Okay....so we won't count free plants then. :D

Hands down,..it would have to be my staghorn fern. I was at home depot and waiting on a ride when the truck driver with the new shipment arrived with a whole bunch of em...four inch pots...just so freakin adorable,so I ask how much and the guy says he will give me 75% off. So at this point I ask again...75% off of what? Still not understanding me he says okay I can give you 85% off!

*Sigh* hey guy...there's no PRICE TAG!

After working that out,..the price was arrived at.
...And let's just say that eighty five cents is getting away with murder,right?

I just love my staghorn! :)

Asleep,
You and your free plants! :P I think I'd kill a Staghorn just by looking at it, never had much luck with ferns.

Plantro

It's Beth,..right?

Think I saw your name on the ID thread over in C&S.

Ferns aren't really a strong suit of mine either but stags have been easier than most for me. When I knew that at the low low cost of 85cents I would be bringing home something that could turn monstrously huge in time...what could i do?

Yes! ...me and my free plants! LOL

It's just more rewarding in the long run to be able to say that 99% of them started out as cuttings that I rooted myself. Cmon...ANYBODY can BUY a plant...not JUST anyone can say they made them themselves from meager beginnings. ;)

I got a free Peace Lily seedling with two small leaves o it from a college horticulture booth. This is the plant now after two years.

Asleep,
Yep, I think owning plants that you grew from cuttings has more of a... sense of accomplishment to it. Not to mention, who doesn't love free? Also, yep, I'm Beth. I just go by my handle, Planto, but noticed the topic about names so I figured in case anyone was interested. :)

Cactus,
I haven't seen you much (I am guessing you are new) on the forums, but it sounds like you have quite the collection of plants. You should post pictures of all your plants sometimes. I'd be interested in seeing them all. :)

Planto

Not including free cuttings, the best deal I've ever gotten for a plant was just recently. I was at Home Depot picking up a number of items when I came across a variegated spider plant for $9.99. Not an especially great deal, but the plant itself really peaked my interest. I've had spiders since I was a kid, but at the time didn't have a variegated one. So I went to the cash, paid for the plant and all my other items and headed home.

Once home I read the receipt and noticed that even though I distinctly recalled the cashier scanning the plant's upc code it wasn't listed. So it seems I got an unintentionally free plant.

Of course karma is kicking me in the backside as the plant now seems determined to die on me.

Best Deals...

Every so often, our local grocery store, Jewel, has 3-4" potted plants for 1.00

I have photos taken with old-school camera, pre-digital days. No scanner.

Anyway, I bought green/red edged D. marginata in 4" pot for 1.00 in mid-90's.
{{gwi:93893}}

Dracaena, didn't have the lower pink/green trunk..Trio was bought at Jewel later, for 1.00, then added to green.

{{gwi:93894}}

Not one of my favorite Dracaenas, but this D. Janet Craig was also purchased for 1.00, in 4" pot.
It grows way too fast. It's been pruned at least four times since it came to live w/us.

{{gwi:93895}}

Best deals not including seeds and free cuttings. Toni

BronwynH,
I saw your post about your spider plant, I hope it has a speedy recovery (I'm not sure why it's ailing, as your stated you're giving it the conditions your other spider plant has). :\

Toni,
Wow, if only our grocery stores (we don't have a Jewel), carried plants for that cheap!

Planto

Best deal ever is the buy one get one free plan.

Your plant growing pal buys two of the same plants but gives you the extra one for free.

Reminder what comes around goes around so you too will have to buy an EXTRA something else someday and give the plant pal the EXTRA one for free.

The best part is you might not ever break even but nothing is better than a plant pal that's willing to surprise you and get you to try and grow something you may not of ever tried.

plantomaniac08, I can make a thread dedicated to my plantas.

Six or 7 years ago, WalMart had a lot of Cacti and Succulents in 2 inch pots for a dollar. They later reduced them to fifty cents, and finally to ten cents. Still have one I got for fifty cents, a pair of fuzzy white columnars, and a nice Stetsonia coryne I picked up for a dime. They are still thriving.

Christopher

Around the very beginning of last month I was walking into my local grocery store and outside by the doors they had two huge hanging baskets of jasmine (the kind they sell for indoors, can't find its real name right now) that where originally $39.99 was on clearance for one dollar each. The store had got them in for mothers day and it didn't sell, then its blooms died...and I've always wanted to try one of these indoor jasmines but I feel like I might kill it and I could never find one for under $15 even on clearance at other stores...and I feel like that's way too much for a plant that I'll probably kill. But right now I have them outside and they're both doing beautifully. No blooms right now but hopefully there will be some next spring. And since they're both such huge plants, and knowing I'm gonna be real tight on space indoors when the weather gets cold this year, I think I'm gonna give one to my mom.

Fpt

Wow, that's a lot of great deals! I've never had the fortune of finding a cactus for $.10 though. :\

Planto

Around june, at our local jewel they had these azaleas that had been through their bloom cycle, and they were on sale for 7.99, which wasnt bad. So I brought to up to the register and the cashier said I could give you two for the price of one. And I said wow, thank you so much and I brought back all three azaleas and said which two look the best, (they were all a little shrimpy) and she said, If you buy this one for 7.99, Ill give you the other two for free.

