TSC Soil Sale and a $5 Coupon

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Yay!!! I cashed out my pittance survey bucks (they changed from paying cash to points. Say Wha?!) and I finally got my potting soil for Winter Sowing!
I am so freaking happy . . . you have no idea!

Ok, so someone local posted on a forum that Tractor Supply Company had Miracle Gro potting soil on sale for two bags for $7.

I already knew about the TSC printable coupon (goes to your email so you can print whenever) for $5 off $25, (expires April 2010) which was changed recently from the $5 off $20 one that expires Jan 31. Well, idiot me didn't want to waste ink if I wasn't going to use the coupon so missed the off $20. Yes, smacking myself in the forehead.

But, I now have 7 bags of MG to WS with!

~Doing the happy dance~

Oh, and a package of 'Early Sunglow Sweet Corn'. Well, I had to buy something to make up that last 50 cents so I could use the coupon. :)

Without all three things lining up, I wouldn't have been able to do any Winter Sowing this year. So, Woohoo for me!!
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Someone Stop Me!

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Here I was, all happy that I'd saved up some money to buy potting mix so I could start my Winter Sowing (I'm not really a slacker on the getting started - just jobless and broke) and I fell flat on my face.

My first mistake - setting foot inside a Lowe's.

My second mistake - setting foot in the plant clearance aisle.

Ugh!

I have about 100 houseplants. Really, I don't (don't!) need more.

But, there they were, all those sad, neglected, tortured, desperate to go home with someone that wouldn't abuse them plants.

I tried to turn around and not even check prices, I really did.
All right, so I have no self control when it comes to plants. None, nada, zip.
Telling my kids no doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as telling a plant no does. (yes, I talk to my plants - don't you?) Interesting, since kids talk back in that whiney voice and plants just sit there.
Lonely. Too dry. Drowning. Broken. Half their soil missing. In a drainless pot. Roots exposed. Rocks glued to the soil. No light. Sitting in the freezing drafts from the door.

See! not so easy to just turn your back on something that is crying out for help, is it?

I caved. There's no excuse for it. I just . . . did.

2 large hanging pots of ivy 'starling' for a buck each. (I know, I know, but I have a ridiculous weakness for ivy)
1 NOID dieffenbachia for a buck. (I think it's 'Sparkles')
2 moon cactus for 10 cents each.

~sigh~

Back to the drawing board to save up the pennies for the potting mix.

God, please help me to keep my eyes averted from the clearance aisle when I go to get the bag of mix or I may come home with more plants instead.
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Roadside Shopping

:)
People are chucking their spent mums . . . again.
Yay!
I picked up three big mums and a pumpkin large enough for about four loaves of pumpkin bread. I love it when people have money to throw away.
Clearance sales are still on at Lowe's - huge Boston fern and two 'Double Take' Spaths (left outside to get frosted - ugh!) for a buck.
Go me!

The weather looks like I'll be able to get the mums in the ground on Friday.
I got the Iris cut back for winter and did a lot of weed pulling. Most of the flowerbeds are cleaned up. I'm still doing that nit-picky thing I do, though. I can't help it!

Planted the garlic a month ago and they're growing very well. Transplanted the rhubarb into the garden at the same time - I don't know how they'll end up taking it. We'll see.

Collected some more seed - aster and Zebrina Malva. I'm hoping those don't become a thug.
The large pond pump and flow-through pumps have been turned off and the smaller winter pumps turned on. The koi are sulking, but it can't be helped. They'll be fine, as always.

Now comes the real limbo. Too much love for the houseplants while I twiddle my thumbs waiting to start the wintersowing. It won't be as much as previous years as I can't afford the potting soil. Oh, well. I'll just have to pick and choose a little more wisely about what I want most in the flowerbeds next year and use the peat I already have - whether appropriate or not. On a side note: I was a little miffed when someone mentioned that they bought eight bags of potting soil for 8 something a bag and thought that it was no big deal and pretty much petty change. Huh? When your figuring out which bill to pay and which to leave . . . ummmm, 60 something dollars is a lot of money! What the hell is wrong with people saying it's no big deal to just go blow 60 bucks on soil? I could almost see her shrugging her shoulders with the 'what's the big deal' attitude. Grrrr.

