The Dollarama Garden

Wow Dollarama, could you get any better? Take a look at what I found at Dollarama! Plastic Tarp Planting mats; perfect for the trunk or pot holding area. Pop-up mini green houses for spring or fall, seeder pots, mini seed starting green houses. My goodness bulbs, bulbs and more bulbs. The had peacock lilies, dahlias, glads and more. I checked the bulbs and they seemed to be correct. I bought some dahlias from them last year and I started them in a pot near my window. They also had a large box of wild/mixed flower seeds, great for covering a large area or making seed bombs! 

If anyone has tried any of these products or bulbs, let me know, how was it, what did you do? What would you do? What was the quality like? Thoughts! Share them!

Look at all these bulbs! I should have bought one of each and made a Dollarma-test garden. Only $2.00 a bag. The smaller bulb bags had almost 6-10 bulbs in each! What? Where do they get this stuff?

Jiffy Fiber Pots, Wildflower Mix and a Seeder Tray.

You really can do a lot with items from the dollar store. They also sell, 

tomato stakes, bamboo poles and terra-cota pots.

The two dahlias I started, $2.00 each.

Zehrs Market "Garden" 2013: First Visit

It looked like it might rain, but I still headed over to Zehrs in Guelph. I had the whole garden area to myself and they had just received all of there spring inventory. I was on a mission to do two things; scope out if they had the Ontario Natives plant rack yet... and to see what plants they had otherwise. Mission accomplished.

Ontario Natives, $3.99 each

They did indeed have the Ontario natives rack that they've had for about 3 seasons now. Last year I bought a foam flower "Tiarella cordifolia", but it hasn't shown any growth this year at all. It's a spring blooming flower, so we'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks. 

More perennial selection from President's Choice plants

They had some decent deals on the perennial plants, 4 for $20.00, some higher, some lower. I always do well on clearance here at the end of each season. I'll have to do an exclusively PC plant review in the next few weeks. The good, the bad, the ugly.

Ontario Natives "Our Native Plants"

I bought three Trillium to add to my collection, that makes 4. One traditional white, two pink and one red, the "Ontario Natives collection also had yellow, and one more red variety. It's really great marketing and a great idea. I feel it really makes the idea of native flowers more appealing to non-gardeners or non-serious gardeners. The nursery that propagates the native plants for "Ontario Natives" is called Sipkens Nurseries, Ltd. Wyoming, Ontario N0N 1T0. Each plant comes in a biodegradable coir fibre pot and the label is also biodegradable. All-in-all is a great concept, the label design needs a bit of work, and the plants should be in the pots longer in order to establish better roots, I'd rate it 7/10 in all areas.

My Costco Plants: April Bulbs

I bought a six-pack of mixed "forced" bulbs from Costco for about $5.99, sweet $1.00 a pot. It came with three Hyacinths, one white, two purple, and three mini-daffodils in yellow. I would say the daffodils had about 6-8 mini bulbs in each pot, a great deal. I planted them out in the front garden near the path leading to my door. I must say, 10/10 for those mini-daffodils, they are amazing! There is like 20-25 flowers on them right now, its an explosion of blooms!

At the end of the row, beyond the
double pink/white tulips

Nearing the end of it's best show,
you can still see plenty of blooms!

Purple Hyacinth almost done, one pot of mini-daffodils
and some pansies I added. One pansy has frilly edges.

This will not be my last costco trip... stay tuned for May!

Candy Lilies "Pardancanda"

The lovely background is provided
by my Giant Variegated Reed

I found some Candy Lilies at my all-time favourite Garden-Centre (The Potting Shed), and I just had to bring them home! They have minty-iris like foliage, and long lime stalks that support multiple small lily/orchid like flowers. My flower colour is a bi-coloured peachy-orange and pink-yellow bloom. After they bloom for a few days they twist away into a cocoon of sorts and develop a seed pod that burst open with shiny black lily-seeds. A very delicate looking plant, a great collectors plant to show off in an area, bees and pollinators love them! I can't wait to grow a massive clump, maybe collect some different colours. It's not uncommon to have multiple colours develop from one plant.

Beautiful fresh bloom from my Pardancanda

Candy Lily will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity extending to 3 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 8 years.

This perennial does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder zones. This plant can be propagated by division.

After bloom, pods, and a new flower in the centre

A new flower ready to pop open!

Some more brilliant examples of "Pardancanda"... I might have to start a collection...

To buy your very own Candy Lilies, you can visit your local garden centre (a good one, not a grocery store or a box store) or order a mixed bag online. Online nurseries also have unique colours and variations available.

Canadian Tire Garden Centre: Spring Review 2013

I did a recon missing to check out the Canadian Tire this year... looking pretty good this season, I might say. The inventory looks very healthy, very vigorous, nice sized plants, no pests, no moss. Some plants of course are decent deals and where as others are absolute steals. They like to rip you off in some areas, but I'll always give it high grades for clearance sales. I have also never lost a plant from Canadian Tire, they always come back the next year.

