Not plants as such but recently purchased 4 packs of seeds for 99p.Larkspur,nasturtiums,cosmos and signet marigolds.Each of which would have been £1.99 in my local co-op so a bargain of the highest order.
I bought a red peony from Wilkos this spring - it was marked down to 50p because it had started to shoot in the packet. I brought it home, potted it up and it's doing fine - a lovely healthy plant - it'll probably take a couple of years before it flowers, but what a bargain
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We bought two packets of dahlia bulbs (colms?) in Poundland last year. One yellow, one purple. They had been marked down to 50p each.
We planted them in May in pots (outdoors), then transferred them to the garden (because the pots were too small and they nearly died). They grew well and then in September produced fantastic flowers - really big, and loads of them. They kept flowering into November, even when it was cold.
We also bought some roses roses for £1 in Spring and some roses for 50p in summer - about a dozen in all, in various colours. The £1 ones did really well. Of the 50p ones about two-thirds died, the other ones did well. We think that the failures were due to planting too late in the season. One of them, a "tea rose", turned out as good as the David Austin ones.
We noticed that the photos on the packets sometimes did not match the look or colour of the actual plants (eg the dahlias actually looked better in real life!).
We have never had a garden until last year, and the Poundland successes were a massive hit with my wife (and indeed me, especially as it saved so much compared to our garden centre).
We are going to buy more this year. I hope that last year was not just a fluke result, because I have just looked for comments online and seen that there have been other experiences which are not as favourable.
I have grown a huge amount of pound shop flowers in my new garden, the £1 roses are my favourite, 'Kronenbourg' is especially beautiful, most of them have a beautiful scent too. My neighbour bought six different £1 roses and grew them up a rose arch last summer, they filled the arch with the most amazing display in one season. I think she might have stated them off in the GH.
I also got a fabulous pink spirea which I use for cut flowers, that has done very well. the bulbs are very good too, tulips, peacock orchids, anenomes, alliums. The Peonys have grown foliage but no flowers yet. You do need to be choosy through and make sure you are not buying a dead twig, or a bag of dust!!!
There are bargains to be found in the pound shops if you're not fussy about named varieties, but as Newgardengirl says, watch out for the dead sticks. One problem I've had with the bare root shrubs is not getting "what's on the box". Buddleia turned out to be a spirea , escallonia turned out to be a chaenomeles .
I prefer wilko for bargain plants. There are good products across the whole gardening range that don't break the bank, and a better quality too.
50% of my shrubs and plants are from our local "pound" shop which are growing on the allotment. I am impressed with how they have turned out. I was pleased to see that all the gardening products were back in after the some months' absence. Have purchased Lonicera (Honeysuckle), Hibiscus and Philadelphus. They look very healthy but won't plant them out until the weather improves. May turn out to be something totally different if they are like "Kitty 2"'s purchases but won't mind if they produce some colour.
They also have roses in stock which I wasn't sure about but "newgardeninggirl" has inspired me to have a go. Will be visiting again quite soon. Many thanks.
Brought some Tree Lilies bulbs Purple sensation, last year from Poundland 2 bulbs in a pack. Planted them both out early spring last year and both sprouted growth without flowering. Not surprised at that as tree lillies bulbs normally take a season or two to flower up. Expecting a great flush of purple flowers this year if they haven't give up. If they do, then for 50p each thats not a bad buy
I buy plants because I feel sorry for them too, I got some lovely Amaryllis bulbs very cheap after NY from Supermarkets and they are all either flowering or going to over the next month or so. Cactus too are a good buy as they tend to not be watered, but pick up fine with a bit of TLC.
Posts
Not plants as such but recently purchased 4 packs of seeds for 99p.Larkspur,nasturtiums,cosmos and signet marigolds.Each of which would have been £1.99 in my local co-op so a bargain of the highest order.
I bought a red peony from Wilkos this spring - it was marked down to 50p because it had started to shoot in the packet. I brought it home, potted it up and it's doing fine - a lovely healthy plant - it'll probably take a couple of years before it flowers, but what a bargain
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Bought 2 rudbeckias from poundland some weeks ago, potted them up to help them on their way. Waste of time, never came to anything.
One did have a small shoot. Trouble is it's a job to see them in the packet which is sealed.
We bought two packets of dahlia bulbs (colms?) in Poundland last year. One yellow, one purple. They had been marked down to 50p each.
We planted them in May in pots (outdoors), then transferred them to the garden (because the pots were too small and they nearly died). They grew well and then in September produced fantastic flowers - really big, and loads of them. They kept flowering into November, even when it was cold.
We also bought some roses roses for £1 in Spring and some roses for 50p in summer - about a dozen in all, in various colours. The £1 ones did really well. Of the 50p ones about two-thirds died, the other ones did well. We think that the failures were due to planting too late in the season. One of them, a "tea rose", turned out as good as the David Austin ones.
We noticed that the photos on the packets sometimes did not match the look or colour of the actual plants (eg the dahlias actually looked better in real life!).
We have never had a garden until last year, and the Poundland successes were a massive hit with my wife (and indeed me, especially as it saved so much compared to our garden centre).
We are going to buy more this year. I hope that last year was not just a fluke result, because I have just looked for comments online and seen that there have been other experiences which are not as favourable.
Angus and Priscila
I have grown a huge amount of pound shop flowers in my new garden, the £1 roses are my favourite, 'Kronenbourg' is especially beautiful, most of them have a beautiful scent too. My neighbour bought six different £1 roses and grew them up a rose arch last summer, they filled the arch with the most amazing display in one season. I think she might have stated them off in the GH.
I also got a fabulous pink spirea which I use for cut flowers, that has done very well. the bulbs are very good too, tulips, peacock orchids, anenomes, alliums. The Peonys have grown foliage but no flowers yet. You do need to be choosy through and make sure you are not buying a dead twig, or a bag of dust!!!
There are bargains to be found in the pound shops if you're not fussy about named varieties, but as Newgardengirl says, watch out for the dead sticks. One problem I've had with the bare root shrubs is not getting "what's on the box". Buddleia turned out to be a spirea
, escallonia turned out to be a chaenomeles 
.
I prefer wilko for bargain plants. There are good products across the whole gardening range that don't break the bank, and a better quality too.
50% of my shrubs and plants are from our local "pound" shop which are growing on the allotment. I am impressed with how they have turned out. I was pleased to see that all the gardening products were back in after the some months' absence. Have purchased Lonicera (Honeysuckle), Hibiscus and Philadelphus. They look very healthy but won't plant them out until the weather improves. May turn out to be something totally different if they are like "Kitty 2"'s purchases but won't mind if they produce some colour.
They also have roses in stock which I wasn't sure about but "newgardeninggirl" has inspired me to have a go. Will be visiting again quite soon. Many thanks.
Brought some Tree Lilies bulbs Purple sensation, last year from Poundland 2 bulbs in a pack. Planted them both out early spring last year and both sprouted growth without flowering. Not surprised at that as tree lillies bulbs normally take a season or two to flower up. Expecting a great flush of purple flowers this year if they haven't give up. If they do, then for 50p each thats not a bad buy
I buy plants because I feel sorry for them too, I got some lovely Amaryllis bulbs very cheap after NY from Supermarkets and they are all either flowering or going to over the next month or so. Cactus too are a good buy as they tend to not be watered, but pick up fine with a bit of TLC.