Gotta love them sales!

Stopped by the local high-priced garden center yesterday just to browse and ended up picking up some real deals on close-out. 3" pots of asclepias, rudbeckia and tradescantia for $1 each!!! Had to pick through the few that were left to find some somewhat healthy ones, but found them and what a deal!

Oh boy-back to the stores for me!!!!

I love it in July when the nurseries start marking down the perennials. Its awful, I keep bringing home plants with no thought of where I will find room for them! I still have a few spring things that never got planted. (In fact it looks pretty good, all these various pots and things outside the front door!) But when the small pots, many with blooming flowers are $1, what does one do? Heh heh, and then after Labor Day, this one nursery marks them down to 50 cents.

maybe it is just because I am a nursery owner....
I actually find this disturbing and sad.
I have had alot of customers specifically not come buy things in season, instead waiting for the supposed "deals" in june/july.
I generally am of the opinion that an after season sale does nothing more than ruin your market and de-value your product, and so I prefer to throw plants away, or cut a deal with a few trusted customers than to mark them all down.

Drew

Don't get me wrong. I am there early in the spring buying plants in gallon pots, lilies, geraniums, and several trays of annuals for my hanging pots. Now I'm checking back for when they first put their mums out. But to find blooming plants reduced that I would never have bought in the first place,that are different and that I want to try, I will take advantage and buy them! I spend a small fortune in the spring for my main plantings in the first place, plus I buy all my gardening equipment there, so I don't feel any guilt.

Well, I always have been taught it is a sin to waste. And these ARE God's little creations.

The other side of the coin is tht those who wait will probably not get what they want or of the quality one would like.

I have a (huge) wants list, but if there is a sale, and see some interesting things, I would buy them and possibly get interested in something new and that would spur me to buy more fo the same or similar plants which I might never have spent money on otherwise.

And when I believe I have gotten value and/or quality, I will give that business more of my money in the long run.

I also haunt the sales, mostly to try for the third or fourth time a plant before I give up on it. It is very hard to spend $20 for a plant after killing it 3 years in a row...

But when I have gotten my garden to the point where I can grow it, I then buy a ton of other stuff (usually from my favorite nurseries that do a lot of sales) to fill it in. So they get very reliable customers, in exchange for putting "everything on sale" for a time.

Why, Loops ! I am shocked... you, kill a plant? Neverrrrrr

I figure I spend enough when plants are not on sale ($400.00 this spring in one trip alone) that I don't feel the slightest bit guilty for picking up a plant for a buck or two in mid July.

I'm really glad the nurseries I frequent don't throw out their stuff...I need to head out to a couple in the morning so I can see what they've got!


My favorite nursery marks it's flats down to 8.00 or 3 for 20 usually towards the end of June. Great time for me to fill in if some of the stuff I planted early isn't filling out like I'd like it to... but no, I don't wait til the stuff is on clearance to buy it...but you shouldn't begrudge us for being happy we found a great deal!

DeepRoots---I am like djm....I spent hundreds of dollars this Spring on garden plants....If I were at home right now I could tell you exactly as I have set up a Gardening category in Quicken so I know what I'm spending. I stopped by the nursery to look at garden art and found some great deals on plants. What's the harm? I can't believe that there are very many serious gardeners that don't buy during the normal "season" just to get good deals on sale later. Afterall, most of these sales are beat up, uncared for leftovers that no one wanted. I chose carefully and took those that I thought I had a good chance of nursing back to health. And I for one think I'm entitled to get a plant or two for a buck after spending hundreds earlier that probably were overpriced to begin with. My $.02. Brenda

nah, you're right.... I'm just bitter that I live in a third world nation :P

I kinda overeacted, just the economy I reckon, we did pretty badly this year, and I wonder how long I can keep it going...
seems like last year every customer that came out, spent $150 or more... this year, same turn out, but each person spent closer to $15.

The economy is making us all a little grumpy, I think.

Truth is, I can't afford to spend like I did last year. I chose not to buy equipment I planned on getting this year, and was a lot more careful about buying perennials that might not survive. I didn't buy nearly the annuals I have in the past.

Gotta hate a lousy economy.

Cheri'

Drew-I'd be interested in purchasing some plants from you mail order if you do that sort of thing.... LMK Brenda

So would I (be interested in buying).

Tuimes are tough right now for us all, I thinks.

I keep praying things will look up and throw as much cash as I can at the economy.... but it doesnt seem to help much.

"I" have solutions, but no one would listen.

Drew, why dontcha join the SCIF store. Just look tot he far right of this page, and look at the last box marked "SCIF".

k will do.

thanks a bunch folks,
Drew

hmmm i looked at that sci thingy...
do not see how that'd help, I already have too many webpages.

Which ones other than the soap one?

And the main benefit you would get from SCIF is the attention of all of us here at DG: we are shameless lusters of plants.