Large pots of Strawberries, Rhubarb, and Raspberries

Tradescantia "Red Cloud"...
I bought Tradescantia "Pink", they also had "Osprey"
(Must add that to my Wish-List)

Giant Colombine Flowers "Red & White"

Bonnie's Plants (Herbs, Veggies,  Fruits, Annuals)

Small perennials on sale for $1.89... price usually dips
again in July when the centres close for the season

Fruit trees selection at Canadian Tire,
Plums, Pears, Cherries and more...

They were flowering the second time I visited,
really lovely plants,  about $40.00 each

...More Canadian Tire visits to come!

Review: Martha Stewart Living Seeds/Bulbs

Martha Stewart Living Seeds/Bulbs

Rating: 8.5/10 (Bulbs) 3/10 (Seeds)
Price: $1.99 - $50.00

I've never tried any of Martha's plant products. She has an attractive selection of dormant bulbs and bare roots, sold in well designed packages, beautifully marketed and priced accordingly. She offers a limited variety of products, only sold at Home Depot in Canada and the USA. You can buy them in store or order online, and purchases over $45.00 include free shipping.

What I always say about free shipping is always spend what you need to get it. Why buy $30.00 worth or product and pay another $30.00 for shipping, it's like paying 2x over for your items and you might as well not shop online. If free shipping is $75.00 and up plan to spend $75.50 at that online nursery.

Martha's line is essentially picking the plants that are well designed for you, mixing specific colors and varieties for that modern magazine look. The most common examples would be lime green, white and pink tulips all in one bag, plant at random. No everyone likes to garden like that, so if you don't like colour mixes and pre-planned grab bags, her products aren't for you.

Blue Border Assortment
by Martha Stewart Living ($42.95 - 180 bulbs)

Hyacinth China Pink & Tulip Couleur Cardinal
by Martha Stewart Living ($26.88 - 48 bulbs)

She has many other assortments and plain packs of bulbs at which seem to be, very reasonable prices. The average price of her bulb packs is $25.00 for 15 - 35 bulbs depending on the species.

Examples of tulips available by Martha Stewart Living

She also has a limited number of seeds, they are a decent price online, but I've seen them be more expensive in store. There is nothing special about her seeds, and I might buy them on clearence or with a discount, they just don't seem that special. Her choices are basic heirloom and "pretty" no flowers, just veggies and herbs, water melon and cantaloupe.

Martha Stewart's Seed Collection 

She has other bulbs, non-spring bulbs like two varieties of lily, elephant ear, astillbe, peacock lilies, peonies and cana bulbs. They are fairly decent prices and I would consider buying them in store when the discounts roll around at the end of the season, not because I don't think they are worth the price they show now, I just think I'll save a lot by waiting and being a cheapo that I am. Clearance prices can show you how much the store actually bought them for, because they still think they can make profit from 80% off a regular price, home depot is an excellent discounter. For example one bag of 48 tulip bulbs is $30.00, thats 62 cents a bulb. When the bag of bulbs gets discounted 75% off, the price drops to $8.00, that's only 16 cents a bulb, wowza.

Other bulbs available. 

My final thoughts are, well done Martha Stewart Living plants, your seeds suck but your bulbs aren't that bad. Buy her product in your local Home Depot store and wait for the clearance prices at the end of  spring, yes, you may not have the best selection, but there should be some nice tulips to pick over, and they'll discount her other non-spring bulbs because box stores don't know the difference. I know I'll be checking out her products!

It's Garden Shopping Review Time!

I love to shop for my garden, plants, seeds, supplies, gadgets, tools you name it! Shopping is great, and shopping online can be even better than heading to the garden centre, especially in the dead of winter. Don't get me wrong, when spring rolls around, I check every single garden centre in my area and make repeat re-con missions out of prices and quality, but when it comes to getting my winter fix, I can never resist checking out bulbs and seeds right at my finger tips.

Online Garden Shopping: Pros and Cons

Cons

Shipping and Shipping Costs; you're going to pay by the weight and protection of live plants, seeds and bulbs. They can become damaged or sick during the journey to your house.

Photo examples not meeting the description of the plants you receive. Sometimes they like to exaggerate the visual aspects of the plants and flowers. Their is also the potential for order error in the product warehouse. Often bulbs get accidentally mixed between each other when your order is being filled out.

Quality can be iffy, even for great online plant companies. You never know how a plant is going to thrive after you get bare roots or bulbs. Unlike picking out the healthiest and most vivacious plant at the nursery, someone else is doing the picking blindly for you, this could result in weak or sick plants. Quality can be amazing or very poor, its a risk most are willing to make.

Pros

Prices are typically very reasonable and you always get deals for bulk, selection specials and mix deals. Companies often through in free gifts or extras. If you spend enough, they give you free shipping too!

Variety, you cannot match the varieties available online, any plant you ever imagined can now be purchased online, in every shade of the rainbow. Including exotic and rare varieties. I always go for what I haven't seen in stores, and typically I always see something new. Sometimes I'll see something get very popular online, and the next season its in nurseries everywhere for 3x the price.

Convenience is key. With online plant shopping you can budget, plan and have it all delivered right to you. They send them at the perfect time for planting and tell you how to make the best of your order.

Online Reviews!

To help you get through the winter blues, I'll be reviewing online sites and making plant recommendations from each. I've ordered from a few sites and I was very satisfied, having purchased bulbs and seeds, I couldn't be happier. Happy shopping, don't forget, always read the reviews online!