This is the time when last years stock is being sold off by garden centre’s so if you fancy saving money on new plants, now is a really good time to visit. Whilst they might not look great now and to convince you, I have bought six plants this week and we will see how they are looking as the year progresses.
Who doesn’t like wandering around a garden centre in the middle of spring, with plants starting to flower, the weather is pleasant, the scent of the first flowers is in the air and you can see what the plant is going to look like when you get it home. Come back in January and most of the stands are empty, it is cold and damp and the selection is very limited. Those that are left have had a severe haircut or in the words of my other half “look dead” but don’t let that put you off just make sure you bring your imagination with you.
Herbaceous plants naturally die down in the winter and plants such as grasses are usually cut down as part of their annual maintenance so whilst the plants on offer in January may not look appealing, put that to one side and you can find yourself walking away some good quality plants and very low prices.
To convince you of this, I have bought 6 different plants this week and I am going to put them into a couple of my new raised beds at the allotment and will report back on their progress throughout the year.
So what did I buy and how much did I spend/save? Well I wanted a bit of a varied selection and went for the following:
Carex comans ‘Amazon Mist’

I have bought three different grasses the first of which is this Carex comans ‘Amazon Mist’ also known as New Zealand hair sedge and unlike other Carex comans has narrow silver green foliage.
Full price was £9.50, I paid £2.85
Carex buchananii

This is a Leatherleaf Sedge and is an evergreen perennial grass with narrow copper/bronze leaves and I am really looking forward to seeing how this grows over the year.
Full price was £9.50, I paid £2.85
Sedum telephium ‘Class Act’

When visiting client gardens I see a lot of sedums that have that glaring gap in the middle toward the end of the season so I wanted to get a sedum to work with to understand how to avoid that problem and with a name like ‘Class Act’ who could resist?
Full price, £10.00, I paid £5.00
Buxus sempervirens

Now this particular plant was in the clearance section hence the bargain price and let’s face it pretty much everyone would take one look and pass but I think with a bit of TLC it will look perfect by the end of the season. We shall see!
Full price, £16.00, I paid £5.00
Pennisteum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’

Confession – It was the name that swung it for this scruffy fellow. This is another grass, in this case a compact form of fountain grass with mid-green leaves and cream flower spikes in the autumn.
Full price, £12.50, I paid £3.75
Salvia nemorosa ‘Sensation Blue’

I wanted something with a bit of colour to try and went for this salvia from the quite wide selection they had on offer. Remember what I said about needing some imagination but all being well, come summer we should have a lovely plant to enjoy.
Full price, £10.00, I paid £5.00
Grand Total

So had I bought our little group of plants earlier in the year I would have paid £67.50 but as I bought them now I only had to fork out £24.50 – a saving of £43.05!
Whilst range of plants available at this time of year is very limited, a trip to your local garden centre at this time of year may well yield some bargain plants that will bring you double the satisfaction later in the year.
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