What cool plants /great bargains have you found this spring?

I don't think that there is a single one of us who will not be adding at least SOMETHING to the garden this spring. And we are all always looking for a great buy on plants (after all, that is definitely and excuse to go to the nursery, isn't it?)

I though it would be fun to share some of the new additions that we are particularly excited about, as well as have a specific thread to share good sales and/or prices that we have come across so that others may be able to take advantate. Mom and I went on a very short shopping expedition to Home Depot and Lowes yesterday morning, and came back with a few treasures.

Lowes had what I thought was a fantastic price on double hellebores. They were $12.50 each, and there was a very nice selection.

I came home with Helleborus London Fog....

Helleborus Splashdown

And Helleborus Brushstrokes.

And I am thrilled with the trees that we got on sale at Home Depot. Not much root ball, but if they make it, they were definitely worth the price. This is my Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlanticus glauca pendula). I can't wait for him to get big and drape along the back side of my big pond.

And finally my other tree (forgot to mention that these were both $28) is a Scotch Pine (Pinus Sylvestris Fastigiata) which looks fabulous as a blue accent in my new woodland garden.

Those hellebores are gorgeous! I have to get a job so I can go back to buying plants!!!!!

That 'London Fog' is so pretty. Love the others also. I have one like 'Splashdown'.

Beautiful, Rarejem.

Heidi at Dragonfly had a couple that resembled Splashdown last year, but when we visited, we all acquired so many plants that I decided to pass on it. I have been regreting that ever since, so was very glad to find something similar. Don't usually go for yellows as a rule, but it was such a bold flower that I just had to have it.

Okay, Julie - if you're gonna tease us with this stuff, you should at least get one for everybody . . . those are wonderful.

Julie, you scored! Love the London Fog.

McLendon's has some good "hardware" coupons going on until March 21st. They have their cheap shovels and rakes on sale for $4.99 (I get a cheap shovel every year, so if I break them on rocks, I always have another and am not too upset about it), Corona fiberglass shovels for $9.99, one gallon sprayers for $7.99, bow saws for $4.99, and a raging deal on sluggo for $11.99 for 2.5 pounds. Lots of other stuff too, but those were the ones that grabbed my attention.

McLendons also has a decent variety of heucheras right now, and a good price on some of their larger ones... $5.99 for basically a gallon size at the Sumner store. We picked up Tiramisu and Christa for $5.99. You have to look for the ones in the square pots.....

I'll check this weekend, but I think you guys have better plant prices at your McLendons . . . hmphf!!

Many of the other varieties were 10.99, which I think is still a good price? I picked up the last two of Green Spice and a couple of Georgia Peach. Julie and I share. I also noted on the clematis thread that they have evergreen clematis "snowdrift' in full bloom but I didn't note the price. Trying Julie's cell right now for her to check......she was going back for a few more 5.99 bargains.

Kathy, After further investigation tonight, it was ONLY Tiramisu and Christa that were $5.99. And the Snowdrift clems were $49.... but they were big and beautiful. Did not come home with one, but DID come home with a Daphne Lawrence Crocker that my nose wouldn't let me pass up. I had never seen a purple blooming daphne before and fell instantly in love.

You'll like Larry, Julie.
He blooms in a nice flush, then intermittantly through summer. Oh such a nice fragrance!

I haven't got them yet, but I have ordered a bunch of fun things in the easy-to-grow bulbs co-op. Although I dream big looking at all the catalog pictures, and know I will probably end up killing a portion of them, it is really fun to plan where I might plant all these lovely and interesting things. (Now mentally digging up new garden beds). Some of the ones I am most looking forward to:

double flower hardy geranium.
Echinacea sunrise
African Queen trumpet lily (if the voles don't eat it first)
a mini blueberry to put in a pot for my mom's patio

Sorry, Julie, I didn't mean to b_____. I just don't want to lose out on a good deal. I need to go get some posts tomorrow, so I'll be sure to check. Nice score on the Daphne.

Holly, I love hardy geraniums. They do so well for me.

This message was edited Mar 20, 2010 8:25 PM

Julie - forgot to tell you: Larry will get about 30 - 36" wide & probably won't exceed 14" in height. He's not as fussy as the odoras, but they all like sharp drainage. I have never fertilized mine - it gets the duff from the surrounding plants. I bought 3 more last summer - performs excellently. Full sun, if possible.

I was able to get Dracularia vulgarus bulbs back in Feb with tulips and Hyacinths for 5.95 each. Lets see if it sprouts. Not yet.

Somebody mentioned somewhere about growing Echinacea, and it being a bit difficult. However, I keep seeing beautiful pictures of them in catalogs and I want to give it a try. Does anyone have any tips for improving my chances of success?

Try the older pink cultivars or the species. They will start reliably from seed. The ones that I have that do well are Magnus, species, Pink Double Delight, and Hope. Raspberry Tart has not done well. Kim's knee-high has done OK, but not spectacular. They like sun. :)

And lighter soil. I killed mine in clay.

I have plenty of sun, no problem there. But clay, yep clay is a potential problem. I'll have to put them in a raised bed.

I tried to grow it in my worst vein of serious clay. I might have more luck in my other beds.

