 Digging Dog is now online! Check out their 2000 catalog on the web. |
We are blessed with numerous fine nurseries online, but there are still many that haven't yet made the plunge. Digging Dog Nursery is one of them, although I'm told that a web site and email is in the planning stage. In the meantime, write, call or fax for your copy of their catalog.
Digging Dog Nursery
P. O. Box 471
Albion, CA 95410
Phone: (707) 937-1130 (between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm PST; Monday - Saturday)
Fax: (707) 937-2480 (anytime)
This is a small, family run nursery; you won't find lots of glossy color photos in their catalog, but you will find good descriptions of the plants, their zone tolerances, light, soil and moisture requirements. Scattered through the catalog are charming line drawings of various plants by Marsha Mello. These have proven so popular that they offer note cards featuring them.
I'd been receiving their catalog for several years without placing an order. In 1997, I went into serious plant buying mode and realized that they had been steadily expanding their list of plants and offered many that I wanted. In fact, they offered so many on my lust list that I had great difficulty getting the list down to a semi-reasonable size! As it was, I broke my golden rule about only placing a small first order...I just couldn't help it. As it turned out, I had no need to worry. The plants I received were large, healthy, true to name and well packed - all are doing quite well in my USDA zone 7 garden as I write.
Leafing through this year's catalog has resulted in a list a mile long. Here are just a few that I really, really want...
For Euphorbia Nuts
I think what first hooked me was their really lovely list of hardy Euphorbia, a genus that intrigues me greatly. I added E. longifolia, E. palustris and E. sikkimensis to my collection in that first order. This year, I want to add the pictured E. 'Jade Dragon', a cross between two of my favorites, E. characias wulfenii and E. amygdaloides 'Rubra' (or purpurea, depending on your reference). I grow both of these and wish they'd made this cross on their own! But they didn't, Terra Nova did. Terra Nova's Dan Heims says "The name comes from the new floral growth that is plated like a dragon's scales and then forms a large head...(up to eleven inches [27.9 cm] )." He rates it hardy to USDA zone 7. Those of you with a protected spot that drains well in zone 6 might take a chance on it. I'm in the cold part of zone 7 and 'Rubra' always comes through for me though I may lose wulfenii in a really bad winter.
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