I need to sort through my seeds again and get them in order. Maybe I'll wait on that until after Christmas when I'll be ridiculously sick of having nothing gardenish to play in.

Still so far, so good on the rosemary.

I still need to tent my lavender with some burlap.

I found out that my Polka Dots are more of a pain in the ass than I thought they would be.

I can't get the stem rot stopped on those stupid begonias, so have about a thousand cuttings piled everywhere now. If I end up with not one begonia come spring, I'm gonna be hot!

The Majesty Palm is still puttering along and throwing up new spears.

Oh, and the weirdness for the month - a Foxglove and Lupine are flowering! What the frig is up with that? The snaps that are still in full bloom aren't a surprise, but the Lupine certainly is. Also had a Delph just get a very late bloom frozen off. Hmmm . . .

Plans are in the works to widen the garden next spring and plant potatoes again. Yay! We haven't had the room for them in years.

I may do some more roadside shopping this weekend. Hehehe.

A Luck-Out Garden Stuff Find

Woohoo!
I found such a ridiculous deal at Dollar General, it isn't even funny. I came home with over 120 dollars worth of garden stuff for . . . 12 bucks!

3 gallon carved terra cotta look-alike pots - 60 cents. (got 10)
1 gallon painted melamine pots - 20 cents. (grabbed 10)
Cute little pot feet - 30 cents.
Square glass vase - 30 cents. Glass stones for fill - 10 cents.
Hose watering extensions - 80 cents. (I can place my hanging baskets anywhere I want now!)
Wheeled pot movers - 30 cents. (they only had 2 left)
3 piece patio candle set - 35 cents. (got two, one for a gift - they're pretty!)
Large glass plates to use for saucers - 10 cents. (got the 14 they had left)

They had some other things, like tiki torches for 15 cents, and the regular white hanging pots, or trowels and hand rakes for ten cents, but I didn't get any as I was out of money at my twelve bucks. And that was because I'd found HUGE tropicals at Lowe's for a buck a piece! I got a sheffleria (to replace the one that got too cold in the house last year and died), Burgundy Ficus robusta, Asplenium nidus, a pink Peace Lily, a 6 foot Majesty Palm (I know-stop shaking your heads! I'm considering it a challenge) and a ridiculously huge Golden Pothos. I know I'm taking my chances with how cold it gets in here when we run out of heating oil, but for a buck, I'll take the chance. They had perennials for five bucks, and on the way out I saw a sign that said "all nursery, except mums, 50% off" so they were only 2.50 each. Ugh - to be rich for a day!

We'd stopped in Dollar General on Sunday and they had tons of the coconut-lined metal hanging pots that were 1.20 and with the new sale price would have been 40 cents, but someone must have gotten there before me and grabbed every single one of those on Monday when everything got priced dirt cheap. I wish I could have afforded them at the 1.20 price, I would have bought them all then.

All in all, it was a pretty good way to spend the 20 bucks I'd been hiding away for the last six months to splurge on something. Time to start snagging all that change I find around the house again. Maybe I'll have another twenty by spring!

This & That

I haven't started winter sowing yet. I'm such a slacker! I just can't seem to get myself motivated to start. Maybe it's just that this year started out so depressing. Geesh, pretty soon it'll be time to put up the light stand and get bell peppers started. I've never been behind enough that I've had my peppers started before I've had my winter sowing containers half done!

The Martagon lily seed I started back in December are bulbing out nicely. Come March they'll be hitting the fridge for their 'cool' period until plant out time in June. The ones I did last year looked pretty healthy last fall, so hopefully my 'halvesies' problem turned out to be a good thing with these - successive years of bloom. :) We'll see.

I tried starting Lavender 'Lady' seed again. Third try. I'm a little peeved that I don't have any problems starting those supposedly hard germinators, yet, can't get easy-peasy lavender to germinate! What's up with that?

