In Defense Of Big Box Stores

I'm all for a good boycott and I really want to shop at smaller privately owned businesses. I get it. But the big box stores make it very difficult and I don't feel like the little guys are doing all they can to get my business.

Case in point, plants from Home Depot (or Lowes) versus plants from J&P. Last summer I purchased 26 Simplicity Hedge Roses from J&P and was very pleased with them. They arrived in good condition, and all 26 bloomed profusely all summer long. See below.But 3 of them did not make it through the winter. J&P says I can only return them within 60 days and that they can't be responsible for harsh weather or neglect, so I'm stuck with these 3 dead roses. Is it reasonable that I selectively neglected 3 of the roses in the middle of the 26? Or that the weather was harsher on those 3 than the other 23? Doubtful. My problem is that, had I purchased these from my evil neighborhood big box store, I could simply yank them out of the ground and return them for a refund, or exchange them for 3 new ones. But unfortunately I do not have that option.

As a consumer, how can I justify buying from this company in the future? Must I rely solely on my willingness to take a bigger risk for these non-big box stores. Shouldn't these companies meet me half way on the sacrifice? I'm even willing to pay higher prices and travel further to shop but when I don't get a quality product and the return policy doesn't even allow me an exchange, I struggle to justify it.

I don't expect smaller companies to be able to offer competitive pricing but I do expect them to have the best quality plants and buffing up their return policies so that they match the big box bullies seems like the least they could do. And if they are not willing to do that, then I'm not sure I'm willing to make the sacrifice.

Am I wrong about this? Somebody, please, help me see the light.

I'm a Winner - AGAIN!

I won my football pool again last week! Here are my options:

Big Pot - they should be on sale now, right?

Dirt - I suppose I need to cover the new beds in the front that now just have leaves and newspaper.

Start a patio fund - I'd like to get a patio done at the earliest possible time next spring so maybe I should start saving now?

On the subject of neighbors:
I noticed that, this time when my neighbors on either side raked their leaves, they piled them at the side of their property line closest to mine. I think they are doing this so I can use them for my garden since they saw me out there vacuuming them up last weekend. Isn't that nice!! So, I'm off to take advantage of them. Is 8:45 too early for the loud leaf blower?

On the subject of seeds:
I'm participating in the Garden Bloggers Seed Trade that Colleen organized (see link on my blog) and I'm making my 3rd trade this week! I'm pretty excited about this! I really can't wait till next spring. I think I'm going to turn my basement into a greenhouse (or whatever it's called) so that I can start some seeds indoors. Coupled with the Winter Sowing I plan to try, I should be off to a great start on plants next spring, huh?

Are You A Sneaky Shopper?

Yesterday when I went to buy my new leaf blower/chopper upper, I was lured over to the shrubs and trees by an evil 75% off sign. 75% OFF! THAT IS PRACTICALLY FREE, PEOPLE! I was immediately drawn to this Weigela Wine & Roses for $6.25. Now, since I've never heard of this shrub let alone read about the growing conditions I decided it would be best to go home, research it and ask an experienced gardener if it's too late to plant it (thanks, Carolyn!). After all, 6 bucks is 6 bucks. After getting the nod of approval from Carolyn I decided to run by HD and pick up a couple after work today. I just love the deep green and burgundy leaves and apparently it has a nice pink flower, too. So I get to HD this afternoon all excited and there were none left!!! I just kept cussing myself for not grabbing them when I had the chance. I'm trying so hard to break this impulse buying habit. Then, off in the distance I saw one little homely plant that looked sorta like the ones I'd seen yesterday but it had no tag with a name, just a number. As I was making my way into the cashier to ask her to look it up for me I see these 2 carts filled with beautiful shrubs over in the corner. 5 beautiful Weigela Wine and Roses along with lots of other beautiful things. I asked the very young cashier if they were sold and she says "Not that I know of. Go ahead and take what you want and I'll just tell them I didn't know they were sold if they ask me." Crap! A moral dilemma over a damn shrub! I'm thinking that whoever stumbled on these was just as happy as I was and probably put them all to the side to go home to get the truck. What do I do??? I saw them first!! I was just trying to be responsible!! So, I took 2. Not only did I take 2, but I pulled the cart out, took every one of the Weigelas off and picked the absolute best looking 2 and put my little raggedy one on the cart. Not only did I take the best 2 but I actually looked at all the other shrubs on the cart - this person had very similar taste as mine. I condsidered buying others but thought better of it. THAT seemed wrong. All is fair in love and end of season plant sales!!

