shopping for containers and hanging baskets

[dawnpm]

I spent the entire day from 8 am until 4 pm and went to 6 garden centers, coming home without a single planted container nor a hanging basket. I was not impressed at all! I couldn't find a decent hanging basket for the shade, they were either a mixture of petunias, geraniums, or sunshine impatiens. As for the planted containers ( of which I need two) for the front entrance, I would have had to pay around $50 each for a half decent looking container. So, I've decided to design my own! I'm using bright red orange dahlias, a red spike, a gold hosta, creeping jenny, and for height a tall evergreen. I'll take a picture when I get it all together. Still need to do some shopping.

What do you think of the garden centres selection and prices this season?

[styric]

Crap. And more crap. Sigh.

$4.99 for a single sprig of alyssum is really pushing it. $21.99 for a six inch high native honeysuckle. Herbs are at $3.99 a pot in most. A 2 kg bag of grass seed is $40.99!!!!!!!

Thank the powers that be that I found a center that is still selling the herbs in small four packs for $1.75-1.99 a square. Far outside the city. Same center has grass at $7 a kg for the same brand as previous.

[Lizcordysmum]

Yikes...don't know where you two live, but that is terrible.

Well, terrible here too...but our problems are weather-temperature-related. Everything must be shipped (by ferry) and it has had a very hard time with the cold cold spring....annuals, baskets, planters, all look in sore need of lots of loving care before they are sold, or should be so marked down, folks will buy and provide that care...and yes, there are sales, but the major sellers (here, that's Cdn Tire and WalMart) are sure not doing great big sales.

Local nurseries are.

But still I've never seen such a poor variety, and such poor specimens.

For ideas for doing pots/planters...check out the Proven Winners website...I love their stuff and copycat every year. This year I cannot get the stuff.