broke my first rule in buying plants,

16 years ago

Today, our motorcycle club had the annual dinner, for the childrens burn center in Kerville. This year they would not let me do anything, since I have a cast on my leg, so I just sat. I decided that since I was only 3 or 4 blocks from Fanick's nursery, I would go and see if they had anything I liked. They had two plants that had beautiful blooms, and I could not resist. I know better than buying plants this late in the summer, I never buy any plants after June.. I sure hope they make it. I bought a Lady Margaret passion vine, it was in full bloom, and a first lady phlox, It is just beautiful. It is much prettier than the fanicks phlox, I asked if it was as hardy, and was told yes. That was the selling point, and it is beautiful. I sure hope I did not make a mistake, and let my emotions get the best of me. I really had fun looking at all the plants, it was so unexpected, and the guy that was helping me was just a hoot, he said he retired from bell telephone co, 15 yrs ago, and loved plants so he got a job there. Barbra,

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Comments (19)

pjtexgirl
16 years ago
It's hard to resist plants isn't it? I know I'll have to baby them through July and that I should wait but there they are beckoning me!!! LOL!PJ
denisew
16 years ago
Heck, don't worry too much about your new plants. With all this rain we've been getting, I'll bet they will grow well for you. I've done that before and most recently a week ago. Sometimes we just can't help ourselves. I just bought and planted a purple flowering crape myrtle in my backyard. I have always wanted a purple one, so now I have one even though it is June. I'll just have to keep a watchful eye on it just as you will have to do with your new plants.
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michellesg
16 years ago
I ordered a boat load of bare root roses that have been soaking for 10 days now. They are fully leafed out. Can you believe that? It's this insane weather, I know it is. Any other year and they'd be toast by now, burnt toast. If these roses are thriving your passion vine and phlox will do fabulous. As long as they don't float away in all the water!
ltcollins1949
16 years ago
Barbra,

I'm still out of state, and Terry just got here Friday. He has been taking care of all my plants and says they look good. I sure hope so.

And why are you in a cast?

I'll be home later this week. If you are in RP let me know, and I'll come by and see you.
debndal
16 years ago
I've never broken any of my rules for buying plants. Uh, right! Problem is so many of the hot weather plants aren't available until it ..... gets hot! I bought a Pavonia yesterday - first time I've seen them all year. Also found some pigeonberry - which I couldn't resist.
Hope your leg heals real fast. I can't imagine having to wear a cast in this heat. Kinda like being 8 months pregnant in August!
red_geranium
16 years ago
Hope you are up and on soon! It has been beautiful riding weather down here between rain showers. We ride with Central Tesxas HOG and Central Texas Independent Rides and love to ride the Texas roads which are just beautiful! Back to gardening: I like to buy now because I can see what is blooming this time of year. What I have been doing is buying a huge bag of potting soil and putting it in a semi-shaded out of the way area. I slit the bag and poke holes in the flat bottom and plant my newbies there until it is cooler. It is called "heeling in" and is used mainly to carry over bare-rooted stuff in the Spring until the ground thaws----up North, way North! This also works if you buy rhizomes during the winter and want to give them a good start.
little_dani
16 years ago
I have been 8 months pregnant in August. It was my first try, I had no experience, and learned a lot from it. Heheehe.

I am still buying plants like I have good sense, which I don't obiviously, since I am still buying plants. I just pop them in the ground and baby them through summer. With the ground as wet as it is going in, they should be fine.

I am buying a lot of plants to propagate, so maybe that is a good excuse.................?????

What did you do to your leg? WHY are you in a cast?

Hope you get out of it quick.

Janie
michellesg
16 years ago
red geranium that's a great idea! I have 16 irises coming the end of this month and that's a perfect way of keeping them until fall. I love this forum!
honeybunny2 Fox
Original Author
16 years ago
Michelle, are you planning on opening a nursery? You sure have alot of plants to plant. I sent you an email and have not rec'd a response, it had my phone number and what days, I will be at home, for you to come by. Check your email, its been almost a week since I sent it. Both times I sent an email to you, was as a reply to the email you sent to me. Please check, and let me know if you still want to come by.

Linda I will be on vacation the week of July 1st, but they will remove my cast on 7-2-07, so I will be coming down that day, after they remove it. I went to the doctor with my knees, he asked about my ankle, since it was so swollen, told him I fell and hurt it Jan 1st. He sent me to the doctor that day, and I had mri's done on both my knees and ankle. I need knee replacements, and my ankle was all messed up, so they put me in a cast. I tell you, I am falling apart. July 17th they are going to do surgery on my right hand, and 3 of my fingers. My fingers lock, when I try to close my hand, so I am unable to close my right hand. So I will be coming down to Rockport to mend. I just love the sound of the sprinkler, and that is about all I will be able to do while I am down there. I start therapy, on my hands 3 days after surgery, so it will be a few weeks until I can come down, but I am looking forward to it. Barbra,
michellesg
16 years ago
Holy bejesus Barbra you're going to be a bionic woman by the time they're done with you!
I am so not happy with my e-mail account, I received nothing from you!! Did you get my e-mail with my phone #? If not try michellesgFBRN@gmail.com
There are 3 people that my hotmail account just straight up will not take. I've switched to gmail b/c I'm so irritated with Hotmail.
As for the nursery in the making why not? At least then I'll be able to have stuff for the next swap! Do you know how to propagate brugmansias? I wanna try it as soon as my plant gets bigger. Really though, it was all the on line summer sales combined with a brand new house with expanses of this evil bermuda grass. I need a volume mulch supplier something awful....
And if you need any hep in your garden while you're recouping let me know!
pjtexgirl
16 years ago
Poor hb2!!!! You are going to be the bionic woman!
Propagating brugs isn't hard. You put them in a bucket of water. They develop roots (I'll bet moist soil would work even better) you put them in dirt and keep them moist. Feed them a lot of tomato food(I'm organic so that's second hand) and bingo! A new brug. I have 4 this way. PJ
happyintexas
16 years ago
I buy plants all through the summer. As someone else said, hot weather plants aren't available until June and July.

