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!

The lilies I ended up buying...

I fooled myself, and my blog post from earlier! I do think that the varieties I stated were gorgeous, but not the variety I had on my mind, I was slightly (very much) off. Anyways... isn't she lovely!? It's a dwarf Lilium Hybrid called "Lollypop". When I got there I had a 50% coupon on the small perennials, so I picked four pots with the largest plants and three blooms per stock. Two aren't even blooming yet, the woman at the cash questioned this and I giggled... because three is better than one and twelve is better than three?!

I haven't exactly decided where she will go yet...

Me, clothes shopping?

I don't usually go shopping for new clothes that often, but I made myself a deal to reward my grades and efforts and uni with revamping my wardrobe. On top of that, my teaching internship require conservative dress and I wanted to take that to the next level and start building a group of clothes that was young-hip-professional and fun. I found some great finds at some local shops, Winners and in my local mall in Montreal. I spent about 150$ on; three dresses, four tops, a shirt and some pants.

Also to my luck and surprise I was given a 190$ jacket for an abstract painting I did for a clothing shop on St. Catherine Street. Before I went to California I picked up some flats and sunglasses, and a new recycled backpack. While I was there my aunt bought me two tops and a sweater! That's almost fifteen items in two-three months all at great deals!

I think the older I get, the more interested in fashion  and appearance I become, I'm really starting to like this independent, young hip-lifestyle. Stay tuned for outfit photos! ...and since I've desided to photo document everything in my life, you'll be seeing plenty of my clothing in the most flattering of fashions.

Montreal, doesn't seem so small?

Part of the downtown Concordia campus.

The turf field at the Loyola campus (near my residence)

It's been almost two weeks now. It has flown by at times and others lasting what seemed forever. Montreal feels smaller to me now that my perspective and geography has settled in. I've been exploring within reasonable walking distances of the SGW campus downtown. I know where the best cheap shopping is, Thai restaurants, grocery stores, and cafes. I've been down to the luxury district and the poor student area, some of my favourites to browse are; book-stores, vegetarian shops, dollar stores, art supply, Eco stores and much more. There are also lots of great galleries, cinemas and theatres.

The other day I bought a fish for two dollars

and put it in a bowl that I brought from home.

He is very curious, healthy and happy, now that I have expanded his habitat by 90%. He came with food in a neat Betta shaped pellet holder, and a tiny wand for direct "hand" feeding. I think this is why he is so friendly, he'll do anything for a pellet or two. As I type he stares inquisitively at me from the nightstand. He needs a name. I also have a small collection of plants that sit by the window. I'm not entirely sure what kind they are, so I'll have to familiarize myself with more houseplants.

K'naan and Chromeo played a concert near my residence but I had class, so I missed it. I would have also had rugby. There is always so much to do!