May frugals

Plants. I am maniaclly digging up hostas, iris, daylilies, and lilium to separate and sell to various persons and thru various entities. All proceeds go to Park Conservancy or Federated Garden Clubs State organization.

I’m keeping track of sales for my own amusement and will have a total by mid June, but right now plants and pots sale look like $300+.

Since it is likely my flower garden will be bulldozed to build a new house, I am leaving only a few plants. I can’t take hostas with me to Hermann (damn deer!) but can offer them up for sale to neighborhood folks. I have some NICE hostas.

We are also taking shrubs to
Hermann. We are ridiculous! Most Americans would sell their houses with shrubbery intact, but me, I want my 25 year old hydrangeas and 3 year old Nandina bushes! I plopped replacement plants at their base last year to fill in the holes.

so two days ago we brought all of the hydrangeas and Nandina shrubs to
Hermann and dug holes for them in the rain, We were muddy head to toe, but I wanted them immediately in the ground so roots would not dry out.

We separated 4 hydrangea shrubs into 12 new ones. Not all will survive, but a majority will live, I think.

We have 2 more hydrangeas at home that DH likely will take to
Hermann and divide, placing them along our lot,line. He feels compelled to line our lot with plants to define boundaries. I don’t think this is especially attractive, but with 1 acre he can do what he wants, there is plenty of room.

Wow, aren't plants great? And the people that cultivate them! They're the gifts that just keep on giving!

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Originally Posted by catherine

Wow, aren't plants great? And the people that cultivate them! They're the gifts that just keep on giving!

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I dug up special peony bushes from the community garden to take to Hermann. Hey, I planted them there, so I can take them! But I left shoots of the plants and they can regenerate. In two years no one will know they were divided.

This reminds me, I have to brag about my protege’, John. John and I have never met. Well, I might have met him once in a crowd, not sure.

When I put out the call on Nextdoor 3 years ago to nearby neighborhoods to go dig iris and lilies on my city lot, John was one to respond. Since then he has been in regular email contact with me, asking questions about iris, mainly asking for cultivar IDs.

The guy really likes his iris. He even found the name of one I had as a NOID (No ID.) Brilliant! I save the really good stuff of iris extras for him.

I am always happy when my iris go into the ground. When people ask me “don’t you want $ for these iris plants?” I say “if you think about it, send me a photo of them in bloom in your garden. That makes me enormously happy!”

I admire all the efforts at gardening and am transplanting as well; how are you dealing with the Asian jumping worm issue in Missouri when transplanting?

It is so frustrating for garden societies running their fundraising plant sales. I am thinning my own plants or buying from a reputable grower. Any further advice appreciated.

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Originally Posted by razz

I admire all the efforts at gardening and am transplanting as well; how are you dealing with the Asian jumping worm issue in Missouri when transplanting?

It is so frustrating for garden societies running their fundraising plant sales. I am thinning my own plants or buying from a reputable grower. Any further advice appreciated.

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I have no idea what this jumping worm is.

More about donations:

The one remaining “collection” I have to get rid of before moving is the groups of Chinese pots. I could not interest decorators or local auction house in them. Attached is an image of just SOME of them, I have a half dozen not shown. All are BIG, see notebook for scale.

Anyway, it occured to me that I can offload some of these to ladies my age in the Federated Garden Club sales booth at our state convention. They have limited appeal, not being of interest to Gen x or Gen y folks, but boomer ladies might like them if priced cheap.

The key here is: CHEAP.

Attachment 4439

Also part of my frugal plant effort:

I asked on our neighborhood’s Facebook page for black plastic pots, and got a ton of them.

I am filling them with Free compost from the City of St. louis, then mixing that with some soil from my yard for plants I am selling. This planting medium is not nearly as good as potting soil, but I am not going to go out and buy potting soil for these plants. They need to be put in the ground soon anyway.

Wow, IL, you have been crazy busy! I only wish I lived closer only so I could buy plants from you - especially the hostas! My yard and flowerbeds are a right mess...

IL, you are dedicated! I have owned many homes and never dug up plants to take. A week ago I switched you tube tv for 75/month. This saved me 75/month over cable. I can’t remember if I mentioned this in April.

Wow, Il! Busy, busy, busy! And I know you enjoy this stuff - good for you.

