YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Global Search
Saturday May 26, 2012

Change Location

Enter Zip Code

Use this as my default zip.
« In defense of plants
Are you a poppy person? »

A garden geek’s guide to shopping

Posted on May 14th, 2008 – 8:15 AM
By Connie Nelson

Last weekend, I made my first trip to the garden centers. It was a blast! I strolled leisurely down the aisles (It was pouring. No one was there). I spotted some cool-as-all-get-out plants. And I even bought a few. But not many. I guess I’m a slow shopper. Instead of buying in a crazed frenzy, I try to take the time to get the right plants for my garden — and for me. (I’m a lazy gardener.)

So, over the years, I’ve developed my own quirky system for plant shopping. I shop weeknights (or weekends when it’s raining). I never do all my shopping at one garden center. (I go to Wagner’s for annuals. Tangletown for unusual perennials. Savory’s for woodland plants. Highland for grasses. Ambergate for the super hardy. Gerten’s for the great sales.) And I never try to get a season-full of plants in one trip. I shop all season long and plant all season long. (OK, I usually skip mid-August cuz it’s too darn hot to do anything.)

I make lists (which I always ignore). I read plant tags. I talk to the folks working the garden centers. And I have a blast. Guess that makes me a garden geek. R U 1 2? How do you shop? Where do you go? How do you know when to stop?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 8:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

9 Responses to "A garden geek’s guide to shopping"

yvette says:

May 14th, 2008 at 11:37 am

i love tangletown too, esp their collection of books, but it’s so expensive i usually leave emptyhanded. bachmann’s never fails for a quick hit.

Jerry Man says:

May 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Girls,

Where can I buy pot seeds?

Peter Hoh says:

May 14th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Jerry, after I plant a plant, I toss the pot under my porch to reuse later. I’ve never had any luck growing them from seed, but they seem to multiply like rabbits.

judybusy says:

May 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

I tend to get a lot at the farmer’s market in Minneapolis. I agree with Yvette that Tangletown, while gorgeous, is just too expensive. I saw azaleas there last year priced $20 more than at Mother Earth, almost twice the price! I also order from a couple catalogs for spring bulbs and perennials that are really hard to find. Every year, I start some seeds for stuff that’s *impossible* to find here, like Verbena bonariensis, shirley poppies, and foxglove ‘Foxy’.

I am trying hard to become a more planful gardener, so over the last few years have had lists and am getting better at sticking to the plans. I also love to draw out the shopping and have already done pre-shopping. But, there is always room for the impulse buy!

Connie Nelson says:

May 14th, 2008 at 2:23 pm

I used to make lists, but now I just make lists of the places I need to fill with plants (ie sunny container out front, semi-shady border along sidewalk out back).That way, there’s still room for an impulse purchase or 20, as long as I have a place to put them.

Peter Hoh says:

May 14th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

I’m trying to cut back on plant purchases this year. I made one trip to the St. Paul Farmers’ Market and bought one tray of plants from The Vagary and another tray of plants that were leftover after the plant sale at my kid’s school.

Connie Nelson says:

May 14th, 2008 at 2:52 pm

Hey Peter, I’ve never heard of the Vagary. Thanks for the link.

I’m trying to save a bit, too. That’s one of the reasons I shop later in the season and make the rounds of the garden centers. The sales tend to crop up later in the season, but the garden centers seem to work off their own calendars when it comes to marking plants down . . .

Cindy says:

May 15th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

I’m trying to pick just the right plants this year. I started some vines and perenials last season and now I’m just rejuvinating the dirt.

laura says:

May 20th, 2008 at 11:30 am

being on the northern end of the suburbs, i went to malmborgs garden center for my many colors of petunias. i also found a delightful purple and pink fushia hybrid “shadow dancer”, and marveled at all the height of their tomato plants compared to mine at home. wonderful place. i went to the brooklyn center location, but theres also one in rogers. http://www.malmborgsinc.com/

this was my first year buying plants anywhere other than the big box home improvement store garden centers, and i was happy to find a place so close to me.

Subscribe to Greengirls

Learn more about RSS

Categories