Walgreen's has their .10 cent sale going and I found some Hungarian Wax peppers to start for youngest son. I don't think they had as much of a selection of seed as they did last year. Of course, the first store we stopped at didn't have them and the manager was insistent that all the stores in that area get the exact same deliveries, so if they didn't have them in yet, the rest wouldn't. The hubs decided we needed to check anyway (cause who trusts most of what these employees say?) and sure enough - the other stores had seeds! Now, you would think that if there's a coupon online and in their papers that they'd have the advertised product, right? Heh. Anyway, they're getting the paper towel germ treatment so I can stick them in the big pots with the purple potato vine for the patio.

And, while we were out and about, we just had to stop at Lowe's. The hubs spotted $40 pots of Dracaena Massangeana/Dracaena Marginata/Schefflera arboricola for 5 bucks. Yes, one absolutely had to come home with us. The poor things were not happy. With a little care they'll be fine, and I'll have no more floor space. :) I think I'll repot them all in containers of their own come spring.

I finally got the guts to dig out my peacock orchid bulbs. ~sigh~ Poor things were already sprouting in their mesh bag, but didn't look too good. No way would they have made it any longer out of soil, so they got potted up and I'll see what happens.

The rhododendron and azaleas sprouts are still looking pretty darn good! I'll get them transplanted to separate cells when I get the light stand up to get the peppers started. I haven't counted, but I bet there are at least 50 still going good. Hopefully I can get at least a few to make it through until planting out in spring 09. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll eventually get some blooms so I can get a pic with the daughters cell and send it off to Sharon at The Willow Garden and let her know something came of her generosity!

I also found some Moon and Stars watermelon seed. How sad is it to be just about jumping up and down in the store because you found a freaking package of seed?! People must think I'm nuts.

I really, really want to try Dahlia seed this year. I'm going to have to haunt Walmart for them because I figure there's no way the Dollar store will have them, or that Lowe's will have them at a price I can afford. I'd order them, but with the shipping cost, no way. Man, I hate skimming the seed and plant catalogs and drooling over things I'll never have. It's like some kind of self-punishment/torture!

And, finally, I think hell has frozen over - my sister-in-law brought home some poinsettias that someone threw away and is doing very, very well at keeping them alive and healthy! Will wonders never cease?!

After-Christmas Sales Rock

Oh, man! Talk about a deal. Almost as good as the sale I got way back when.

4 Poinsettias (pots of 3 - red, white, salmon) = .50 cents each.
My grandmother had one she kept coming back for years and years, so for 2 bucks, what the hay, I'll give it a shot! Besides, the large pots themselves were worth the 50 cents. And the hubs makes cardboard boxes, so shouldn't be hard to get some for their 'dark' phase. lol.

5 Cyclamens = .50 cents each. And with pretty, hot pink and gold, woven pot covers! Yeah, another you have to diddle with to come back, but I'm game for the try. My problem is going to be letting them go dormant, I can see it now.

4 Christmas Cactus = .25 cents each. Can you believe I've never had one? Yes, I am hanging my head in shame. What kind of a gardener am I, anyway? Gave one to the oldest daughter to try.

$5.50 for $215.00 worth of plants! Yeah, us geeks actually figured out what they would have been at normal price. Ha! I'm ecstatic!

So, then we hit Kmart's 50% off sale. And . . . I am almost done with my parents for next Christmas! Unreal! I've never been this far ahead. Ever. I've found things here and there sometimes at after Christmas sales, but this was a wicked hit when they still had good stuff left. And I only spent 40 bucks. 40 bucks! I'll still have to get them a few more things, like some Charlie for my step-mom, but dang!

Ran into AC Moore's quick to see if I could find some Christmas stamps for the seedcards next year, and lo and behold - a whole stamp set, ink and all, for 4 bucks! And the hubs actually found it! Good thing he did because some guy came up behind him about twenty seconds later and took ever single one that was still on the shelf!
Oh, and cute little ornament kits for the kids to make as a gift for step-mom for .40 cents. The youngest and I try to find something cool and 'crafty' to do for her every year, so this was perfect.

What a great weekend.
:)

Fall Buys

I found some .99 clearance deals at Lowe's.

