Coming for 2021!
A new year has begun and we are already lined up to have a great selection of some of the newest, most exciting, and sought after plants available, along with many old reliable favorites! We have so many things growing it is hard just to know where to begin and so here is a taste of our 2021 line up. Clockwise from upper right:
African False Hosta or Little White Soldiers, Drimiopsis maculata: It should probably be awarded best in class for "Easy to Grow". The African False Hosta is a bulbous heirloom half-hardy perennial into zone 8 that starts the growing season by returning from winter dormancy by sporting its newly emerged spotted succulent foliage that is topped by numerous spikes that are composed of contrasting white buds that eventually turn green once the flowers are ready to open. It makes a tough, low maintenance, container specimen that is well suited to shaded porches, patios, and windowsills.
Cinderella Pink Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella': Large deep rose rounded clusters of buds open to show off the contrasting lighter pink to white 'eye' and are lightly scented of vanilla for venturesome noses. Cinderalla Swamp Milkweed, a selection of our native Asclepias incarnata, has a naturally upright habit reaching about 4' when flowering begins. This is one of the easier to grow native milkweeds and it slowly spreads by rhizomes but still plays well with other garden perennials. Image courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved.
Blue Lips, Sclerochiton harveyanus: Shared with us by Dawn Stover at SFA Gardens, this most intriguing little evergreen tropical has not stopped flowering all winter even though it is reported to flower heaviest during the warmer months! The flowers very much resemble those of Scaevola, a.k.a. Half-Flower or Fan Flower, but this is a naturally evergreen, low to medium-sized, shade-loving tropical shrub with a mounding to spreading habit that should lend itself for use as a hanging basket or container specimen plant. The clusters of tubular flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
MOUNTAINSIDE™ Crater Lake Phlox, Phlox 'Crater Lake' PPAF: This Phlox hybrid is an offspring of the very low growing Creeping Phlox, Phlox subulata, but is more vigorous, begins flowering about 2 weeks earlier. It quickly develops into a dense groundcovering mound of fine narrow foliage whose deep indigo-blue flowers seemingly cover up the plant in spring and are designed for butterfly pollination. Image courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved.
Poker Face Red Hot Poker or Torch Lily, Kniphofia 'Poker Face' PPAF: Dense clusters of brilliant orange-red tubular flowers start the show in early summer and may continue into fall on mature clumps. Poker Face Kniphofia is a Walter's Gardens introduction that was bred for reliable cold hardiness, vigor, and for its ability to repeat flower throughout the warmest months of the year. The flowers are sure to attract hummingbirds and the color may cause traffic accidents! Image courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved.
STARSHIP™ Blue Lobelia, Lobelia x speciosa 'PAS1302712' PPAF: We marveled at the deep intense blue-purple flowers all through the summer and fall of 2021 as did our local hummingbird population! Not only is this a knockout color but its ability to keep flowering throughout summer was truly impressive. STARSHIP™ Blue Lobelia is a hybrid of two native species that has just the right amount of hybrid vigor as well as larger, more intensely colored flowers than either of its parents. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved.
Evan's Yellow Amaryllis, Hippeastrum evansiae: We are excited to finally be able to offer this rare and highly sought after Amaryllis species! It produces starry soft primrose yellow, wavy edged flowers that are centered by a deeper yellow star shaped throat that is tinged with orange at its edges and are produced in clusters of 3-4 atop light green sturdy stems in late winter to early spring. Evan's Yellow Amaryllis is a rare and endangered Bolivian Amaryllis species that is from a relatively dry region and does best in soils with excellent drainage and will prefer a dry winter rest period of 6-8 weeks prior to flowering.
Curtain Call Deep Rose Japanese Anemone or Windflower, Anemone 'Curtain Call Deep Rose' PP30520: Multitudes of large showy deep rose pink, semi-double daisy-like flowers sport a nicely contrasting golden yellow eye and rise above a neat mound of deep green foliage on sturdy stems beginning in late summer and continuing into late fall. Curtain Call Deep Rose Japanese Anemone makes a wonderful specimen in containers or as part of the perennial border providing a much needed blast of color when many other perennials are beginning to fade. This is a slowly spreading rhizomatous perennial that develops into a large dense clump of foliage and flowers. The Japanese Anemones are easy low maintenance and long lived perennials that only get better with age. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved.
