I be intimate to impose garden centers , and I make it a unconstipated habit throughout the acquire season . I do n’t always buy , but I live in the hope that I will discover a new and unlike industrial plant , or find just the ripe thing to fill a trap in my molding , or uncover a source of inspiration in the displays . Recently though , I have look some changes in the garden centers that I frequent , and those changes touch me . Visits to the garden plaza are delicious in April and May . The growing season is just getting underway , fresh works are being delivered every mean solar day , and everything is green and clean . On weekends the parking sight are crowd together with people buying hundreds of one dollar bill worth of annuals and perennials . On weekdays you’re able to see the landscape painting contractor ’s trucks live on in and out , laden with shrubs , mulch and other standbys of the trade .
But I think the veridical test of a garden center comes in July and August , those torrid months when even the most devoted gardener chose to refresh themselves by going to the beach or lying in a sack reading horticulture books . A few years ago , when gardening was hotter than live , garden center director stocked their premises so copiously in the spring that there was still a substantial amount to chose from come July . To speed things along many establishments offer mark - down on the leftover . A few years ago I remember buy ten hardy geranium ( cranesbills ) for about $ 15.00 , a fraction of what they would have be me in April . I could also count on find potted roses at the end of the time of year . It ’s true that some were beset by blackspot , but there were steal to be had on interesting cultivar .
Now gardening , while still highly democratic , has pay way to other things . The people who were sick about Gertrude Jekyll - style miscellaneous perennial borders have decide that what they really want is “ outside room ” , where the stress is on furniture and decoration . Plants have become a form of green backdrop . rather of require that fragrant , severe to find sometime fashioned rose , the trendy somebody now yearns for the latest in grove kindle teak piece of furniture or the most ferocious gas grill . Gardening has become just another component of “ outdoor living ” .
Now when I go to most of my favorite garden centers in July and early August , there is very little odd , and I think that ’s why . There are still flats full of leggy impatiens , which are great for instant colouring material , but if you are just finding the time to embed perennial , you are pretty much out of luck . Sometimes you may get some daylily , a few leftover hostas and miscellaneous stragglers of other coinage . These survivors are marked down minimally , if at all , and await like abandoned orphans , water occasionally , but fundamentally written off . The only roses left are the semi - generic “ ground screening ” case that real rise lovers seldom grease one’s palms . The exclusion to this sad Department of State of liaison is herbs . There always seems to be an abundance of herb left , and if you have suddenly decided to instal an herbaceous plant garden on your summer vacation , you may usually find a comely assortment .
It is not really the garden centers ’ defect . In trueness , mid - summer is not the ideal time to institute trees , shrubs and perennials . The heavy grower that ply most local retailers plat their harvest home for early spring delivery . Independent operators and small chains are also up against the concrete wall of aggressive capitalism . Caught up in the competitive vortex with the mega- merchandisers , mail edict and Internet vendors , their margins are sparse than a layer of landscape fabric . A certain amount of carefulness is essential in their spring purchasing , lest there be a surfeit of unsalable product in summer solstice , a fourth dimension when the majority of client will not be buy plant . The best small merchandiser can do with the unsold inventory is keep it watered , repot it in attractive ways and hope that garden center addicts like me will come by and take at least some of it off their men .
So what ’s the greedy gardener to do , other than ambition of chrysanthemums and fountain bulb ? you’re able to do what your local garden substance ca n’t , and overbuy in the spring . found a holding area somewhere on your property and keep your purchases watered . Then you will have the plants you want , even if you have to care for them for a month or so . You should also keep scouting the garden centers regularly and grease one’s palms when you find something that fits your pauperism . This help you and it assist the retail merchant . retrieve that just because a plant look a little stock , does n’t mean that it wo n’t flourish in your garden . Leggy annuals can be cut back , and will obligate you with another blossom of blossoms . day lily that have already bloomed still render a squeamish display of foliage and will give you a head start for next year . Phlox that have hold out this long without getting powdery mold are believably impervious to it . And do n’t forget all those leftover herb . Many of them , such as the bi - color sages , make wonderful and strange subjects for porch or patio pots . With a relatively small investment , you may make an entire potted herb garden . If you have simple sunny spots , do n’t be afraid to try some of the groundcover pink wine . You may be capable to get them at a discount rate
The important thing to commemorate is that if garden center of attention operators are confident that there is a requirement for plant , they will supply them . I know that I am only one of the many nurseryman who has never passed a garden center without stopping in . It ’s up to us to make our front known to the merchant who feed our plant habits .
middleman Elisabeth Ginsburg
