So sad! One of these beauties is going bye-bye.
You know that feeling you get when you go to your regular grocery store to pick up the essential things that you buy RELIGIOUSLY and that thing, that THING you have come to love and trust and expect is just … GONE? Say, a certain kind of tea; the one that lives on aisle 8 on the third tea shelf in the round canister between the one with the green label and that other one in the orange box. Well, it’s not there. You ask a clerk if they’ve seen it and they say, “….oh… I haven’t seen that in a while. Let me check with my manager.” And they walk off, and you wait, and you wait, and then the clerk comes back and tells you the one thing you don’t want to hear, hoping you won’t be upset: it’s been discontinued. Gone! Not gone for today, but gone from the world. Poof! Disappeared.
Sorry folks, but that exact thing just happened to us. And we’re trying to figure out how to break it to you. One of the hazards of working with plants grown from seed is that sometimes a plant goes away and it never comes back. It is a less tragic thing than extinction, but still seriously sad, and we wanted to let you know gently, and then we might need a hug, because this is one of the biggest bummers we’ve ever encountered in terms of being left out in the cold by a seed company. Ready? Brace yourselves: The Double Azalea Snapdragons? Those fruity smelling ones that look like a bizarre confection from candyland? They’re going bye-bye.
Inhale deeply. That’s the fragrant tutti-fruity scent of obsolescence. 😦
BFF’s like Nigella hispanica ‘Curiosity’ are bummed, too.
Believe us, we know. It’s a tragedy. Every day one’s in bloom at the nursery their fan base expands. Their long, tall stems of sunset hued pink and apricot double frilled blooms smell sweetly spicy, make super fabulous bouquets, and grow and rebloom yearlong in milder climes. They’re fancy but still simple to grow and really very successful for even beginning gardeners. They’re easy in pots and in the ground and undemanding. Could someone please tell the powers that be that discontinuing this fine strain is a terrible mistake?
But why?! ‘Double Azalea Apricot’ makes friends with everybody! Like Celosia argentea cristata ‘Cramer’s Burgundy’ for example.
Sure, we could still get the mixed color strain, but that’s playing Russian Roulette with your color scheme, and we’ve learned that’s the sort of adventure not everyone wants in their life.
We won’t forget your ruffly charm and upstanding character ‘Double Azalea Pink’. You were always there for us when we needed a dose of over-the-top girliness.
Because these are F1 hybrids, if we collect our own seed the results could vary wildly and land us in a pickle of confused forms. If people are up for it, we just might try it, but more likely we’ll start growing small batches from cuttings, which is a way less convenient and desirable way to propagate this plant. But we do what we must (within reason!) to keep the plants we really love out in the world.
I guess this is adieu ‘Double Azalea Apricot.’ *Sniff* We’ll always have Paris.
Change! It’s hard for everyone, but hey, Flower Floozies, we’ll do our best. Stay tuned, and if you find a bucket of Double Azalea Apricot seeds just sitting around, CALL US!
Claire
blog.anniesannuals.com 
Well, I don’t have a “bucket”, but I may have a few. I did collect from both colors,but found them difficult; unlike my other snaps. I also have an Apricot that appears to have wintered over from last year in my sunroom. Now that I know what happened, I’ll see what I can grow and let you know. I think you should do the same as it’s better than just giving up. Those two colors are stunning and not to be allwed to go down without a fight!
We’re not letting them go without a fight Patti! Thanks for the encouragement!
That is tragic.
Oh my ! – I have several of those enchanting snapdragons – enjoying their sweet perfume on my deck – will save seeds and when I come over could someone tell me about the success of propagation by cutting. ??
Our efforts to propagate by cutting has been so-so. We definitely can’t get the quantity of plants we can by sowing seed. We’ll update here how it goes.
If you want, I’d be more than happy to select out non-hybrid versions of them for you. It wouldn’t be that hard. Sure, the next generation will be variable, but with a little careful selection and time I could stabilize them — maybe even select out some new colors while I’m at it. And since they’d be new varieties, you could name them anything you want… I’m thinking Flower Floozie Apricot would be much better than the BORING names they’re currently using.
