Two summers ago, I ordered an Ironweed plant from Prairiemoon Nursery. Apparently I got busy and forgot about in the garage, because I found it still packed neatly in its plastic bag of peat, tucked safely in its box, still sealed with packing tape, late in the fall. Well, I found it as I was cleaning out the garage to move into a new house the same weekend I got remarried. So, I took it to the new house, planning to throw it into the ground somewhere to see if by some miracle it could still live. Did I manage to find 5 minutes to dig a hole? Of course not. Next spring, there it was in the new garage. I opened the bag to toss the remains on the compost pile and recycle the box, and low and behold, there were live-appearing roots visible through the plastic bag! So, I decided to plant this miraculous plant and see what I got. Unfortunately, (I think you may see a pattern emerging) I took the open box out to the garden and set it under a tree in the shade until I found time to plant it out. That was one year ago. Yesterday my husband asked me if he could please take care of the half disintegrated pile of soggy cardboard that had been laying in the yard all winter. I said sure, explaining that it was an innocent plant that I had neglected beyond all imaginings that was surely dead. He picked it up and separated the plastic from the cardboard, and, you guessed it, there were green sprouts peaking out under the plastic!

You'll be happy to know that I immediately opened the bag and planted that thing in the ground and watered it thoroughly and surrounded it with mulch. Who knows what will happen next, but I can strongly recommend Prairiemoon Nursery and the high quality of their plants and packaging. I'll go take a picture of it now so you can see how it's doing in its new home.

Martha