After several years away I ordered this year from Bluestone and was perfectly happy with plants, packing and arrival time.

There are still a couple of places around here where you can buy small perennials (2 inch pots) for $3 - $4. I have a couple of 4-packs of perennial sitting in the driveway waiting to be planted that were $1.99. None of these are fancy cultivars, but it depends on what you are looking for.

Perhaps it's justification, but I average out my plant additions. I might get some plants that are expensive, but then I balance that out by starting things from seed or cuttings or divisions from friends. I buy some things on sale or at really low prices, and others that I really want at full price.

Also, in my growing situation, current Bluestone plants are much healthier than the old ones, so I now get 100% survival unlike the old plants. I don't have to pay to dispose of (or ship back) all those grubby styrofoam peanuts and it used to take me an inordinate amount of time to unpack the old Bluestone boxes, gently teasing leaves and peanuts apart, unlike the current 5 minutes. So while it would be lovely to pay less in money, I feel like it costs me less in time and aggravation.

My final justification is that I'm pretty frugal in most other things, so spending a bit on plants is OK as long as I don't go overboard.

The justification for raising the prices so precipitously was the price of oil for heating the greenhouses. You never see prices come down when the underlying excuse is removed. : /

I buy from garden club plant sales and grow from seed, but mostly I get (or will get now that I have a garden again) from plant swaps. Now that's a bargain!

I feel your pain. But the plant costs have gone up everywhere like everything. It is so expensive to pay a high price for a small 3" plant and add shipping to the cost is to expensive for what you get.

I try to find my plant locally and have had great luck with my local nursery and Lowes have the best markdown rack in town.

I can go to Lowes any day of the week and find markdown plants for 1.00 to 5.00.

My local nursery has good sales and coupons and I look for those days. Usually early Spring they have a 75% sale on perennials and bushes that did not sale last year. The plants i get locally are gallon size not those tiny mail order things.

The only online I have ordered from in the last few years is Santa Rosa. I liked them but they have disappointed me the last two orders so I will probably start backing away from them too.

In the larger bricks and mortar nurseries they want to sell gallons for $14which just stops me cold. In April and early May I don´t feel a need for a huge gallon plant that´s growing a month ahead of normal flowering time.

However, they usually have smaller plants ¨early bird¨ specials for for $ 3 or $3.50 each if you buy 5.

I have noticed gallon plants are shipped into in smaller nurseries where potted plants are add ons to their produce and deli business. The buyer told me it is much easier to keep gallons alive. I certainly see that with the reduced number of sale items at end of season. They also ship in pre planted bowls and pots;

These kinds of sales don´t interest me much but it is obviously convenient and attractive to people who don´t have the time and inclination to do it themselves.

I really really miss the privately owned niche nurseries that used to be out in the country. The owners just retired or got too old and the property was worth a fortune by then. Nothing can replace them. So I travel further and further afield to the ever diminishing number of private nurseries. And because Iḿ unlikely to make the trip twice in a season I spend way too much, as though its the last chance in my life to buy these plants.

I like to run with scissors in my friends yards. I have friends with amazing plants. I swap at plant swaps and then I drive a thousand miles to buy plants in New Mexico, picking seeds and taking cuttings off the roadside there and back. I will also order from Plant delights and pay $18each for agaves that were just identified in the Huasteca canyon. All is relative. I have a zillion plants going in the garden. Most were free. Plants at my nursery average $6 per gall and $2 for a 4".I guess they spend less on gas to heat the green houses. As addictions go, this one is still not breaking the purse or back too hard.

This is a great time of year to find elementary school spring fairs which often sell plants. Just came home from one. Plants leftover at the end go for steep discounts off already low prices. Plus the money goes to a great cause!

I just wanted to commiserate with you. I remember discovering Bluestone from this forum where you'd get three small but healthy plants for what one costs today. I still have a lot of them including a huge spirea that started as a twig. I don't know what they did that made their plants take off so well. Yeah, those were the days.

I second the local school, church and garden club plant sales. A lot of them are spreaders and boundary jumpers, however, because that's what people have the most of to donate.

Thanks, folks! Glad I'm not alone. Maybe I need to explore the nurseries that are outside of my home city more. There are TONS, but all require a lot of driving to check out, which is hard with my toddler. The local mastery gardening group also has a good plant sale in the spring, but it is mostly vigorous spreaders like Marie said.

I think I may gear up for a Santa Rosa order soon, but can anyone tell me why they don't sell anemones?! I guess that's a good example of the sort of plant I'm looking for, as it's rarely in small club sales, but isn't so exotic that I should have to pay $20 a gallon.

I haven't ordered much from Bluestone since they raised their prices so much. Not that the quality isn't good, but if I can find it at the local nursery, its always 1/2 the price. Of course, Bluestone has a much larger selection, so sometimes if I want something different, I will order from them. And don't forget their Memorial Weekend sale, lots of plants to choose from 1/2 price. I do sow perennials from seed if seed is available, this is the cheapest way to get perennials by far.

By anemones, do you mean Japanese anemones, like Honorine Jobert? They are nasty things pot up or transplant. Once established, they grow like weeds, but we rarely have them in the plant sale because we lose so many of them in the potting up process, and they will not overwinter in pots.

I am lucky that in my area that there a several nurseries that offer a much better selection and better quality that the big box stores. However, for the uncommon stuff you have to go mail order which is usually more expensive. I belong to a plant coop which also offers great deals. The bottom line is that gardening for me is a passion that does no come cheap.

I just looked at Bluestone's website. Hadn't been in years. Noticing in particular their prices on ornamental grasses is significantly higher than local independent nurseries and higher than Santa Rosa Gardens as well. I do remember big sales on three packs. Used to split with a friend.

I am increasingly utilizing more *old-fashioned* *tried and true* perennials that are easier/cheaper. Having gardening friends happy to share helps!