Pentas

I love a good deal and in many garden centers you can find some good deals. With so many flowers now in bloom the garden centers are bursting at the seams and there are clearance, yes clearance plants just waiting for a home. If you're able to spend a little time to nurse a plant  back to health then you'll be able to add beauty to your garden for just a few dollars.  I usually check out the plants on Monday - Thursday and find racks of plants on clearance; there are many plants leftover from the weekend when the store expects to have more foot traffic. I have bought a six pack of Begonias for $.50 and a medium sized pot with Hibiscus for only $2.00. My recent find was the beautiful Penta, I love the color. This plant is an annual in some states and survive as a perennial in other parts of the United States; it loves the sun but can tolerate some shade.

I nearly walked past this plant, as I loaded the shopping cart with a flat (18 count) of Marigolds for $2.00. An entire flat (18 count) of the Pentas, every plant looked healthy and thriving on sale in the clearance rack for $5.00. These beautiful pink flowers are gonna be right at home in the front yard to add a little curb appeal. So on your next visit, see what hidden treasures you can find on the clearance racks, their beauty may surprise you.

Gettin' Rid of the Bugs

This year I bought a Citronella plant(also known as a Mosquito plant) at a local garden center, I heard that it was a good plant to ward off bugs, so I wanted to try it out. After a quick spray paint of lime green paint on the flower pot I planted the Citronella plant and put it on our front porch. The plant smells great and works well in the shade.

While working in the yard one evening, I noticed a few bugs flying around me, so I picked off a leaf of the plant and rubbed in on my legs, arms and neck. I didn't realize it at the time, but after I was done working, I noticed that there weren't any bugs around me and I didn't get bitten...I was pleasantly surprised. And at night there aren't a lot of bugs flying around the light fixtures on the porch, compared to years past.    
Since I bought the plant it has nearly doubled in size, which is great, but I'm not sure if I planted it in a big enough pot, I'll have to wait and see. I read somewhere that this plant is easy to catch roots from a cutting, so I'm testing that now. I hope that this plant can work well in the house during the cooler months of the year so that I don't have to buy new plants every year. I just love it. If I added another plant on the other side of the porch a few plants in the yard, it would not only be fragrant but a great deterrent for those flying critters.

Pots in the Garden

Spring is in the air and the blooms are in showing off their brilliant colors

 

I thought that changing the colors of existing flower pots would add more color

to the garden. Take a look at the pots....

BEFORE

AFTER

I used Valspar's paint for plastic to paint the pot and inside the pot are
Creeping Jenny, Impatiens and Sedum.

BEFORE

AFTER (IN THE GARDEN)

 This pot was painted gold and the I planted spearmint
in the pot (the spearmint smells wonderful).