I actually won at bingo, so splurged a little, but still felt guilty. Of course, I had to reverse that by buying pants on sale for my youngest daughter. She needed them and they were only 6.99 AND buy one get one free. Hah, I love sales!

Anyway, I got 2 Ipomoea, Sweet Caroline Purple.
2 Setcreasea purpurea, Purple Queen
1 Mayapple
1 Trout Liliy
1 Virginia Blue Bell
1 Jack-In-The-Pulpit

And some packages of wildflower seed (for our wild patch) at the dollar store for .06! That's pretty much all they had left. The rest of the dollar stores were completely cleaned out. I don't know what I'm going to do about onion seed this year now. I have some veg seed left from last year and I've saved some of my own, so I'm hoping it'll be enough and they have a high germ rate or we're screwed.

The Purple Queen and the Ipomoea will go in the twin pots of spike plant. I'll have to 'pinch and poke' to get the pots full inside over the winter, (already in as it's 34 degrees!) but they both propagate pretty readily. I'm not quite as sure the Trout Lily will do as well. The packing media seemed really dry. Not good since they aren't supposed to be allowed to dry out - ever. We'll see.

My oldest daughter's ex-boyfriends grandmother (whew, mouthful) stopped up to collect some seed from the flowerbeds. Oh, I soooo hope the wintersowing goes well for her! She's such a sweet elderly lady. She's the one that asked if we'd like the plants from her mother's property when she finally had to go to the nursing home. The woman is almost 100 and was pretty devestated when a very young couple bought her house and could have given a rats a** about the plants when they plowed over everything to make an ATV and snowmobile track. And they cut all her lovely trees down. Ugh!

Anyway, I gave her seeds for everything in my yard that she didn't already have. Now I have my fingers crossed that all goes well for her.

A Little Bit Of Everything

I was a naughty girl :(
I splurged and spent 3.48 on 2 Victoria rhubarb roots.

I couldn't help myself...really, I swear. They just jumped into my hand and begged to be taken home. Ever heard a rhubarb beg? The whining is very disconcerting! (though it was difficult to seperate theirs from mine) They had to come home with me.

The hubster revolted at my act of bringing home more garden strays by tempting some onion starts to come to the register with him. Like I don't have enough started in the house from seed?! Of course, he had to point out that all I was getting for that 3.48 were 2 roots, while he, on the other hand, got 100 for 1.59.

Bah! So what? Mine taste better. So there! Ok, nevermind he absolutely hates rhubarb. lol.

Hubby has decided we need a bigger garden. Yay! Where else would I put those hundreds of brussel sprout sprouts? I am so very, very glad he's decided to really get into it this year. Though he doesn't really like much of what I'm growing to specifically fill the freezer with, I'm overjoyed that he's willing to give everything a go and save some grocery money next winter. Well, nevermind that if I wasn't growing them, I certainly wouldn't be paying what they want for this stuff in the store! So, it's either grow it or go without. Ummm, I'd rather not go without, thanks.

I started the tomatos last weekend.The yellow pears that I got from Kim were the first to pop. Right behind them were the seeds I'd saved from some San Marzano years ago. And, shock of shocks - 10 year old seeds from Ace 55 sprouted, along with some just as old Cherry! Unreal!

So, ready to harden off and head outside (when the weather finally cooperates!)

Broccoli (8")
onions (fat, tall and beautiful)
brussel sprouts (6")
cauliflower (7")
cabbage (7")
lettuce (buttercrunch-still looking unbelievably healthy, so far)

Other:
Peppers (4th set of true leaves, 5", though turning a bit yellowish)
Moonflower (12" and still going slowly due to the house being so cold)
Buddleia (12" and quit growing due to cold-they are not happy)
Impatiens (still looking good and blooming despite everything)
Elephant Ear (just plain old pissed off and looking grumpy)

No Winter Sown sprouts in my containers yet, which I'm actually glad of since we're suppose to get at least a foot of snow (Nor'Easter for Pete sake!) into Monday. How smart are they? Guess I'll be waiting a while to WS those annuals Sissy sent me :( I'm so glad I didn't let my impatience get the best of me with them. I may have 'Sissy' sprouts yet! lol. This spring has been a total bust so far! It better be a freaking fantabulous summer to make up for all this ridiculousness.

