Garage Sale Gardening.
by
Linda from q is for quandie
(IC: blogger)
1 Material
I am a big fan of what I like to call garage sale gardening. In other words, I have gotten quite a few of the plants in my gardens at garage sales on the cheap. Why pay nursery prices when you can get good quality perennials for much less? Personally, I usually find that garage sale plants thrive better and mature more quickly than nursery plants, maybe because they are coming from already firmly established plants. They are also pretty much guaranteed to be suitable for my area.
The biggest tip I have for you when it comes to garage sale gardening is this; most of the perennials you’ll find at garage sales can be invasive. If you think about it logically, the reason the seller has extras to get rid of is because the stuff is multiplying easily. Invasive doesn’t have to be a bad word though (although sometimes it is, so do some research before planting). It just takes a little effort to keep many of these plants under control though.
Another invasive plant that I purchased at a garage sale is cranesbill or perennial geranium. Not to be confused with the annual geraniums that we all know and love, which aren’t actually geraniums at all but are technically pelargoniums.
Another invasive plant that I love is the Anemone. I got mine from my friend Sue, so I’m not positive but I think they are Anemone sylvestris. These are also growing happily under pine trees.
Another garage sale plant in my garden is the variegated sedum in front of these tulips.
Bleeding heart is another great garage sale plant. It spreads by re-seeding itself. You’ll find little baby plants coming up all over. I usually just yank them out. Sometimes you just have to be heartless (pardon the pun).
One other thing to be cautious about with garage sale plants is whether or not they are poisonous. Whenever I bring home a new plant, I try to research it a bit before putting it in the ground. If you have pets or small children that might ingest your plants, just keep this in mind.
Although I’ve mentioned several cons to garage sale gardening, I think the pros far outweigh them in most cases. If you’re looking for inexpensive, easy to grow plants for your area, consider checking out some garage sales!
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Suggested materials:
- Perennials (garage sales!)
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Published May 29th, 2016 9:47 AM
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