Am I going to hell for this? What is proper etiquette for plant sales? This whole hiding plants on a cart reminds me of when you find a shirt you love and they only have one left in your size so you hide it in some other whole section like men's jeans hoping nobody will buy it till you come back.

What about you guys? Are you sneaky shoppers? What would you have done in my situation?

Gardening Charlie Brown Style

Here's the shrub sale section at my neighborhood garden center. It's wayyyyyyyyyyy in the back so nobody sees the sickly little plants unless they are really looking for them. I could be wrong, but I think I really scored today! I haven't been this excited about a bargain in a while. Here are my 5 new Charlie Brown shrubs. I got them all for 40 bucks! I took Jodi's suggestion and scraped the wood to make sure I saw green. I think all these are alive, but we'll see. Thanks for the tip, Jodi!

Here's the Limelight Hydrangea. This is the only plant I knew for sure I wanted to pick up today. It's another one of the plants that I was seduced into buying after reading Carolyn Gail's post about it's awesomeness. The very nice garden center lady (NGCL) who rode up on her golf cart to help me says this is actually in good shape. She told me to plant it right away but don't prune since it blooms on old wood. It's really nice sized.

Here's the Tardiva Hydrangea. There is definitely some dead parts on this plant but I'm hoping it can be saved.

This is suppose to be a Japanese Kerria. Nice NGCL threw this in for 5 bucks. After seeing a few of them yesterday when I stopped in, I came home and looked up Kerria on the Internet. I love that it grows in shade and the little yellow flowers were cute. I think this goes in the Good Neighbor Garden. I wish I knew if I liked these. They had several more like it.

Nice NGCL talked me into this Viburnum. I was trying to decide between this and a Tinkerbelle Lilac. Actually, I didn't even look at this Viburnum until she said "HEY, HOW ABOUT THIS VIBURNUM? I THINK YOU'LL REALLY LIKE IT!" The label just says "Fragrant Viburnum." Is that an actual variety or just some generic name they slapped on it because they forgot which one this was?

Here's my surprise find. It's a Bailey's Redtwig Dogwood. I was so drawn to the red stems that I had to ask about it. NGCL said it only gets about 6 feet tall so I thought I'd be crazy to pass it up.

Guess what I'll be doing this evening?

So that's it. 5 shrubs for 40 bucks. How'd I do?

Sale On Mostly Dead Shrubs

Ever since I was told by almost every single person who reads my blog that I need taller shrubs or grasses in my backyard beds, I've been thinking of what I should plant back there.

Today I popped in my neighborhood landscape/garden center to see if they had any great sales. Most stuff was about 25% off. The old guy who works there said I should go to the back to check out the 10 dollar sale. They had a whole section of shrubs regularly priced around $40 for 10 dollars each. I saw 3 hydrangeas back there and a bunch of other crap that I've never heard of. Limelight, PeeGee and Tardiva only identifiable by their tags all looked pretty dead to me. The old garden center guy assured me that, since they had some new growth, they'd be okay next year. 2 of the 3 were very nice sized plants.

What do you think? Is it worth it to buy 3 mostly dead Hydrangeas for 10 dollars each? I'm thinking of going back tomorrow unless somebody talks me out of it.

There Is More To Me Than Just Veggies

Coreopsis Rosa - this was a plant that was recommended when I asked for plant suggestions. I love it!

Not all the plants that I bought on that day are blooming but some are. Here is what I brought home along with an update on how they are doing. Thank you all for your suggestions! I'll post pictures of your recommended plants here and there as I'm able to tear myself away from the kitchen garden.

Bachelor Button
Centaurea Mantara Blue - not looking so hot but I think this was one that I just picked up all on my own

Catmint
Walkers Low - doing great! I actually got this for 75% off and the poor thing looked so raggedy but it has really recovered. Thanks for the suggestion, Carolyn!