I'm still psyched about the sprouts from 10 year old seeds! I'm gonna go stare at 'em some more :)

Oh, and for a good chuckle: Secret Dubai diary - The litigious palm tree

Cheap Seeds (For Winter Sowing?)

Buck a pack!

~nudge, nudge~

I found Teresa Daly's site- 'T's Flowers & Things' - ages ago, but never thought of passing it on...Duh!
Yeah, I'm slamming my head on the desk. Never thought of it cause, well, even at a dollar each, I can't afford to buy the seed, so...

Anyway, she's an independant seller, so if you need cheap seed, why not give her your support?
I can't vouch for her since I've never purchased from the site, but I imagine she would have been long gone by now if she wasn't up to par. Besides, the woman posts her home phone number for pete sake! Imagine if she gave bad seed or service? lol.

Ok, all done pushing the small business people :) But you can never, ever have enough Winter Sowing seeds, ya know!

Pushing it

Yay! Garden Voices seems to be fixed.

Carol, over at May Dreams Gardens, is starting her Amaryllis early this year. I have to admit, I've never really had success with them. Ok, the one I got as a gift one year croaked on me and I haven't tried again since because they're suppose to be easy, right?

But, back in late September, I found some Peacock Orchids on clearance at Kmart for 50 cents. I couldn't help myself. 15 bulbs for 50 cents? I've never been able to afford these, so thought I'd best jump at that kind of deal!

So, home with me they came, under the delusion that they'd sit happily sleeping until spring. Then I peeked into the edge of the package. Poor things were already sending out shoots that were a good six or seven inches long and curling around the bulb with nowhere to go. And here I am thinking, "My God! They must be screaming in there with having had no light and no water for, what, almost 12 months or more?" If you figure they'd been packaged last fall for spring planting, well, that'd be about right.

After a quick weighing of choices, I figured there was no way they would make it to spring without just drying up into withered little balls. So here I was rushing through the house scouting out a doable pot, rustling up some suitable soil and mumbling about, "Those poor babies!" My kids roll their eyes at each other and twirl a finger close to their ears while D just sighs.

Well, as of now I think I'm really in trouble. It seemed they were so happy to be nestled back into some dirt that they've grown to 3 feet already! Some had a bit of a problem unwrapping themselves enough to find 'up' so a few leaves are a little curly, but they are otherwise happy campers. Now I'm stuck with what to do with them all the way through winter and into spring until plant out time. I wonder if they'll live that long or figure out I'm a complete idiot. I guess we'll see...

Wow!

What a deal!
Popped into Lowe's to see how bad the bill was going to be to replace my sewing room roof (just one of the casualties of the tornado), and of course I just had to check the garden center.
Bingo! $17.99 hanging impatien and vinca baskets for 25 cents...omg! There were 13 there so grabbed a few for cuttings. There were a couple old ladies giving me that 'what the hell does she expect to do with flowers that'll be dead in a month' look. Hehe, yeah, but they won't be dead babes! And anyways, the freaking potting soil was worth the quarter.
So, the cashier guy sees me eyeing over the rest, cause maybe I want just one more color, lol, and D is busy asking "Are you done yet?", so the cashier (love those young guys who just could care less) says, "Tell you what, I'll make you a deal." He thinks for a second, counts slowly and says, "Give you all of them for 2 bucks." Well, hell, YES!
Now he's gotta get an over-ride on the cash register. Like I care I have to wait? I'm getting 13 hanging pots of not-to-bad-looking plants for 2 bucks!
Manager finally shows up to do the over-ride and gives them to me for 5 cents each! 5 freaking cents! And then happened to find spirea for 2 bucks.
Made my whole dang day! :) Talk about a happy camper.
On the way home, I decided we needed a quick trip to the 'bad' store. Ahem. Huge bale of peat for 3 bucks because the bag was broken open.
Needless to say - was a darn good luck-out day.
Good Lord, there are cuttings everywhere. Good thing I had the foresight to make thousands of paper pots for winter sowing......