YAY! so in total the azaleas, which were in gallon pots cost around $2.66

Toni,

I have to ask. If your photos are taken with a non digital camera and no scanner.... How did you possibly get them on the Internet? Its late, I know, but I'm missing something....

-Teisa

Teisa,
I am assuming here (we all know what assuming does though), but maybe Toni was referring to her original pictures of when she purchased the plants? Saying that those were pre-digital pictures and she doesn't have a scanner so she can't scan them in. Just a thought, I realize I could be wrong.

Planto

delreytropical,
I wanted to say I saw your Azalea post, but that was jujujojo's azaleas. Do you have pictures of yours? Those are a big thing here in the South I've noticed, you know when it's Spring because the whole area is lit up in Azalea flowers!

Planto

Afternoon All,

Christopher..I remember Walmart's cactus and succulent sale!
2" potted plants for 1.25.
I can't stress the number of times I drove to Walmart to check out succulents that week. lol.
In fact, that summer I had an infection on the side of my foot.
I went to Walmart wearing house slippers. lol. God, I'm so embarrassed! lolol.
BTW, How ya doing?

Teisa...Planto's got it.
I had plants years before personal computers were invented, let alone digital cameras.

I have a couple hundred photos snapped w/an old-fashioned, instamatic camera, 'paper.'
BTW, not all are plant pics, most are of family & friends. lol.

Planto's also right about me not having a scanner, to scan paper pics, then transfer to computer.
We had a scanner but it broke..never got another. Heck, as of the last 2-yrs, we don't have a printer.

Planto, thanks.

Planto, Jewel is called Albertson or Albersen's in other states. Any nearby Albertsons?
They're owned by the same person/corp.

Toni,
Sure thing. :) We don't have an Albertson's or Albersen's either, hmm. Maybe they're a "Northern" store? I know of some stores you only find out Midwest, some you only find in the South.

Planto

Hi! Lets see if I can group all the azaleas together for a picture, I do have trouble getting pictures onto my computer. Two of them are smaller and are variegated (oooh :) ) and the other one is a hino red.

Toni, being around the same area, on the new zone map I am listed as a zone 6a, however I have gotten away with zone 7 plants too.

Pretty soon im going to try crape myrtle, I can't remember the last time we dropped below 0.

Speaking of good deals, my local menards had big perennials for $1.90. I picked up several zone 7 plants like Euphorbia and some more zone 6.

Planto, I love azaleas, we may not have the full selection of them up here, but we are certainly working our way closer zone wise.

Plus who can resist a deal like 3 for One!

Hope everything is great with everyone, would love to hear more deals :D

Recently ordered a box of 6 Philodendron Cobras in 15cm hang pots wholesale from Holland at about $8 equivalent each.

I received 6 x 0.8m mosspole Cobras at the same price - should've been about $18 each.

So I had one for my house!

Toni,

Ok I think I have it. Lol. So you used to have a scanner but not now. And you had pictures you had saved on your computer. Sorry for the confusion.

I don't have a scanner either plus I use an iPad. So Ive tried to figure a way to get pictures on the GW around this. So thought I would ask.

When I ask my husband "I wonder how she gets them posted? ". I would really like to know. He replied "I bet it's an etch-a-sketch picture." So as you can see he is no help to me!!! Thank you though for explaining.

Teisa

i got this with my huge disk staghorn or platycerium coronarium that's bought for 5$ more or less.
{{gwi:93896}}
to be honest, this plant arrived from poachers from a flea market. we have lots for sale weekly and it's painful to see inexperience growers to kill these beasts after many years of growing at this scale.
what would our lovely government agents responsible for this do than letting them rot in place of all else once they are confiscated?

delreytropical,
I've never seen a variegated Azalea, I'd be interested in seeing those!

StewartsJon,
'Cobra' is a new one to me, that's not something you see every day. That sounds like quite the deal though.

keylyn,
I am afraid to ask what you mean by poachers. Stanghorns aren't something that grow natural in our area (where I live), as far as I know.

Planto

I'm in love with my China Doll, purchased for $1.39 @ Walmart..

planto,
a small number of species occurs naturally in our area and p. coronarium can be very low in price as it it has been said above.
also, ferns are not mounted and concave at their back where rhizome can be visible from bunches of roots radiating when they're on display on some of the stalls from the flea market here. this suggest that the ferns are poached and ripped from the wild where they're mounted on trees mostly.

christine1950,
Wow, for that price, I would have bought it too! I have no experience with those, but you seem to be doing a good job at its care (I read your other post about your China Doll).

keylyn,
Huh. That's pretty sad then. I guess greed makes the world go 'round, as the old saying goes.

Planto

Morning All,

Planto. Actually the store up north is Jewel, and Albertson's down south.
Supposedly, both were bought out, so don't know if their names will change or not.

Doesn't matter. We really don't shop there anymore..Jewel got greedy. Up'd prices..they lost a ton of customers.
Think they 'finally' lowered some costs, but ppl started shopping elsewhere.

