Finding Plants Online Is Fun!

Finding Plants Online – Mail Order Gardener

Now I know where the saying, “a spring in your step” comes from. I keep heading outside to see how my garden’s doing. The weather is just perfect now, beautiful spring days without the wind that will inevitably come a-howling in a week or two.

It’s not just the weather or the stems starting to peek out of pots (or leaves in the case of my lilies) making me excited, nor the little seedlings popping up in my mini greenhouse (yes, get planting those seeds now people).

No, it’s the fact that, any day now, the plants and bulbs I ordered on line in the middle of December are going to start arriving. It’s like Christmas all over again and I can’t wait. My new bed is dug and lined with gopher wire and all it needs is the flowers. Yes, I’ll admit it, I’m becoming a bit of a mail order gardener, finding plants online!

This is my first big dip into the world of online plant buying. I made a couple of mini forays a few months ago to see how or, indeed, if the plants would survive between the nursery and my home and they did for the most part. I’m still waiting for a couple of the day lilies to pop their heads up though. I think that I prefer plants coming in pots or as bulbs as opposed to bare rooted but a couple of plants are arriving that way and I have a spot ready for them as soon as they arrive. Bare rooted means just that – they are not in pots but in a packet with a bit of compost thrown in. Roses have been sold that way for years but it seems that many hardy perennials are transported that way too.

My December garden was so utterly bare and the nursery choices were so few that I was a sucker for the first two catalogs that were delivered to my door and I devoured them forthwith and then decided to order plants online. Another was recently delivered and I was half way through it, drooling over the Lilium and Dahlia choices before I realized that it was the same one I’d read in December! Oh, and so many choices I hadn’t made! When it comes to finding plants online, there are certainly many more varieties of lilies and Dahlias and Gladioli online. But I put it aside because I’ve spent my allocation for plants this month although I could spend an absolute fortune. So, beware, know your budget before finding plants online and, above all, stick to it! There are many good deals, like now at American Meadows, so be on the look out.

The thing about ordering in January is, if the company is worth its greens (as are the two companies shown on my page), they won’t deliver your spring plants until the weather warms up and it’s time to plant. In that time I have quite forgotten what I ordered in the first place although I do know that I’m getting some Rose Lily bulbs and some Trumpet Lily bulbs, both of which are highly scented, as well as some Flame Lilies.

Flame Lilies, or Gloriosa Lilies as they are called here, are the national flowers of Zimbabwe so I’ll have a little taste of home. Back in Zimbabwe I had them growing all around a tree trunk and they were quite a sight. If you want some of your own you can get them reasonably at American Meadows. Just type Gloriosa into the search bar.

I’m a bit nervous about planting them here, though, because I think it must just be a bit too cool for them. Flame Lilies start growing when it gets hot as opposed to when it starts raining and it doesn’t really get hot enough here by the sea until August! A few minutes’ drive inland, however, and you have perfect conditions.

I am also expecting some Lysianthus plants. They must be some of the most exquisite flowers ever grown and I’ve never been able to grow them before because the days weren’t long enough in Zimbabwe, so am going to have a bash. I ordered those from Burpee so have a look there to buy some. I’m hoping it’s not too cool for them.

I greedily ordered a tri-colored Rose of Sharon. Yes, three different colored blooms on one bush. I’ve no idea where I’m going to plant the bush.

That’s a good lesson for any novice gardeners reading this, have some idea of where you’re going to plant stuff: it prevents a lot of striding around the place desperately looking for the right spot and not necessarily finding it! I just shouldn’t buy large shrubs for this tiny patch so if I ever mention being tempted to again, please remind me of that fact. That could be a drawback of being a mail order gardener!

Here is a list of gopher resistant plants and this is the link to their list: http://www.groundcoversandgardening.com/gopher resistant plants

Happy gardening and don’t forget your sunscreen. There’s so much skin cancer about, you must protect your skin.

By the way, here is a link to a list of gopher resistant plants:http://www.groundcoversandgardening.com/gopher resistant plants and if you want to buy plants that deer probably won’t eat, look here.

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