Anyone else adopting abused plants on sale?

I posted this Gazania in another thread, bought for 10p from B&M. Had to cut off loads of dead flowers and brown foliage and give it a good watering - it was completely dry - then the final flower bud opened. Got a dahlia at the same time for 10p too, it has a few small flower buds so will be interesting to watch.

 

Yes you can bring unwanted into your garden by buying unwanted plants but then you can do that with wanted plants. We have had so many issues with orchid plants from orchid nurseries that have come with mealy bug that are a nightmare to remove.

 

I always have a look in the reduced section; last spring I picked up Rubus "Betty Ashburner" and a Berberis gagneainii for half price after a repotting and watering, they picked up and were then planted out and both thriving.

 

I never buy anything reduced, unless it's something I would actually want anyway, and would suit my garden at the time. I bought reduced Lilies, Liatris, and things like primulas/polyanthus for this garden when I moved in, because there was virtually nothing here, but I don't buy stuff just because it's cheap.

 

Our local garden centre is a bit mad because they always sell off their perrenial cheaper when they have finished flowering or its gets to the end of the season. The best buys I had were a merry weather damson and a mulberry that were both 8ft+ for a tenner each. They were perfectly healthy trees and the mulberry I'm especially happy with because it was a frank p mathews one on a dwarf rootstock that would have been well over a hundred pounds. The other day I picked up a 6ft golden delicious apple tree from the same place for £7, again in perfect health.

 

I always have a look at the reduced stuff. If it's perennial, can be divided, and has a decent root ball (if l can't see any roots I sometimes tip the plant out if the compost looks dry enough), then 9 times out of ten it ends up in the trolley.

I bought a lovely large Campanula reduced from £10 to £2 (even the lady on the till commented on what a bargain it was).
I've lost count of how many plants have gone to the charity shop/neighbour's gardens/my own garden over the last couple of years. I love a bargain/challenge .

 

I'd be surprised if any of us bought stuff just because it's cheap. I bought the Gazania largely because it was a plant I was unfamiliar with therefore a cheap opportunity to add to my knowledge.

 

I bought an abused Trachycarpus about 30 yrs ago, still remember the woman on the checkout saying you must like a challenge.
It had about three leaves and was laying on its side outside in the garden centre, cant remember the price, probably about £2 at the time.

 

@pete FABULOUS We bought one many years ago very small and used it as our Christmas tree in the house much to the dread of our two sons. We used very delicate golden decs that would hang on the ends of the fronds. So the sons decided....OK that looks great and it did.
Since then we moved it out to our garden and it is an amazing specimen after so many years.
Fabulous plant with so many memories.

 

@pete our Trachy was an abused one too, purchased about 25 years ago. It was all on its own in a bad state and hubby thought there was some value in it. Can't remember the price, but we had to have it. Now 25 years later it's done very well. Remember hubby was going to chop the top off? Well he hasn't yet.

Can never get the photo to come up properly. Bit of a shy tree!

 

We call the reduced price plant section, The Zombie Trolley.

 

I got a David Austin Olivia Rose from a local GC, reduced down to £15. Could not for the life of me figure out why she was reduced, but I got her and she's thriving and giving us gorgeous blooms as we speak.
I got another rose from a Dobbies garden centre, reduced down to £2.50, it was quite small when we got it but has now grown a bit and has even flowered! Lovely little red blooms - well perfumed too.

 

My neighbours are lovely people, but they're not great at looking after plants so they're forever bringing things over to me to have. She bought me a sad rhododendron this weekend, which I assume she had put in normal compost. I did offer her some ericaceous as I had a bag left over from my blueberry bed but she just wanted it out of the way. I repotted it with some ericaceous and tidied it up and its starting to look a bit happier. I gave her a hardy fuschia 'Dark Eyes' I had rooted in return.