, hot out of the large popcorn popping machine. There's a soda/candy vending machine too!