At last, the elusive Canyon Sunflower

Every time I've looked for the past years, Canyon Sunflower (Venegasia carpesiodies) has been unavailable. It's been frustrating, but I guess it's a popular plant. I got the last two remaining at the Payne Foundation yesterday (actually one forlorn and broken stump of a plant remained and I debated taking it if they would give it at a discount).

 

Purchased at the Payne Foundation in the last couple weeks: 

• Eriogonum crocatum (Conejo Buckwheat or Saffron Buckwheat) 1G 1 $12.60
• Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii (Catalina silverlace or Nevin's woolly sunflower) 1G 2 $18.00
• Polystichum munitum (Western sword fern) 4" 5 $36.00
• Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama grass) 1G 3 $27.00
• Euphorbia misera (Cliff Spurge) 1G 1 $10.80
• Chlorogalum pomeridianum (Soap Plant) (Seed) Packet 1 $9.00
• Venegasia carpesioides (Canyon Sunflower) 1G 2 $23.80
• Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama grass) 1G 1 $8.50
• Bulbs (Calochortus Californica) - $10  1 $8.50
• Bulbs (Allium unifolium) - $12  1 $10.20
• Bulbs (?) - $8 1 $6.80
• Phacelia campanularia - Desert Canterbury Bells (Seed) Packet 1 $5.10  

 

I visited before the sale for the selection and during the sale to check back for some missing items.  While my strategy was good, my tactics lacked sufficiency for the task since I didn't have detailed plant lists.  However, I do maintain lists of plants that I'm interested in and I used those plus my desire to incorporate more silver/gray foliage plants to make my selections.