Welcome to Almost Eden
At Almost Eden we specialize in beautiful, unusual and hard to find plants including a large variety of native plants. Our stock encompasses over 1000 varieties/species, spanning 100 different plant families for your home and garden. Our plants are live, growing and well-rooted plants often flowering or large enough to begin flowering when they are shipped with the soil and container intact. We have an excellent selection of plants for pollinators including plants for hummingbird gardens, butterfly gardens, plants that attract a variety of native bees as well as honey bees and even plants for hummingbird moths. We offer unusual and hard to find tropicals like the old fashioned types of free flowering Chinese Hibiscus, the intensely fragrant Night Blooming Jasmine, the true Jasmines and Night Blooming Cereus, as well as a variety of fragrant Angel's Trumpets and Epiphyllums (Orchid Cacti). Each year we add more and more perennials from the tried and true heirlooms, to the easy to grow natives to some of the hottest new varieties out there! We grow a variety of shrubs including a large selection of Camellias as well as deciduous Azaleas, Hydrangeas, Butterfly Bushes and many more unusual and hard to find varieties. Vines include a selection of beautiful and intriguing Passion Flowers, Pipevines, Firecracker Vines, Coral Vines in 3 colors, Coral Honeysuckles, Climbing Roses and many more. Trees include many native species but our Crybaby Trees may be the most popular item on that list! John has a huge collection of figs and each year he works diligently to offer ever more varieties so check back often to see what's available. You can also sign up for our periodic (3-5 times per year normally) newsletter here. We will not send you SPAM nor share, sell, or otherwise distribute your personal information.
Planting and Growing Guides
You've got your new plants so now what do you do with them? We have a selection of Growing Guides specific to Planting New Container Grown Plants in the Garden and Landscape, Uppotting and Repotting Container Grown Plants - includes soil selection, what yellow or brown foliage and green soil indicate, proper watering techniques for containers, as well as individual growing guides specific to various plant types including: Azaleas, Cactus and Succulents, Camellias, Gardenias, Honeysuckles, Hardy or Perennial Hibiscus, Night Blooming Cereus and Epiphyllums, Sambac Jasmines, and more. You can find our Growing Guides page from any page on our website. These are designed for beginning gardeners but have pearls of wisdom that even advanced gardeners may find useful. It is our sincere hope that these guides will help to get your plants growing and thriving for season after season!
Out of Stock Products
The plants that we currently have listed in our online catalog are all plants that we intend to offer in the 2021 season. There may be a few rare exceptions that remain on here for information purposes but we are working toward making those available in the coming seasons. To be notified, when an out of stock product becomes available again, go to the plant's individual product page by clicking the "Details & Growing Info" link OR by clicking on the plant's image in our online catalog. Just click the 'Email me when ready' link below the 'Out of Stock' notice and our system will send you a one-time automatic email letting you know the product is available. You do need to be registered and must be signed in to our website for this feature to work. This action does not add you to any other mailing lists. We do not share, sell or otherwise give out our customer's information nor will we send you loads of SPAM. If you are interested you are welcome to sign up to receive our periodic newsletter by clicking here.
Shipping
We understand what healthy quality plants should look like and our specially designed packaging system will get them from our greenhouse to your doorstep looking as though they were just plucked from the nursery. We ensure that your plants are secured safely in their soil and container. Our specially designed shipping and packaging system will get your plants to you quickly, carefully and easily via the US Postal Service Priority Mail to anywhere in the US. We will send an email stating when your order will ship and confirming the order information for verification. Please be sure to check your Spam or Junk mail if you don't hear from us within a day or two from when you placed your order. Orders are normally shipped on Mondays and Tuesdays (excluding holidays) of each week to ensure that your plants do not spend the weekend at the post office. Be sure to get your order and payment in by Wednesday at 11:59PM CST, for it to ship out the following Monday. See our Shipping info for more details.
Tracking Your Shipment: We have recently upgraded our packaging system so that your shipping address is verified with the USPS prior to shipping and each package is automatically assigned a tracking number. The instant we print your shipping label you are immediately sent an email that includes your tracking number and a link to the USPS website where you can track your package until it arrives safely at your doorstep. We believe this will help to ensure that your plants get to you in a timely manner and in good condition. Your tracking email will originate from Stamps.com so please add "@stamps.com" to your whitelist so that your tracking email does not end up in your SPAM folder.
Our Customer Service Hours and Onsite Visits
Please enjoy your stroll through our online catalog and if at anytime you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us. Our office and customer service hours are open from 8AM-7PM CST daily. We are here most everyday so feel free to call us anytime during normal hours and John will do his best to answer your call.
Our nursery and gardens are only open to visitors who have a pre-scheduled visit set up. The following contact information is clickable:
( 337 ) 375 - 2114
1240 Smith Rd
Merryville, LA 70653
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and Paypal
Rating Almost Eden's Products and Services
Please feel free to rate any of the plants that you might have experience with as this can provide useful and insightful information for your fellow gardeners. We do review the reviews and so it may take time for your review to appear on our website.
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