Plant them, water deeply, and mulch, mulch, mulch.
beachplant
16 years ago
There are RULES for buying plants?
I tried that once, stuck with it a whole 15 minutes, till I went by the nursery & they FORCED me to stop.

I stick the brugs in the ground and they root just fine.
How can you resist buying plants? I bought a red mandevilla yesterday & 2 variegated tapiocas. Plus a tree fern. AND that doesn't include all the stuff I bought 2 weeks ago at that box place that has them 1/2 price. And since I have to go to the dermatologist on Thursday, which is OVER THE CAUSEWAY, I'll be forced to check out Lowes and a couple of places OVER THERE!!

Get well soon!
Tally HO!
pricklypearsatx
16 years ago
Michelle,

Did you order your roses via the mail?

I'm just curious...might be a little off topic, but mail order, in the summer? Do they fry? Or is it through a special company or special type of mailing?

There are a lot of good plants to be bought very afforably through mail order. (Probably my newest future indulgence)

Nothing like pouring over those wonderful catalogs.

My local nursery has a sale every August. Last year, I bought a bunch of plants and created a "heeling in" area in the shade. It was a pain to go out and water every night, but they were all in one place until I planted them in the fall.

Last week, I finally got my hands on Henry Duelberg salvia.
It was at a special plant sale. Those Duelbergs were gone quick. Luckily, me and some of my friends were the first ones there.

My husband is at Lowes now. If they still have their KO roses at 75 off, he's gonna nab one for me.

Beach Plant: Do we have any other option when Lowes discounts this stuff? Wouldn't that be a pitty if they threw those plants away? Or if someone else got them?

(DH just called. The KO's are still on clearance.)
honeybunny2 Fox
Original Author
16 years ago
Ok, if you guys can do it, so can I. I just got back from Lowes, and they had all their $5.99 and $6.99 perennials for 75% off. I just bought over 30 plants. I always buy in threes. They are hiding in the back of my car, until my dh goes to bed. Tomorrow they will be tucked tightly in between my flowers. I can't wait until next Monday, I get my cast off and will be headed down to Rockport with all my treasures in my trunk. I never thought about summer plants being only available during the summer. Beachplant you are a bad influence, after you posted, I thought that makes perfect sense, so I headed to Lowes. Barbra,
michellesg
16 years ago
Oh Barbra, you go girl!
Pricklypear I did buy all those roses through mail order in May and June. I have a spread sheet listed where they came from, how long in transit, how good they looked on arrival, bare root, potted, grafted, or own root. It's my summer experiment! The sales are so spectacular so I want to know what works or how well for next years sales.
I ordered from J&P (the best bare roots ever), David Austin, Parks Wholesale, and Ashdown. Ashdown was the only one that shipped in pots, the shipping was more expensive than the roses themselves. The cheapest were the roses from Parks, I got Heritage for $3.89. The average was about $8 per rose and I also got a weeping maple for $15 (it was flat rate shipping so I said why not?). All of them were Austin English roses (it's an addiction), the only ones that did do spectacular in the shipping were the 3 from Ashdown, since they had leaves and it's so darn hot they came with bs. Just another thing to note on the spreadsheet for next year. All the bare roots leafed out spectacularly in the water buckets so far except for 2 of the 3 Heritage's have only got a few buds on the canes. These will be potted and we'll se how they do. I really think the mild wet weather has something to do with this luck though, I mean it's June and in the 80's, unheard of!
pricklypearsatx
16 years ago
Michelle,

Thanks for the info. Now, I've just found new sources!!!
beachplant
16 years ago
There isn't a Lowes on the island and ya'll know I hate to drive over the causeway. The one in Texas City doesn't mark down stuff like the others seem to. And sometimes when you go to pay for them they are on sale, but nothing to tell you that. Hopefully they will be 75% off when I go there.
Tally HO!
honeybunny2 Fox
Original Author
16 years ago
Beachplant, I wish I could share with you. I live between 3 diffrent Lowes, and they all mark down diffrently. I know the ladies in the gardening depts. If you ask, sometimes they will do a cart sale, that is where you get an entire cart( blue cart) for $5. this is usually when I get all my vines, tree and shrubs. I usually get very good deals on plants and have to pass them up, since I do not have any place to plant them, and am tired of storing plants. When I retire in 2 1/2 years I will really be able to devote my time to my gardens. I plan to go to all the plant swaps, and meet everyone. Right now I work 8 to 10 hr days, so I just get by day by day, and am just a weekend gardener. This year, I will plant some plants in July and see how they do. I will let you know, how that turns out. I only got perennial, that bloom in the summer. Barbra,

broke my first rule in buying plants,

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