My Gardening Secret

I want to share my gardening secret with all of you. It is...wait for it....the clearance rack in the Garden Center at Lowe's. That's right. The racks in the back with the droopy, over watered, under watered, no bloom plants and flowers. There are only a few reasons that they put plants and flowers on those racks: they are not currently in a bloom cycle, they are about to go out of season, someone over watered or under watered them, or they don't look as nice as the other products. We do not own our house, but want it to look nice, so we don't mind spending a little money to spruce up the place. Plus, I love to garden and so does Phil.

Here are a few tips for your clearance adventure. First, look at the tag, if it is an annual make sure that it does not only bloom for one season, or is about to die. I typically only buy annuals that will bloom spring, summer, and fall. Why waste the money and energy having to dig up and replace a dead annual. Second, look at the discounted price versus full price. Is it really a good deal. Third, try to get perennials if you can. Perennials are usually more expensive and they are way less maintenance, plus they come back every year. Fourth, look at why it is on clearance. If it just needs a little TLC then get it, but if it looks diseased or like there is no possibility of rehabilitation then don't waste your money. If it has some brown spots or dead leaves that is ok.

These are some things that we have purchased on the clearance rack. Four knockout roses for anywhere from $3-4 a piece. That is 75% off. They all had outgrown their pots and were drooping over, but once we got them in the ground they did great. I'll post some pictures later. We wait until the end of July and then sure enough, knockout roses are all over the clearance rack. Knockouts are a fabulous, low maintenance rose bush. They get big over a few years and bloom in our area from April to November. I also bought a hibiscus topiary for $6 (50% off). I bought this flower a week ago and the only reason it was on the rack is because it was not blooming in that moment. I repotted it in a bigger pot, fertilized it, and watered it. Now I have a beautiful bloom wide open, which the hummingbirds keep visiting this morning, and lots more buds. I like the potted hibiscus because I can bring it inside in the winter. I have purchased numerous annual 6 packs in the discount section for 69 cents to a dollar. They always do great. Unless it is something we truly want, we buy almost all of our plants on the clearance rack. I have even bought indoor plants on the rack. They usually have lots of orchids and peace lilies on clearance. Now if only I could find a hydrangea on the clearance rack! Why pay full price if you don't have to?! Go try it out, just save some for me.