Shopping Late Season Greenhouse Sales

As the end of peak garden season looms in your region, you might be able to snag some great new perennials, annuals, shrubs and even vegetables for your garden at a large discount. This is a great way to fill in some empty spaces in your garden, try a new plant or replace one that you bought earlier but isn’t doing well.

When looking for plants that are already on sale, keep an eye out for the one with the bushiest growth, not necessarily the most flowers. Look for lots of life in the greenery and the flowers will come next year. 

If you are an experienced gardener, or willing to take a risk, you may be able to get an even steeper discount if you find plants that are on the brink of not surviving (but you know your green thumb can revive anything!) by simply asking greenhouse staff if they would be willing to take more off of the plant price.

Perennials

Although typically the best time to plant perennials is in the spring and fall, you can add new perennials to your garden throughout the planting season; just be sure to water them well if it is very hot and dry.

You may end up finding some great deals on your favorite perennials as fall approaches and the garden centers are either getting ready to shut down for the season or to move into their Christmas sales and decor. 

Annuals

The best time to buy your annuals is in the spring so you get the longest growing season out of them, however; you are also likely to get some great discounts on annuals in the middle of summer when your greenhouse is looking to clean these out of their inventory.

Don’t be afraid to grab some new annuals to try and put into the ground to fill in some empty spots. You will likely still be rewarded with a burst of color and at half the price you would have paid just a few weeks earlier. Check out my five favorite annuals!

Pluck the dead leaves and flowers off of your new annuals, pop them in the garden, water, fertilize and you’ll have some great new plants to show off.

Vegetables

It surprises most new gardeners when I mention that I will often go to the closing sales to pick up some great vegetable plants in the middle of the season. If you have a great local greenhouse, they have likely been carefully tending to these vegetable plants for months, and they are just ready and waiting to pop right into your garden and begin producing for you. You may not have the same luck with veggie starts from a large chain store.

Grab a cherry tomato and put it into a pot on your front porch, or an established pepper plant to do the same. Don’t be afraid to stick these vegetables right into your perennial flower garden as well! They are great filler, will produce some food, and they will have lots of pollinators around from your flowers so they will do quite well. 

Shrubs

Normally shrubs and trees will be the last thing that your greenhouse or chain store will put on sale and they will not likely be at as steep a discount as your other plants were.

If you are late in the season and looking to add some trees and shrubs, you will likely still find some sales in the fall that will allow you to fill in your garden at a discounted price.

Look for strong, vibrant, plants with lots of foliage; don’t worry about seeing any flowers on shrubs or trees at this point in the season. You do not want to buy a weak shrub or plant late in the season as it will likely struggle to establish and will not do well over winter. Look at this post from Better Homes & Gardens on how to pick the right shrub for your yard.