Saturday, September 23, 2017

Fall Plants

I went to Walmart today.  I am perfectly happy shopping at Walmart for brand-name stuff and AFAICT, their generic stuff is just fine.  They buy their generic dishwashing liquid and aspirin from the major manufacturers anyway.  On the other hand, they also sell the cheapest appliances (like M/W ovens that are near the bottom of the Consumer Reports ratings and I don't buy those. 

And they usually have cheap plants and yard supplies.  The same brand of Product X is typically 10-20% cheaper at Walmart than at Home Depot or Lowes and I want to reward cheaper prices.   My cardinals can't tell where I buy black oil sunflower seed and the cats can't tell where I get the Tidy Cats litter buckets from.  And keep in mind it is not a question of small local stores versus Walmart.  The small local stores are all gone.  It is between Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, and sometimes Safeway around here.  I would mention Giant Food, but I buy mostly fresh produce abnd Giant's is pathetic.

So I wanted Mums and pansies and various odd stuff today.  I saw that Safeway was selling 1 gallon Mums for $9.99.  Home Depot and Lowe's (between which is never a penny of difference) $10.98, and Walmart $3.99.  Guess where I bought 4 pots?

They didn't have pansies yet.  Next month...

The Mums were beautiful and healthy.  I already had 2 orange from last year.  Now I also have 2 yellow and 2 red. 

The deck pots of Summer Marigolds and Salvia have been great this year...

The Salvia have been so good this year, the hummingbirds visit them first and only "top off" at my nectar feeders.  Next year, I will have lots more Salvia.

Now, THIS is where Walmart fails.  I want nice pots to set the plain black plastic ones into until I plant them in more permanent spots in November.  Walmart was done with planters in August.  They have Christmas stuff up now!

Well, I have saucers to hold rainwater. and I water the deck plants every other day when there is not 1" of rain.  Tjey should look great until dormancy and planting.



1 comment:

Megan said...

Because you're a good gardener, you can have very positive experiences with plants from Walmart. Many people, however, need to buy more expensive plants, which have been potted in better quality potting mix, in order to enjoy any success!

Yes - buying plants is expensive, so good on you for scouting around for a bargain and then looking after them.

Have you considered growing them from seed?

Megan
Sydney, Australia

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