Friday, August 24, 2012

Bargains are the Best

Ok, so I guess I better start posting, I really should be in bed seeing as how it's 12:45 am, but hey, I gotta make a post don't I? LOL

I figured I would make this one about my love of discount/reject/unloved/preloved/"dead" plants at nurseries or hardware stores or from friends.  I always go and raid the hardware stores discount plant shelves because with a bit of a prune, a sprinkling of fertiliser, some water, sunlight and TLC 99% of reject plants that I have gotten have all made a full recovery.  The only one that has died is one of the ones that my sister gave me, she is a true supporter of my gardening and without her I would have a lot fewer plants, she can smell a bargain from a mile away.

The beauty of these plants I find is that they are plants that I would not normally buy because I would rather spend my money on an orchid, but with these beauties they often add some extra colour to the garden, plus it's nice having a challenge of reviving the really sick ones. :)

For example, this beautiful yellow Snap-Dragon I normally wouldn't have bought because I'm just not normally inclined to buy them, however at the place that my sister works a rooster got into their plant nursery and ate a seedling punnet of snap dragons, so for $1 my sister bought them for me, and they are flowering beautifully and now I can safely say, snap dragons will be making a regular appearance in my garden each year........ plus its fun to make the "dragon" "snap"..... if you've ever had any you will know what I'm talking about :)




These are some plants I bought from the local hardware store several weeks ago;





in there is a Nemesia, Skopa, Viola, a purple Snap-Dragon, a Carnation, and those two daisy things :)

the two "daisy things" are still flower, you never would have guessed they would be marked down, they were still in perfect nick, not bad for $5, and the total for all the plants of only $18, I figured out if I hadn't gotten the mark downs then this lot would have cost me something like $45

the Skopa only cost me $1 and now it's flowering, as usual I re potted it, gave it a prune, water, sunlight and love and off it went, so glad I got it


the Viola has grown and continued to flower, another to be added each year :D



also you can't forget about receiving cuttings from people, several years ago grandma gave me a heap of bearded iris tubers and they flower reliably every year, i do love them :D i know that when they flower i can start looking forward to slightly warmer weather, longer days, and my love of the bird world, the Channel Billed Cuckoo


maybe I'll make the next post about orchids..... who knows ;)

6 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos Michael! Glad to see you started a blog too, can't wait to see some of the orchids you have.

    I found that I've branched out a bit with what I grow too, mostly because of cuttings and gifts of things I wouldn't have normally tried myself. Wish I had a yard that was mine to start an actual garden, I've got big plans for that day.....

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    1. you were actually the inspiration for my increased interest in blogs, and then with the massive amount of information thats out there I figured this could be my way of being able to talk about plants without boring my friends at school or on Facebook :D LOL

      oh Melody, when you get a garden you'll love it, it certainly keeps me busy and out of mischief, my parents don't have to worry about underage drinking or me becoming a drunk when i tern 18 because I'd rather do some plant shopping :D

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  2. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I'll add your blog to the list of the one's I follow on my homepage. Hopefully you'll get some more hits shortly.

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    1. Thanks Melody, I saw that on your blog and it led me to a lot of other really cool blogs, but I can't figure out how to add it onto my blog

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    2. If you want to add a section of blogs you follow to your home page it's under "Layout." Click "Add a Gadget" then pick i think "Blog List" or something similar. You can edit everything from there and add what blogs you want. If you need help adding or editing anything in your layout or template let me know, I know a bit of helpful html.

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  3. thanks Melody, i'll have to keep looking :D

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Hi, I'd love it if you'd make a comment. I enjoy hearing what you think and all comments are read, and replied to, to the best of my ability at the time.

Happy Gardening :)