No. I bought a Pentas (must winter over) and some groundcovers - black buttons. No orchids today.

Good catch, Donald. Ken, whenever I go out of town, which is quite often considering how small Orangeburg is, I stop by several Lowe's stores in the area I'm visiting. That's when I find the bargains. They usually have a cart or cart(s) located in the back of the garden center. Some stores don't discount their plants until they are half dead. But others discount the plants when they go out of bloom or they have a new shipment coming in and have to clear out older stock in order to make room for them. Those are the ones you want to buy.

Sometimes they do dumb things, like get a shipment of hostas in the middle of winter. Of course they are going to freeze here in SC. So, when they did, I was able to get $8 pots for $1 each this past winter. This guy behind me in line said, "you're buying dead plants" and I told him that they were diamonds in the rough. The plants were going to sleep, but they have bulbs, which will sprout new leaves when warm weather arrives. And then I left. I looked behind me and didn't see him in line anymore. If he was going to look for some, he was too late. I bought all that they had to share with my friends.

:-)

One of my best buys ever was 3 years ago. Home Depot was WAY overstocked on Hosta and I knew it. So right about now that year, I went and got 6 pack containers of gal size hostas which were priced like 6 or 7 $ or so? Anyway, I thus got like $ 36-42 of Hostas for 2 $ per 6 pack tray. So I bought 6 trays.

Of course after I got home and started digging holes I said What was I thinking!

That sounds like a winner. We have to take advantage of the bargains while they are there.

needrain said:The dollar orchid bloomed today! It's white - mostly. I guess I was supposed to add blue dye sometime or another, but no one here told me to be prepared to do that or how to do it. Here some photos.


This next photo is to show what happened on the end of the stem. It made two buds and one more terminal bud. The terminal bud has not grown and the photo isn't great, but it's there. The second bud is growing so I think I will see a 2nd bloom if nothing happens. I'm really pleased at the first attempt at growing an orchid .

Donald! Great going.

Donald, so awesome that your orchid is blooming for you!

I really wish our "local" Lowe's wasn't 60 miles away....

Lowes - 75 % off everything. And I bought NOTHING. But soild, river rocks and sand and manure.

HD - 75 % off. So I picked up 3 azalea, 3 Japanese painted fern, 6 Hens & chicks and a really cool fountain. Hey I been looking for a fountain to entertain myself. $31 for an 80 $ fountain.

My Lowes did not bother with any percentage. They marked all houseplants down to one dollar and the outdoor plants were $3 for small perennials and $5 for bushes.

I ended up with five more bushes.

@Cinta - way to go!!! Stopped by Earl May today and they have not yet slashed prices - just a mere pittance of 50 % off. Since they are already double or triple other places prices, 50 % is a joke.

Will go back after Nov. 1 and see where they are then. Last year they went to 90 + % off.

I did pick up a 120 $ Arbor (demo) for 25 $ at Lowes. Installed and planted it with Wisteria. Wife
was all giddy.

On Monday (I found out today), my local Lowes dropped their prices to $ 1 for any plant they had. I went for soil and manure TODAY. Slim pickings. I did pick up $ 68 of Potentilla for $ 4. Just what I need. Heh - HEY it WAS a bargain and I saved $ 64. Unfortunately, I had not been there for about a week. Tomorrow I will hit Home Depot.

I promised myself not to buy anything even if they are giving it to me for free. We are suppose to be in the 70s for three days next week. Next week I will plant all my bargains.

The only way to keep my promise to myself self is to stay away from the stores

Our drought has helped me behave in adding more plants this year. But I did get this drought tolerant Eulophia orchid a week or so ago. Have been wanting to get one. There will always be a reason to add a new one

Well that promise did not last long. I had to go to Lowes today to pick up something for one of my rental properties and I had to stop by the plants. They did not have any outdoor plants at all...... but......... I saw a Dunkard's Dream

I remembered Ken was asking about what may have been that plant a few weeks ago. I had one years ago and decided to add it to my collection. It is small, in a hanging pot, and most important I do not have to dig a planting hole for it outside so it was a safe purchase.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Dropped by Home Depot today and the young lady cashier told me they took ALL their summer stock plants yesterday and dumped them in dumpsters. All of them. I was very poed as this is not what they have done in the past. Can you imagine? Screwing ME out of saving some money? Oh well - their freaking loss.

I am not gonna waste my time driving to Menards as they had very little stock this year. Three years ago they were loaded and I bought about 10 shrubs at clearance for like 50 $.

tarev said: There will always be a reason to add a new one

Nice, healthy attitude by a guaranteed 100 % plant addict. You are my kinda person, Tarev.

It's fun to read about the bargains folks get. I think it's probably a good thing the big box stores are a long drive for me, so I don't manage to be close to one very often :). I did go to the nearest Lowe's a couple of weeks ago looking for large pots only to be told they had been on sale the two weeks prior. No bargains that day.

I updated the original post in this thread for my bargain plants - with photos and verbiage .

I read your updates Donald, love the cacti, looks so happy. My Sago Palm does the same thing about 5 to 10 fronds, usually in late Spring to Summer. I find that during the very warm and hot days it just loves to drink, and I think it encourages it to make those new growth. Come late Fall to winter, it is back to Mother Nature to water it and slows down, till the warmer temps returns.

I don't grow Bromeliads, so I have no input..aww. sorry about the Spanish broom..I wonder if it will respond to some pruning

Sorry you missed the pots Donald. They did have some great deals on really big ones. I picked up six because I needed some big tree size ones for my tropical plants. They were 6.00 that were 50 and I went back and they had more on sale for 3.00.