July Annuals Frugalty Alive and Well

17 years ago

For years I've been buying on-sale annuals on the verge of reseeding to stick here and there. If I get any bloom or if they grow on, it's a bonus. Some of them take for the next year and I get a kick out of instant color for next to no money.

Yesterday, I was thrilled to meet a young girl who was looking for the same thing at a great little nursery in Palmer, MA. She told me that her grandmother had started a "July Garden" many years ago and that now it was a beautiful expanse of annuals that cause people to stop their cars.

What do you do with your bargain annuals? Selfish question since this kid got me motivated and I now have about three flats worth of stuff. LOL

Martie

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Comments (10)

Sue W (CT zone 6a)
17 years ago
Buy more pots...hehehe.

Actually, July is a good time to see where you have holes in the border. The majority of plants have probably filled their spaces for the season. Along the same lines...just about every time I pinch my coleus I save a few of the cuttings to root. Coleus root so easily and take off fast in warm weather. It's easy to get carried away and overrun with coleus. At some point I just start planting them out in places where I need a splash of color.

Sue
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mskee
17 years ago
Oh, yeah, container gardening!! Or, dig up more lawn!!

I just went and got a bunch of plants, buy one, get one. Now, after reading this thread, I have to go get more. I can blame it on heat stroke.

I love that idea of the "July garden..."

Emily
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barefootinct
17 years ago
I am now putting my fingers in my ears and going "Lalalalalala". I am supposed to be weeding today! Do not encourage me to go to the nursery to buy annuals to replace spent plants in the beds and containers. You evil gardeners!

Patty :)
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siennact
17 years ago
Which annuals reseed well? I am so unlucky with seeds that it is embarassing, maybe if I don't even TOUCH the seeds I will have better luck!
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Sue W (CT zone 6a)
17 years ago
The three reseeders I can count on are Poppies, Cleome and Verbena bonariensis. I've selectively thinned the Cleomes in one spot where they are all white but they also come in pinks and purples. Due to the unusually warm winter Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue' has reseeded for me this year. Morning glories can also be heavy reseeders. In the right spots, some of these plants can reseed to the point where they take over but I've never had a problem keeping them under control with a bit of early season yanking.

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sedum37
17 years ago
Another one to add for the reseeders is snapdragons. Just leave the dried seed heads on in the fall and they will readily reseed in spring time. In fact sometimes the snapdragons overwinter in my garden so I don't usually pull them out until spring.

Sue
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spartangardener
17 years ago
Amaranthus purple feather, calendula, silene, cosmos, nicotiana, larkspur, sunflowers and annual rudbeckias all have reseeded for me very well.
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diggingthedirt
17 years ago
I have a wonderful stand of nicotiana that appeared out of nowhere in JUST the right place, I think the seeds went through the compost pile and these are offspring of some plants I'd mistakenly put in the vegetable garden years ago. I also had lots of tender salvia reseed this year.

Bachelor buttons, calendula and sweet alyssum always reseed freely too. Veerbena bonariensis often survives winter, and reseeds more than I'd like - but I just leave a few of them wherever they pop up, mostly.

Yeah, a July garden is a great idea, and I especially love the idea of ripping out lawn for this purpose.
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martieinct
Original Author
17 years ago
GW should really be GE -- Garden Enablers!! LOL

Many varieties in my flats have been mentioned, and Portulaca stands as my all-time fav reseeder. I've had some luck with summer savory on the herb end. Datura and Queen Anne's Lace on the wild side have been known to end up in the gardens, quite happily. Don't forget gourds! Crazy configurations have come out of the compost pile.

Others mentioned are giving me great ideas .... No lawn rip up this year but a July garden has been added to the "park" plans for year four.

Since the idea of this is Frugalty, Sue, $$ for pots doesn't make sense, but there is a lot of slightly chipped stuff on those mark-down tables. Hmmmmmmmm. Always the ability to justify :-)

Martie
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runktrun
17 years ago
My annual re-seeders remind me of a stray cat that would show up from time to time. It always showed up when we would least expected it and asked for very little. Some that have returned for many years now are digitalis, nigella, cleome, and one that I have long since forgotten it's name. kt
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July Annuals Frugalty Alive and Well

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Sue W (CT zone 6a)

mskee

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July Annuals Frugalty Alive and Well

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