Coral Bells
Heuchera sanguinea - this is just doing average. I think it's a bad location but I'm still hoping...

Coral Bells
Heuchera micranthea
Purple palace - I already moved this once because it was frying in the sun. It's behind the twiggy peach tree and doing a little better because it casts a slight shadow on it but I think both coral bells would be happier in the front yard immediately under the shrubs with no sun.

Sweet William
Dianthus barbatus - this is alive but not blooming.

Cosmos
Sonata White - this is doing great! It's blooming like crazy.

Lady's Mantle
Thriller - i love this little plant but again I think it is not happy where it's planted. I need to move it to a shady location.

Yarrow (paprika)
Achillea millefolium - this is a brown twig at this point. maybe it'll come back next year

Rudbekia
don't know the variety but it's the big giant yellow one - this was really struggling in the late afternoon until I added the woodchip mulch. God Bless Mulch! Rudbekia is very happy!

Bleeding Heart
Adrian Bloom - houston we have a problem! I picked this one based on something my mom said but I don't think it's happy

Coreopsis
Early Sunrise - growing well and should have flowers by the Sunday!

Pentas (red) - looks okay one day and near death the next. No clue what's wrong with this one but this is another I picked myself.

Phlox Paniculata
Laura - looking great! Carol recommended a different Phlox and although I'm still looking for Creme de menthe, Laura is helping me wait.

Phlox Paniculata
Elisabeth - this one was on clearance at HD for 3.33 and it's the saddest thing you've ever seen. the leaves are shriveled and the bloom is very droopy but has produced additional flowers since I've planted it. I don't know what to do for this poor thing but I'm hoping it will recover or at least come back next year looking healthier.

Hollyhock
Powderpuff Mix - huge leaves, probably way too big for the space but it's looking good

Delphinium elatum
Magic fountains - dead and covered with weeds. RIP Delph

Shasta Daisy
Alaska - I bought this because I planted seeds that didn't grow and I really want one. It's not looking good either. Shasta's just don't like me.

Week in Review

First baby watermelon

1. I found watermelons! The one in the picture is golf ball size. I have no idea how long it'll take before we can eat it but I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T WAIT!
2. I asked for plant suggestions and got a bunch of great ones, went shopping and bought many from the list! I'll post the list this week.
3. Carol called attention to my blog on her blog. I FEEL FAMOUS! (I also feel famous when I get reblogged on Garden Voices.)
4. I found an awesome strawberry pot on Craigslist.com for 5 bucks! I was a bit paranoid to go to the lady's house but she was SO NICE! Thank you nice Craigslist lady!
5. I used some of my fresh basil! I made tomato basil soup.
6. I planted one of the Coral Bells in the sun, it freaked out, I moved it behind the little peach tree and it perked up after the sun stopped shining on it. I don't want to move it to the front yard. Come on CB, you can do it! Would it be crazy to put an umbrella over it? I saw that on somebody's blog.
7. I unknowingly shopped at the same plant place as Mr Brown Thumb, another Chicagoan.
8. I ruined another 2 pair of gym socks from gardening. I wear gym shoes and then my socks are just disgusting.
9. I found out what the unknown bushes are outside the house and got some great advice on how to improve my curb appeal. Thank you everyone!
10. I put fish emulsion on my flowers. It smelled and looked disgusting and due to that I will probably never use it again, unless it turns out to be a magic plant potion. I don't know if I got some up my nose or what but I still smell it. YES, I showered.

First of freshly picked basil

Garage bedRoses are looking good. Grass - not so much...Shopping spree

Suggest a "MUST HAVE PLANT"

I'm going bargain plant shopping again this weekend and I need your suggestions!

Recommend 1 plant that I should make sure to try to pick up at the end-of-season sale. I need your wisdom! If you love it, it doesn't really matter to me if it's an annual, perennial or biennial as long as I can either enjoy it a little this year, or see it again next year. Know of a plant I should make sure not to buy? I'd love to know that too!

I have mostly full sun and lots of space in my new backyard flower beds.

Thank you!