I had my Chicken 'N Chips delivered yesterday. I'll post a picture later today. It's beautiful - I got a little emotional as he was unloading it. The hardware store didn't have a huge wheelbarrow in stock. I bought it and will pick it up next weekend. But I'm thinking of buying a little cart for my lawn mower. I've wanted one forever and this is just the excuse I need. It will seriously help to get the soil up the hill to the back end of the property.

And then "all" I have to do is work it into the soil!

My Trillium Kurabayashii, Podophyllum peltatum, and Cypripedium are all pushingup through the soil. I spend a couple of hours yesterday wandering through the garden poking at things and trimming them and talking to them. As goofy as it was, I was in Heaven. :-)

Yippeee, Hooray on the trillium and the chicken 'n' chips!!!

I want pictures of all of it...the compost, the trillium, and your garden beds in progress....pretty please!!

A LITTLE emotional?
Geez, I planted a big arm-width hug in the Fertilmulch pile after the guy left!
When I get my CnC, I'll probably need to throw a party!

OK..... I had to look up the Chicken 'n Chips... sounded like food to me. Now I understand why you were excited! What is it that can make a gardener go all gooey about a pile of dirt or compost? After I do a little happy dance, I have to just sit there and touch and admire every time we get a load delivered.

Kathy, you definitely need a trailer for your tractor. The difference that being able to move stuff around in the yard without breaking your back on that part is unbelievable. I still do a lot of hand work, but having the Kubota to at least get my stuff closer to my project is a godsend.

On the note of the compost.... our neighbor above us stopped by yesterday to tell me that he got a load of "butt dust" (Sumner's version of tagro) delivered FOR FREE several weeks ago, and told me that if Mom and I wanted to take a tractor load or two, we were free to do so. Do you think we might take him up on it?!?!?! The hard part is going to be restraining ourselves to two loads.....

Apparently he has a friend who works at the treatment plant, and they sell the product in the spring and summer, but can't get rid of it in the winter, and don't have a large enough area to store everything until spring comes. Guess who I am going to be REALLY NICE to this summer in an attempt to get a truck load this winter.....

Holly - if I ever get it cleaned up, I will. I just visited a friend today who is independently wealthy. She has several acres - a horse, chicken, goats, a tractor with a backhoe. And she has all day every day to work on her grounds and gardens. Oh what a dream!!

Here's my dirt. You can see that I lost part of the roof of the shed to one of the neighbor's trees.

A blossom from my new Osmanthus:

That's one beautiful pile of dirt!

That is a lovely sight. Good luck getting it all moved. We should have had a work party at your place.

Willow, I wouldn't do that to you guys. Heh heh. Seriously, though, with the cart, I think it'll go really fast. It has a back panel that you can slip out and a lever that you can use to tilt the cart up. It's almost sinful. :-) I'm thinking that I have enough soil that I'll be able to make some new beds. My mind is spinning. Now, if I can just get the existing beds weeded.

Kathy - depending on the weed & where they are, would it be possible to smother them? I have done this before & it works well when layered. I remove creeping ranunc., blackberries, dandelion & curly dock, or at least as much root as possible. It's usable about 2 months later.
However, if you want to work the CnC in, then you might as well clean the beds.
Nice hill - does it steam in the morning?

Ohhhh. It's a pile of compost to drool over. That's what my Doggly used to do, and eat some too. Your doggys may be more refined. Your garden is going to be fabulous this year, growing like crazy.

Ya know, Mary and I both did pictures of our yards in real life states of semi cleaned-upness. People could see the garden around and through the other detritus of life. Folks here are not judgmental. Just sayin' I still want to see your gardens in progress getting their serving of chicken delight.

Oh Wow! Your compost pile is beautiful!

Katy, where did you get the osmanthus? Is it the fragrens? I almost ordered one from the east coast but the shipping was so much plus they had a minimum purchase.

Rarejem, I hope I am not being redundant if someone else, or you, discussed staking your trees and that blue Scotchpine. Anythings like that should be staked or guy wires. Until they get their roots established. Sure don't want to lose your plants and if you don't stake them they never will get roots to hold them up.

Oh, I forgot to say...that is a beautiful Osmanthus bloom. They smell so good too. What kind is it?

It's Osmanthus burkwoodii. I got it at Boxhill Farm Nursery in Duvall. They had many in bloom and looking very healthy. I was pretty impressed by their plants in general.

I also got Campanula 'Pink Octopus' and Actaea Simplex. This one's supposed to have darker foliage and be pink . . .

Kate, the beds are partially turned and partially planted, so I do really need to go through them. I do have cardboard down to kill the grass where I'm going to put the vegetable garden. And I have to remember that I'm very far ahead of where I was a couple of years ago. It just seems that there are years and years worth of seeds in that soil.

The compost did steam as the truck dumped it. And there's a faint smell of urine, but really it's pretty well rotted. My dogs do eat and roll in unrotted manure, but I'm hoping that this has broken down enough that there will be less activity of that kind. However, I have observed them lately scraping holes in the top of the grass and eating what's underneath, presumable bettles, grubs or earthworms. That's raccoon behavior!!?! So Heaven only knows what they'll do. LOL