Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.....

....how does your garden grow?
With sale priced flowers
And short spring showers
And pretty blossoms all in a row.

Ok, I just have to take a minute to brag. Since we bought our new house I've been addicted to looking at flowers EVERYWHERE we go so I can get some good ideas on which plants grow really well in my area, so I know what to plant in my flowerbeds. There are thousands of different flowers to choose from, so its really hard to make a final decision on what to buy. Our house has absolutely no flowers anywhere except a few tulips that only last a few weeks in early spring.

I've been perusing all the stores and nurseries locally, and not so local, to compare prices because flowers and shrubs are expensive, and after buying the house we are pretty much broke. So here's the good part, so far I've bought roughly 75 flowers/shrubs, not including our garden vegetables, all on sale, and even better yet, on clearance. I bought 36 4" geraniums all for $1 which normally cost $4 apiece, I got 6 1 gl sized Asian lilies for $1.44 which normally cost around $8 a piece, I bought two peonies at $3 a piece, some gladiolas for $1.50 a bag (bulbs), some lilies of the valley for $1.50, a bleeding heart for $3, and some tricyrtis hirta for $3. All these flowers/shrubs are perennials, not including the geraniums because I needed some color really quickly in my front yard because it looks so drab with all the dumb juniper bushes all over the place--which I'm tearing out next week by the way.

My total spending for the year so far on flowers/shrubs: $65

My total savings on all those plants: $161

I saved myself almost $100!! That is the way to shop for plants--to always look for sales and clearance plants because even though they may be small and sickly looking, they will grow into mature plants just like any of the other good looking plants, slowly, but surely. I can't wait to see my flowers bloom! Happy Planting!!