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Re: [GWL]: Annuals vs. Perennials



Suzi McCoy wrote:

> OK experts, if you have the time, I need ya'll's opinions for a project
> we are doing:
>
> Why do gardeners buy annuals over perennials?  Or maybe why would you buy annuals?
>
> And what do you think brings people into garden centers -- not the big"box stores" but the
> local independent garden centers.
>
>

Personally I but annuals because they will fill in holes in the garden while I wait for my
perennials to grow up. There are a few I grow for the scent, like Nicotiana alata or N.
sylvestris. There are some I swore I would never grow , like impatiens (EVERYONE grows them - and
I hate to be a crowd follower) but I even gave in on those last year when I saw what a few white
ones did for my mostly foliage woodland garden.)

My neighbor's garden is in her front yard and evokes a lot of comment - she likes the annuals
because they will flower all season.

She was a bit afraid of the garden center (as opposed to big box stores) because she assumed that
they would cost more. So I let her buy a couple plants at one, and then dragged her to the garden
center to look at the same plant - not potbound and wilted but healthy and strong looking and at
about the same price. I was wise enough to drag her to my favorite nursery because I knew that
with her purchase she would get a wealth of information, advice, etc. on the plant. She had to
agree that the nursery was the way to go.

I go to the garden center because they have more in the way of unusual plants - and they will
know enough about those plants to help me use them wisely.

On the other hand I usually buy my big ticket stuff - Japanese maples, for instance, at the big
box stores where it can cost as little as 20% of what the garden center charges - and I've had
good luck with all of them.

Carol


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