Rollback!!!! gotta love a bargain!!!!

Today I went scouring Walmart for plants. Everything looked a hot mess... including the Endless Summer Hydrangeas, so when someone walked by I asked if they'd be getting more in. He said no, but he'd give me half off if I found one I liked. Well I did find one blushing bride I'd have felt guilty to take at that price, I found myself a cute little endless summer for $7.50!!!!!! :)
I learned today never to be afraid to speak up, ask for a deal, or just ask questions when it comes to plants. Better to liquidate than take the full loss i guess. I think this one will make it....but man....there were a few I wouldn't take unless you paid ME! Sad so many probably find a home in the dumpster.
Anyone else get a real steal lately? Please share!

Oh sorry, here's a picture! :)

Not recent, but a couple years ago, I just happened to be at Home Depot and they were giving away for free.... Wow, I couldn't believe my luck. Lots of shrubs they had forgotten to water. I got a few weigela, some small holly's, some junipers, the real low growing kind. There might have been a couple of spirea's and barberry, Rose Glow I think it was. I got carried away, I filled up the car.... anyway most of it is still alive and growing.

OMG!!!! Wow! THAT'S a bargain!!!!! I can only hope for some luck like that!

I never find bargains like that!!!!

Good deal, Outlaw. Great deal, Shune!

In 2008 I was at a huge local greenhouse and saw a group of hydrangeas without names or prices. I had never before spoken to the ever busy manager but he was nearby and I told him the plants had no plant tags and asked the names. He said that group came without names and weren't selling and he offered them to me for $2.00 each - I leaped at the offer. One bloomed last year and I love it.

Wow!! Those are lovely pirl good deal!

Love it

It's fun watching what happens with each of them. Another one turned out to be very purple.

I have a cutting growing, but no longer remember what plant it was taken from. Hopefully some day, I will see a flower. I hope it's a pretty one!

You got a great deal OutlawHeart81! Beautiful hydrangea! My best deals always come when I swap plants with friends and neighbors.

I work at a Walmart and there is a program called CVP that they do in the garden center for our not so pretty plants--they go half price for a time then to the dumpster as a write off. Unfortunately, with the 100 degree temps and high humidity combined with the sheer volume of plants forcibly shipped to each store it is almost impossible to keep up with the watering needs so lots of great deals stem from the lack of time and people to provide care.

I cringed the other day as a whole rolling bin of Knock Out roses were thrown out. They had been CVP'd but after a couple of weeks they needed the space for the new shipments of plants.

Ask for the dept mgr or asst. mgr in the garden center and ask about their CVP plants and where they're normally kept. At our store the pretty new stuff is up front and the CVP stepchildren are towards the back of our patio.

Thanks d! That's a good idea! Man I'd love to do some dumpster diving there! Lol I'm a gardener a little dirt don't scare me! :)

Unfortunately dumpster diving probably wouldn't be a great idea at most of the big stores--we have that crusher thing that compresses all the trash so more will fit--glass, food and other gross stuff is all in there too:lol:

I love finding a deal too:) I haunt a small spendy nursery that is in my area. They also have a landscaping business so they sell alot of trees, shrubs and perennials. When the perennials start shutting down for the season they 1/2 price them no matter the size of the container and move them to a particular area. I don't mind shopping the "uglies" since I know they'll come back next season. Plus after having had a year or more of growth in their gallon containers or larger with proper care, I know I'll be getting a bigger stronger plant the following season.

I just got a pretty little variegated honeysuckle called diervilla cool splash for $10 at the nursery i haunt. :)

WOW. . . love all those deals!! Beautiful Hydrangeas OutlawHeart81 & pirl.

Last year I went to one of our Menard's stores (a home improvement chain in parts of the midwest). Their ad showed they had quart-size perennials for $3.00. When I got there they had tons of beautiful healthy perennials, many of them natives, but they weren't $3.00. . . they were $2.00!

Not only are they all thriving, but most have gotten so big you'd think they'd been growing for years. . . . Some are blooming now & others are about to bloom.

These are the plants I bought. . .
Aquilegia...Campanula...Delphinium...Dianthus...Echinacea...Cranesbill Geranium...Hosta...Liatris...Nepeta...Polemonium (Jacob's Ladder)...Veronica & probably a few I'm missing.

Not the greatest picture, this Delphinium was taken about a week ago. They are blooming more now. The other blooms in the picture are the Nepeta (Walker's Low) that are waning & will need to be sheared back some soon so they can rebloom. As other things bloom, I'll try to take some pictures.



This message was edited Jun 25, 2011 6:07 PM

Great buy and beautiful delphiniums!

Those are lovely! Great deal!
I'm getting excited about a plant cycle swap coming up. You get a plant for every plant you bring so I'll be potting up some of the runners From my strawberry plant and bringing Along some hydrangea Cuttings that are rooting!. :)

Those are some great deals for sure! Love those delphs--blue is my kryptonite! Wish we had the right temps for them. I love those tall ones.

Thanks everyone!

OutlawHeart81 - please let us know what you end up with from the Plant Swap. That sounds really exciting!

dmac085 - Why can't you grow Delphiniums? All the info I've seen shows up to Zone 8.