Went to the library book sale and found 2 books that were part of a collection we have on Korea, and a new jigsaw puzzle. Love these sales and being able to support the library! (Would have done a flat-out donation if I hadn't found anything.)

Picked up two pieces of furniture from the curb. Then proceeded to do some organizing. I now have a whole dresser devoted to clothes I am too fat to wear.

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Originally Posted by Yppej

Picked up two pieces of furniture from the curb. Then proceeded to do some organizing. I now have a whole dresser devoted to clothes I am too fat to wear.

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From the department of "good news, bad news..."

Can't you take Hosta's to Hermann and mix them with other plants the deer don't like, to keep them away?

Not my first, but one of my earliest memories, a neighbors daughter, who is a famous artist, was painting a picture of Iris's. I had discussed that with my mom, who thought I was crazy, and she never painted flowers, when we went through a local home on the national historic register, where that picture was hanging. I said that's the picture about a second before they started talking about it.

As for you pulling out bushes and stuff from the other house, this sprung to mind:
https://youtu.be/eHANLC9JtWI

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Originally Posted by ToomuchStuff

Can't you take Hosta's to Hermann and mix them with other plants the deer don't like, to keep them away?

Not my first, but one of my earliest memories, a neighbors daughter, who is a famous artist, was painting a picture of Iris's. I had discussed that with my mom, who thought I was crazy, and she never painted flowers, when we went through a local home on the national historic register, where that picture was hanging. I said that's the picture about a second before they started talking about it.

As for you pulling out bushes and stuff from the other house, this sprung to mind:
https://youtu.be/eHANLC9JtWI

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I can’t see anything!


Interesting about the iris painting you saw.


If I intersperse hostas among plants they don’t bother, they will delicately step around plants they are not attracted to and munch on the hostas and ignore the other plants. I hate deer.

I never saw that movie, so enjoyed the crazy scene!

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I hate deer.

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I LOVE deer! They are very tasty! They have way too much to eat here to bother coming into the yard, though, so my hostas are fairly safe. Frugally - I froze the milk DH must have on hand, (as he drinks SO MUCH of it, lol) as it is past its "best by" date and in danger of becoming a bit ripe. I freeze it in 2 cup container boxes and transfer it to (rewashed) baggies for use in cooking. He usually doesn't notice we're out of milk, as long as I leave the container in the fridge until I can get to the store and buy another.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

I never saw that movie, so enjoyed the crazy scene!

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I am going to look for the movie!

IL, I am incredibly impressed by your efforts right now, and brilliant to use the free St. Louis compost as your potting medium! Very intrigued by you dividing the hydrangeas. I love hydrangeas but never grow them. We had a beautiful one in South Carolina, and I didn't realize they could grow up north. Duh.

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Originally Posted by Tybee

I am going to look for the movie!

IL, I am incredibly impressed by your efforts right now, and brilliant to use the free St. Louis compost as your potting medium! Very intrigued by you dividing the hydrangeas. I love hydrangeas but never grow them. We had a beautiful one in South Carolina, and I didn't realize they could grow up north. Duh.

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There was a myth decades ago that colored hydrangeas didn’t grow up north, only the white ones lived in upper Midwestern zones. I thought I had to move to a milder climate from Iowa to get pink and blue hydrangeas. But they do just fine in St. Louis. My old reliables have been around for 25 years, gifts from my parents.

Here’s a photo of all the things I’m hauling to the state garden club convention. I think this will generate $342 in sales. I’m pricing things very reasonably so that they MOVE. The garden club ladies like to spend money at these things so I expect to see all of them gone. But anyway it’s not my problem I’m leaving the convention Wednesday morning and if there’s any leftovers the people in charge of sales will have to figure out what to do with them.

Attachment 4449

Waiting to hear back from my husband's Medicare Advantage program to see if the dr approves a substitute for one of his meds. We're currently paying $140 every 3 months; the new one would have a zero co-pay.

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Originally Posted by beckyliz

Waiting to hear back from my husband's Medicare Advantage program to see if the dr approves a substitute for one of his meds. We're currently paying $140 every 3 months; the new one would have a zero co-pay.

