Has anybody ever "rescued" a plant?

[Roseb441702]

I was at my local Franks store because I wanted some tomato plants. I must have been there after the good ones were taken but I was determined not to leave without one! I got one that was so thin and small but I bought it and took it home to plant it in the ground. My mother (she grew up on a farm) made such fun of me but it did get healthier and produced some tomatoes.

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[Starlord]

I call my desert garden "The Home for Unwanted and Wayward Plants".

-- "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

[smeric]

I do it all the time.

Just "rescued" two handsome plants from the alley. Neighbor who moved had dumped a lot of stuff. Had to pick one plant out of the trash can.

[Frogleg]

Often. Many non-garden stores that sell plants seasonally start out with greenhouse-grown pots and baskets, which gradually wilt and fade through neglect. Nothing finer than getting a scraggy (perennial) that's been successively been marked down from $9.99 to $1, and only needs regular water and light to bring it back. Not to mention the bonus of a $2-3 pot.

I also once grew a lovely 3-generation piggy-back plant from a leaf on a greenhouse floor. I didn't pinch it off; I just picked it up and rooted it. Got a nice Rex begonia that way, too.

[paghat]

I got three swordferns from a lumber-company-owned clear-cut where all the remaining substory plants were suffering & dying wondering where the forest went. Puny dried out swordferns are now flourishing giants.

I don't know if it qualifies as "saving" plants but I have often bought pots of things that looked entirely dead, since I was pretty sure they weren't dead, & one of my favorite nurseries regularly moves things to the

70% off back lot merely because some leaves turned brown. There are many sorts of somewhat rare shade plants nurseries don't like to stock because their bloom times are short, or they wilt away in summer, or they get lanky fast if left in pots -- leaving the nursery too brief a window for them to be easily salable. My very first cyclamen was given to me by a nurseryman for free since he was otherwise going to discard what looked like mere pots of dirt. That pot of dirt transformed me into a hardcore cyclamen fan for life.

-paghat the ratgirl

[Phisherman]

I bought a small scraggly clematis plant from Lowe, marked down to 25 cents. I prepared a $10 hole for the plant, a homemade trellis and kept it watered. Not much happened the following year, but now it covered the entire 10-foot trellis and is covered with blooms. I found it is much better to buy a small plant rather than a large one, if yo ucan find a small one.

[GrampysGurl]

I do this all the time, especially at the home depot where they totally abuse plants. Colleen zone 5 Connecticut

[GrampysGurl]

done that too Colleen zone 5 Connecticut

[animaux]

I fully agree. The plant adapts much faster and will be a lot happier in the long run. We have that great Lowes section of 25 cent plants here, too. I go crazy. Just because things aren't in flower, they mark it down. Just when I thought I wouldn't and promised I wouldn't buy another plant this year if I could just have the skylight, I bought more. Skylight pending!

[Jessica]

Just rescued one on Monday! On Sunday, I was wandering about Rite Aid and noticed they had a 50 percent off rack with a few wilted, abused plants that looked as if they had not seen a drop of water in a long time. I saw a very limp Blue Marguerite daisy for 50 cents. At least that is what the marker said, it could be a different daisy for all I know, the blooms have all dried up! Of course, the store had just closed when I went in to go buy it. Fearing someone else might snatch it up the next day, I hid it behind healthier plants and went back for it on Monday. Silly, I know, but I'm very fond of blue daisies and none of the other stores in town were selling any.

"Plant rescue" I said to my fiancé as he drove me into town the next day. "I should start a mission and call it PETP: People for the Ethical Treatment of Plants!" To which he just laughed and told me to just get my flowers and lets get going "as we had other places to be." So I purchased the relieved daisies for 27 cents (as it was half off) and promised the others I'd be back on Wednesday to bring them to a better place. Hopefully, Rite Aid will not throw them away by the time I get there!

[madgardener]

[David Hill]

I think that most gardeners find the "Casualty corner" of garden centres and nurseries. I picked up 10 plants last week 3 with at least 50% off and the other 7 with

75% off, all doing well, and 2 Ajuga "Artic Fox" have now given me 15 young plants as well as still having 2 stock plants. Then on Saturday I visited local floristry wholesaler and rescued 4 trays (4x6) hostas and 3 trays Pieris with 15 plants (other 3 were Dead), all the worse for lack of water and light........cost £10 the lot (that's $ 16 ). All are sitting up and taking light refreshment, and should make a full recovery for next year.

[animaux]

Hmmm, what's this ajuga 'Arctic Fox?' Sounds interesting.

[Barbara Yanus]

Hope you were able to rescue them Jessica!!...isn't it a great feeling, especially when you see them perk back up again?

[Tono]

Last fall a local nursery had a hell of a sale on trees that probably wouldn't make it through the winter in pots. A weeping cherry originally $150, paid about $12 and it's doing great. Also a peach, a plum, a pink dogwood and a few others that were originally around $100, paid $7 for them. Out of 5 trees, probably the easiest one to grow, a Mimosa, didn't make it.

At my Drs. office there was something, I don't know what it is, kind of looks like a palm tree? About 5 foot tall. It was so sad looking I told the recepionist that if they don't water it I'm going to steal it and bring it back to life. She said that they were going to throw it out and I could have it, along with the ugly pot that was inside the big nice pot. That's doing fine (inside). Someday I'll have to figure out how to identify plants.

Tono

[Jessica]

Yup, went back and got four more! Will probaley go back this weekend if they're still around and save the rest of them!

-Jessica

[pelirojaroja]

We rescued an 11-12-ft Thundercloud flowering Plum tree. My husband was project manager at a wreck/rebuild construction site (truckstop). A nice tree growing in a strip near the building was going to be razed. My husband asked one of the contractors to dig it out, and they helped him wrap the root ball. He brought it home in the bed of his truck and planted it 5 years ago.

The neighbors were all wondering how much such a large tree cost. Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

-- pelirojaroja

----------------------------------------------- "There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again."

[smeric]

Duh - one was a very ordinary hanging basket geranium. The other one, I have to ID. Thanks for reminding me - I'll take it in to the nursery this afternoon -- or maybe tomorrow; I don't even want to go outdoors; we are going through a hot/humid spell that is illegal for this area! Usually happens in Aug/Sept; early this year.

[Jim W]

Yes I have done this,.. its a risk but sometimes worth it..

Some come from skips, some from shops trash, some are just dumped.. Got a couple of mature yucca's just by hauling away some mature Yucca that someone had dumped & sawing them up and sawing them into pieces.

Its a risk because you never know if you are gonna catch anythign pestwise. I ususally put any strays through a rough 'decontam' process which varies depending on the material. // Jim

[Wendy Chatley Green]

:We rescued an 11-12-ft Thundercloud flowering Plum tree. My husband was :project manager at a wreck/rebuild construction site (truckstop). A nice :tree growing in a strip near the building was going to be razed. My husband :asked one of the contractors to dig it out, and they helped him wrap the :root ball. He brought it home in the bed of his truck and planted it 5 :years ago. : :The neighbors were all wondering how much such a large tree cost. Just a :matter of being in the right place at the right time. :

I did something similar. A local (Central FL) RV park had been sold to a developer. Between its closing and bulldozing, I went and "rescued" many cacti, bulbs, bilbergia, lantana, yucca, and other plants that had been left by snowbirds with long-term lots. I filled my trunk, back seat, and the back of a small pick-up.

I planted everything in beds and planters around our house in place of some anemic annuals planted when the house was for sale. After two months, everything is still living.