For the past few years the spring weather has been cold, wet and windy then almost immediately shifts in the space of a week to 85+ temps with high humidity, plus I'm in a metro area where I swear the combo of asphalt, buildings and cars drive the heat factor up:lol: I may give them a try next spring anyway--I'd have to fall sow some seeds or buy some plants in the fall (aren't they bienniel or is that the foxglove?) or buy some mailorder very early next spring.

You're right. . . those are some pretty tough conditions for plants, but if it were me I'd probably try again, especially if you love 'Blues' since Delphs have so many Blues.

I wonder if a raised bed or large container would work? I have a raised bed in one part of my yard & I find that the soil doesn't dry out as quickly as some of the other areas. Plants in that bed quite often are happier & grow much better. Anyway, it's just a thought. It might allow you to control the conditions a little better.

I believe that Delphs come in both hardy perennial & biennials. I think most are perennial, but I'm not sure. This is my first experience with them.

Well, whatever you're doing, you're clearly doing it right=)

I'll be thinking on where to maneuver them in and when...if I don't try em, I'll never know. All else fails I can try the smaller varieties that remind me of larkspur. It's getting close for me to be checking out the clearance rack at the spendy nursery for the perennial markdowns so I'm looking forward to that. Will have to see what they're getting rid of when I get back to work too.

Yep....................Got two nice sized planters of mixed Gerbera Daisy at Wal-Mart.
The lady that worked there was just tossing them all on top of each other and smashing the heck out of them. They looked SOOOO sad. I asked her if she could let me have a couple since she was gonna throw them out. She could not... but said she could sell them for 25 cents each. I selected the two on the top. Brought them home, gave them a nice watering and a sweet shady spot. They are now two of the BEST plants in my yard. Huge leaves.. tons of new growth and they flower weekly. Yay!!!!!

Wow! Good job Lilyofthenight!! Would love to see those Gerberas . . .do you have any pictures?

You were so right about Walmart dmaco85. We have several Walmarts all around us. Guess I better start looking before they dump everything since it's so late in the season.

Also, good luck on the delphiniums.

I saw a video a long time ago where they suggested buying perennials that are somewhat 'pot-bound'. They said that way you can take them out of the pot & divide them right away, ending up with more plants than you paid for.

I've had really good luck with that. I tried it the first time with two Hosta I bought on sale for $3.00 each. I picked through them till I found ones that had the beginnings of baby shoots growing. I divided each one into 4 plants and they all thrived!

Earlier this week I divided a pot of Chocolate Chips ajuga into four plants - very easy to do it with ajuga.

nutsaboutnature... I can take a pic for ya. Will do it today. One of them has a light pink bloom right now. Last week I had lot's of blooms still, but they went to seed so I trimmed them off and scattered the seeds all around.

That's really great, pirl . . .I've heard ajugas are easy to divide. I just planted two small pots of 'Chocolate Chips' ajuga a couple of weeks ago. They were probably too small to divide, but I planted them a little separate from other plants & will probably try to divide them this fall.

This is my first time growing them & I've heard most people love them, but some hate them & say they're too aggressive. I wanted to try them in a very shady area of the back yard that gets kind of soggy in early spring. Astilbes do well there & some other water-lovers, but other plants have drowned.

Thanks Lilyofthenight . . .I'm sure we're all looking forward to the picture of the Gerberas. That's cool that you can scatter the seeds. I know there are many plants you can do that with, but I've only tried it with a few.

Ajuga leans to the aggressive side when it has moist soil but they really are easy to pull up and replant (or toss).

Here Ya go nutsaboutnature....This one had about 7 blooms last week. The lighting on the flower is not that great in my photo... sorry. The bloom is light pink. This particular one also blooms light orange and yellow. My other one (the same size planter) blooms red, orange and coral blooms. The planters are about 16' wide.
Not bad for 50 cents total I say! And to think they looked half dead and wilted when I got them.

Wonderful!

It's great that you brought them back to life and into bloom.

Beautiful!! Wow, Lilyofthenight, it looks so healthy. Whatever you've done, those Gerberas are loving your TLC.

It's amazing they bloom so many colors on one plant.

nutsaboutnature.... I simply keep the soil slightly moist and make sure they get indirect light only. I fed them once with miracle grow I think, maybe twice. I let them dry a little between watering because they don't like wet soggy soil. Gerberas are prone to crown rot. Also.. the reason for the diff color blooms is I think it's a mixed planting container on both.

Thanks everyone.... and your bargains all look great as well. Happy Hunting!

Got some free ajuga today! I'll have to plant more spreading types at work! :)

OutlawHeart81 - That's great!! Where did you get it?

Ajuga is sooo easy to grow & divide. Do you know what variety it is?

Free is the best "price".

The name is 'Burgundy Glow'. It's my favorite but slower growing than 'Silver Brocade'.

Love the colors!

I didn't want to add the name in case it was patented.... LOL :) thanks pirl! I love it too, I think my other favorite is black scallop though. I just love the dark plants.

As far as I know it isn't patented.

I don't have Black Scallop but I'll look for it. I love the dark ones, too, like Obsidian heuchera.

Wow! That really POPS amoung the Creeping Jenny and hosta...Beautiful! Can't go wrong mixing the dark with the yellow/green plants, can you?