Monday, July 19, 2010

Nifty Thrifty Flowers

It's Tuesday and that means everyone should run over to Tuesday Trivia Tie-in and link up a post about one of the things in their life that make them happy, and add some neat background information.

But after you do that, another good place to go on Tuesday is


Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
Hosted by Linda at
Coastal Charm.


Link up, share your thrifty nifty of the week, and read about everyone else's. Like this one of mine, which will be linked there this week.

Last week was a floral week for me.

While we were camping, Bingo and I took a trip through to the other side of town, to see the petting farm. We petted the goats and the rabbits, the lambs and the piglets. The donkey, the reindeer, the kangaroo... All the typical farm animals.

On the way back I saw a small nursery that operated out of a home. They had a sign out that said "Clearance Sale" OK, those words automatically make me stop for almost any legitimate business (It doesn't work for mattress sellers, cell phone purveyors or car dealerships.)

I hoped she would have a great deal on some herbs, but she didn't plant any this year.

Instead, I got a great deal on a whole bunch of potted geraniums. Some of the plants there were looking a bit frazzled, as it is a bit late in the season for greenhouse flowers to be in their prime, but the geraniums looked pretty good. I figured a bit of water and a few plucked brown leaves and they would look real nice.

A tray and a half made their way into the back of my truck, for the whopping sum of $5.


Her flats were $2.00 so I got a flat of assorted flowers to fill in the tipsy pots.

That night I had to leave to go to the farmers market, and Diann suggested that the geraniums may sell well there. As usual, she was correct.

On the way home, I saw a sign at one of our favorite nurseries that said "WOW $1 Flats". Kicking myself for just spending $2 on a flat of flowers, I made a note to stop there Saturday when they were opened. Maybe they would have a good deal on herbs.

Saturday afternoon, when I stopped, I got an even better surprise. Herbs were still regular price, but flats were free with any purchase, and I was encouraged to take as many as I wanted.

I bought 4 herb plants.


Garlic Chives: I have always wanted to try them, but never done it yet, I'm still not sure where I will put them.

Leeks: Another one we have wanted to plant, but never got around to. Again, I have no idea where they will go.

Thyme: Ok, I have two varieties of thyme growing already, but you can never have too much thyme.

Epazote: We had some of this last year, but I was afraid of it. I had never used it, and I didn't even get around to drying any. So I promised myself, this year I am going to experiment with using it a little bit. in case you are wondering what it is, I did write a post about it last year, that you can read here.

So, for the price of four little herbs, I walked out the door with so many plants I had trouble getting them all in my little white truck.



There were snapdragons, petunia's, saliva's, impatiens, coleus, zinnias, and a few plants I could not immediately identify. Does anyone know what this one is? It looks familiar, but I'm having trouble identifying it without a flower on it. Even then I may not know.



They were all looking a bit frazzled, and were pretty dry, but a little water and a little sunshine and they are already perking up.

Now the secret is figuring out where to plant them. Diann and I have a challenge this week, to try to get as many as possible into the ground.

Maybe it's time to go on another midnight raid on trash day, looking for discarded pots.

OK, Now run over to Coastal Charm and link your own thrifty nifty, and be sure and join me each Tuesday for Tuesday Trivia Tie-in, where readers are invited to share trivia and show off their treasures.
Read all about it here

1 comment:

  1. I admire your positive attitude! Visiting from Ohio via Coastal Charm.

    ReplyDelete