A thousand YESES!! What a generous and wonderful thing, Joseph – we thank you! How many plants do you need? Drop us a line at contact@anniesannuals.com and we’ll get right back to you!
I love these–I really hope you all find a way to keep them on the market!
I just discovered these this year, and it is my new favorite! It blooms gloriously and stands so tall and proud. I had planned to buy several more to sprinkle around my cottage garden. Most bummed…
We’ve got the very last big crops of both plants available right now – get ’em while you can!
Jeeze- SAVE THE SNAPDRAGONS!!!
I accidentally broke a piece off one when it arrived and I promptly put it in a small pot with a good mix and now gave a thriving large plant. I saved seeds too I can send you some.
We will all pull together and save these floozies!!
Bonus – you made two plants out of one! 🙂 We tried growing these beauties from seed collected from our plants, but because they are F1 hybrids they did not come out true to color in subsequent generations. Sad face!
I am so happy I have my apricot. I will cherish her even more now.
how sad that these beautiful flowers will never be a part of my garden. a shame that they can’t be duplicated. 😦
Hi Annie s
Just send you an e mail with an web adress where they sell seeds as you are looking for – orange snap`s
Hope they have what you are looking for, so you can sow !!
Regards
Luriel
Peony Rainbows
Denmark
thank you luriel! i will look for your email!
who are the powers that be to whom we need to express our displeasure at this unseemly turn of events?
Speaking of things that (I love that) disappear, I’ve been shopping at Annies for 12 years or so. I will never forget one of the most beautiful flowers that I have ever seen, Lychnis seiboldii. I know it can be difficult. I once bought a plant when I lived in Tokyo in the 80’s – (Japanese native, AFAIK). It promptly croaked. The one I bought at Annie’s however, did wonderfully for a while. This was almost a decade ago. Found some seed online for L. awkwighti; we’ll see how it goes with this next year, though I probably don’t have the climate for it.
I’ll pass your penchant for Lychnis seiboldii on to the propagators! We did grow it years and years ago, although it was taken out of production for some reason and hasn’t made a re-appearance yet.
I haven’t followed Annie’s very closely for the past year or so. Meanwhile, I found seed online for Lychnis arkwritii. I grew it last year, and it’s turned out to be a reliable perennial, but, the color is just not as good at Lychnis seiboldii.
Someone just alerted me to this on my site http://rainyside.com/plant_gallery/annuals/Antirrhinum_majusDoubleAzaleaApricot.html#lf_comment=36736570. I hope you can do some cuttings and keep them going. I wish I would have heard about this earlier, I would have snatched some up to do cuttings for myself. Sigh–too late!
hi debbie: good news! we are having success propagating the ‘double azalea’ snaps from cuttings. it is much more time consuming than seed, but it means we can continue to offer these plants, even if the crop sizes are much diminished. thanks for caring!
Great to hear! I did snatch one up in the fall and wintered it over and I will grab a couple more from you. Some people have asked me where they could get this annual, so I will be sure to get the word out that they can still get them from you. They better hurry though!
I have the pleasure of coming down your way for the Garden Bloggers Tour of your region. And I asked if you were close enough to my hotel for me to take a side trip. Well then they put you on for part of the tour, so I am in flower heaven. I am looking forward to touring your facility in June. Woot! I wonder how many plants I can smuggle, er take home on the plane to Washington state. 😉 Actually, I will probably just have you ship them to me as always.
As always, you make denying my climate zone a pleasure and I have a load of plants in my database with your name on it!
Not sure if these are the right color but here you go:
http://www.hpsseed.com/dp.asp?pID=05108&c=308&p=Apricot+Snapdragon
thanks for the link bev! not quite the right color, but we are having good success propagating plants from cuttings. we should still be able to offer them, but in much smaller crops.