Garden Deals

This morning Greg had to be to work earlier than I did so after dropping him off at work I took the opportunity to stop in at Lowes. I was there on a mission. I was looking for marked down plants. If you've never shopped at the mark down section of your garden center, give it a try. You will be shocked at what you can get for a fraction of what you would pay for it normally.

Here is what I bought this morning:

3 Qt Azalea normally $9.98 paid $2.00
3 Qt Raspberry normally $9.98 paid $2.00
3 Qt Red Currant normally $9.98 paid $2.00
1 Qt Basil normally $7.20 paid $0.36
1 Qt Dill normally $7.20 paid $0.36
2.5 Qt Dianthus normally $12.00 paid $0.67
2.5 Qt Perennial normally $12.00 paid $0.67

I would never pay the normal price for any of these plants. It's just too rich for my blood.

Plus I bought some fertilizer for 5.98. My total spent was 14.88. I got all of those plants for $8.90!!

When shopping the clearance section of the garden center there are a few things to keep in mind.

Annuals only last for one year so if their bloom time is over there is no reason to purchase them. Some annuals will bloom all summer but an unhealthy plant may take the whole summer to revive. I don’t usually buy annuals.

Perennials come back each year so even if they have passed their bloom season for this year they should bloom again next year.

Fruits - You don’t usually want fruits to produce in the first year so you really aren’t loosing production time and they will offer you years of fresh fruit. If a distressed plant has fruit on it when you buy it it is better to prune the fruit off so that the energy of the plant can go into root production.

Herbs—I look specifically for herbs. They usually respond well to TLC and I cut them back to dry at the end of the season and have my own herbs all year.

I take these plants home and give them a good dose of liquid fertilizer. When I plant these plants I add some high phosphorus fertilizer in the bottom of the hole. Make sure they get plenty of water & feed every couple of weeks.

I am not a green thumb by any means but I have never been disappointed in the plants I have bought this way. I can’t even remember loosing one of them. I have paid a premium price for plants that have lasted only one season, if that long.

I think I might stop by every Thursday morning to check out the clearance section...I might even stop again on my way home tonight. They had so much to choose from and they workers were clearing out more racks as I left!