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Hope that works out for you beckyliz! One interesting thing I recently learned is that if you ask Costco Pharmacy if they have any coupons or if paying cash is cheaper.... you may luck out. They do not volunteer the info but will check if you ask. YLMV

The gasket on the center spray arm of our dishwasher totally disintegrated. Small part, easy to replace - but no. You can't buy a gasket, at least not one for this dishwasher (a lower priced model). Nor does the manufacturer sell just the arm for it. The ONLY way to get the factory part is to buy the ENTIRE TOP RACK and rollers. For about $150. Contacted some parts places to see if another listed arm would fit our model, as it looked to be the same as what we had, and was told no. DH was annoyed and poked around on some DIY forums. Found a post that said that the arm we had enquired about would fit, in place of ordering the entire rack (yay to DH!). So I ordered one on Amazon (due to their really easy return policy, just in case..) and it fits perfectly - it's exactly the same as the one that came on the dishwasher - same size, same inventory numbers, etc. So it's back in operation for $35, instead of $150. But I'm still ticked that we couldn't just buy a gasket, and that the manufacturer offers this part but says it does NOT fit our model. *sheesh*

I left the convention early, but I was right in assessing the audience for my Chinese pots. These boomer ladies liked them. Of course I marked them down to practically nothing. All 4 were gone within two hours. Most of the iris plants were sold very quickly. I was surprised to see nearly all of the lily plants still there that after a day or so, so I told the person in charge to Mark them way down.

I was a little concerned that she actually owns a greenhouse and asked me
“what are these “about the lilies. Hmmmm. But her location does not support lilies because that whole area is infested with deer.

Well I posted in part to hold myself accountable, but landed up going to the salon. Got a trim not a cut for a little savings. With gas up and my food reserves dwindling I could see I would not hit my budget goal for the month anyways. This will be the first of up to four times per year I let myself go over due to irregular expenses.

Trying to maximize fuel efficiency, among other things not turning the car lights on out of habit but only when I really need them, which with longer days is less often. By law they must be on if my wipers are on, and sometimes I hit fog, but rarely drive in the dark this time of year, even when going to city meetings as part of my community activism.

Came across a "find" at the Dollar Store (or 1.25 store) today. They had four packs of 10 regular canning jar lids (no rings) - I bought 3 of them! Every other place I have seen them had them priced at somewhere over $3 for a dozen. I can finally start replacing some!

When my primer is used up I am going to try going without.

My makeup consists of primer, foundation and mascara, and on the weekends nothing. If you count nail polish there is also that.

Eating free food at work - not the snacks but healthier leftovers from a professional meeting.

Trying to use mints from my yard in lieu of gum to freshen my breath. I don't care for spearmint, but haven't seen any peppermint come up yet.

Left a note for DS that he likely will not respond to. Barring any objection from him I will turn the heat off for the season tonight.

Jeppy: I wear foundation but have never worn primer, so I think you'll be OK without it. I'm actually a bit apprehensive about what oil prices will be next heating season.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

Jeppy: I wear foundation but have never worn primer, so I think you'll be OK without it. I'm actually a bit apprehensive about what oil prices will be next heating season.

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Me too. I hope the impending election causes the government to do something to bring them under control. I saw the other day they are highest on the coasts, furthest from the Texas oil refineries.

With my garden scaled back to herbs only I am not using my hose. I just hand water. This saves the wasteful process of:

Turn hose on and while water is running drag it, untangling as needed, to where I water.
Water.
While hose us running return to the outdoor tap to turn it off.

Forced frugality - was going to see if DB could help me put in my A/C and it wasn't there. Turns out DS took it as his broke and he left a note that a new one has been ordered. This is OK with me as his room is on the second floor and he needs it more than me. So until it gets here the electric bill will be lower than it would be otherwise.

I think I had posted a while back that we got rid of the HUGE charcoal grill that hardly ever got used. Trip to Aldi's on Thursday to prep for camping and found a little "Weber-like" charcoal grill for $12.00! Hope to try it out today with some hot dogs left over from camping.

If you are used to a big charcoal grill I would think the little one will be great.

This is primer stuff something women use on our faces? Do you use that underneath foundation?

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

This is primer stuff something women use on our faces? Do you use that underneath foundation?

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Yes and yes.

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Originally Posted by Yppej

Yes and yes.

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Honestly Jeppy until today I never heard of a “primer” as facial make up.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Honestly Jeppy until today I never heard of a “primer” as facial make up.

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It's a silicone concoction designed to allow for smoother application of foundation, if I'm not mistaken.