Beginning in mid-September, around the time of year that many consider the end of the growing season, most nurseries and retail garden stores put a large selection of plants on sale. If you have coveted a specific perennial or specimen plant but hesitated to buy because of the cost, there’s a good chance the price will be marked down considerably in the coming weeks. The trick is to shop late enough for good sale prices and early enough for a worthwhile selection of plants.
Nurseries and retailers would rather sell out their stock of plants than have to take care of them through the winter months. Next spring they want to focus on selling the newest plant varieties and cultivars. All of this allows the astute gardener with a list of “must have” plants to buy hardy perennials, shrubs, trees, groundcovers and vines at bargain prices. The best deals may be on large plants that are out of season and past their prime.
As long as you are buying from a reputable nursery, it should be a safe bet that zone hardy sale plants will come back next year as good as any full-priced plant. When shopping for bargain plants, never buy any plant that looks diseased or neglected. Spring and summer perennials will be past their prime and out of bloom at this time of year but they should still display healthy, strongly colored and well-tended foliage to be worth their sale price.
The cooling temperature of September air suspends flower and leaf growth. Newly planted garden stock will immediately begin to expand their roots into the still warm soil. Planting in spring is ideal for many plants as well but by planting in fall we gain the benefit of several extra months of solid root growth in preparation for the plant’s spring spurt of growth. It’s too early to plant spring-blooming bulbs at this time but let me remind you that buying bulbs as early in the season as possible will get you the best selection of quality plants. If you have taken the time to plan ahead and make a list of the exact bulbs you want, shop or send off your catalog mail order now.
If you do shop locally, take a bulb catalog along with you as a reminder of which plants you have wanted to add to the garden. If you find a new plant that you would like to try, double-check the catalog to be sure the conditions required by that specific bulb fit the area you plan to plant in your garden. Always buy the best-quality bulbs. It is worth it. If you have a tendency to put things off until it’s too late, plant your bulbs immediately. It’s safe to say bulbs always do better in the ground than in a paper bag in a cold garage.
Leap of faith
A large selection of trees and shrubs come into their own at this time of year with impressive foliage displays of vivid reds, oranges and yellows. Keep in mind that many common Northwest plants have good fall color as well as a strong presence in other seasons. Blueberries are just one good example. They attract spring pollinators with their delicate flowers, supply a good fruit crop for home gardens and end the season with a striking autumn color display.
For some gardeners, it’s difficult to accept the fact that planting in autumn has become a standard garden practice. I will agree that fall planting can be a leap of faith. Adding faded, past their prime perennials to the garden will never give us the satisfaction of planting a flowering perennial in full bloom but these plants will make up for it next year. For the time being, relish the abundance of late blooming nasturtiums, asters, coneflowers and black-eyed Susans.
I began by urging you to find bargain plants but keep in mind that many special cultivars and varieties of garden trees, shrubs and perennials are rarely reduced in price because they retain multiple seasons of interest. A variegated dogwood tree, a Full Moon maple or a golden yellow peony will always stand out as the specimen plant they were cultivated to be. If this is the plant you have always wanted but it’s not on sale, go for it anyway. All the best gardens have a couple of splurge plants and believe me when I tell you they are worth their weight in autumn gold.
Robb Rosser is a WSU-certified master gardener. Reach him at Write2Robb@aol.com