Del...you found variegated Azaleas? Are you referring to leaves or flowers?
Also, are Azaleas for in-ground or grown as house plants?

Where are pics? lol. I'd love seeing your variegated Azaleas.

The new zone map...hmm. We're supposed to be z5B, but this year doesn't seem like a higher zone. More like 4A.

Have you notice some online nurseries still use old zones?

Ohh, Del, please be careful w/Crape Myrtles.
A friend of dh, who really tries growing plants to perfection, called me last year. He asked if I thought CM's were hardy. He lives in Lombard, Dupage County. I told him, I doubt it, but an employee at his local nursery disagreed w/me. He bought two, 125.00 each.
Well, the following year he was out 250.00 plus tax.
He was too embarrassed to phone me..instead he told dh not to tell me his CM's died. But dh did, of course. lol.

If you're area is similar to z7, CM should do well..I'd mulch heavily come late autumn though.
Also,, test your garden for micro-climates. For example,, which side is warmer...

Under 2.00 for perennials..That is, 'Best Deal You've Ever Gotten!'

Congrats! Are they in-ground?

Teisa...ROFL...Etch-A-Sketch. OMG, toooo funny.

Teisa. Don't know your age, and no need to give it out.

Before digital cameras, people took pics with non-digital cameras. Camera came w/a flash bulb.
I still have the old-fashioned camera, but haven't taken a pic with it in years.

We now have a digital camera which is how I download/upload, whatever it's called pics to the computer.

So, no etch-a-sketch..Tell your dh he's funny. lol.

Key...the plants at the flee market were stolen by poachers? That's disgusting!

Do they bring plants in from other countries? Is that what you mean? If so, they should be shot! At the least have their hands cut off for stealing, like some government officials do to theives in other countries.

Christine,, very pretty China Doll.

Key...Poachers are guilty for sure, but guess who wants plants/elephant tusks/gorillas, etc, and willing to pay large sums of money.

After reading your post, Dian Fossey came to mind. I read her book, and have seen the movie, Gorillas in the Mist a dozen times. Everytime I watch, I end up crying.. It's so sad. Yes, poachers are guilty, but man from other countries are the true guilty parties. Asses!

Toni,
Oh ok. I'm sorry you don't shop there anymore. Guess they learned their lesson the hard way when they lost customers.

Planto

Planto, lol.
If I need something simple like a gallon of milk, I'll stop at Jewel, but I usually go to Dominick's.
Since I don't like Dominick's mean, I go to a small, family owned store. lol.

Hi Toni:

I'm doing OK, thanks for asking...Looking forward to a nice trip overseas in September, it helps keep me going.

Hope you are fine, glad you didn't end up tossing all your plants :)

Christopher

Here is the azalea pics! The two variegated ones, and then hino red is at the bottom, sorry if the birds eye view is tricky :D

One more pic of the variegated azaleas

hopefulauthor,
planto,
since the inoculation of our law affecting the protection of our wildlife, not a single person has been sanctioned to proper custody.
heere, most of the poachers if not all are quite poor and the money they gain in their actions is not even in the right amount for their food expenditure.
well, we may feel entitled to do something in this world but in the end it's each in our own ambitions that makes the world as it is.

Thanks for your compliments, I've been given great advice on how to care for her. I'm enjoying seeing & reading about everyones bargains.

Yes, theres got to be more bargains ! please share :)

Toni, you've asked for the variegated azalea pics and here they are lol well theyre above this post.

I think theyre the variety called, "Bollywood"

Three gallon monstera deliciosa marked down to four bucks.

The hand went in the pocket and took out the money...there was no stopping it...how the heck was I supposed to resist at a price like that?

Echeveria 'Grey Red' for $1.75! No idea why it was on clearance.

It's not a tiny thing either.

Someone gifted me a 14 inch pot full of beefsteak begonia this summer, it has had a series of misfortune. I accidentally left it in full sun for a day, was really busy and just sat it down the first spot that was available. But it has recovered quite nicely or it will wilt badly before I notice it. Its definitely one of the hardiest begonias I have had and longest living so far. Fingers crossed!
grantgarden2

AWW man...Grant...I haven't thought about a beef in quite some time. That's just enticing enough to drag me kicking and screaming back to begonia appreciation. lol

Nice score Purp! Even I would have trouble resisting a deal like that.

An aside though,..is the pic of mine above you. Jeeze I so screwed that up. Seeing the monstera(or did we determine it to be something else?) as was just breaks my heart. I'm SO kicking myself over here. What I have left of it isn't doing near as well as it should. How are your pieces doing? Worlds better than mine I bet!

All of these are great deals!
But I may have gotten the deal of a lifetime.
Last year after Christmas I was in a big box store when
several TC caught my eye. Of course I was hoping for an
after Christmas deal and I found one. I brought a plant
over to the cashier and asked the price. Her voice and face
shower great surprise "2 cents!" There were 8", 6", and 4" pots.
I'm not going to tell you how many I bought for my 56 cents!
Talk about a problem trying to sneak them into the house without
DH catching on. They are beginning to bloom again now.
Karen