On June 30, the last day Liberty Park Greenhouse and Garden Center was open for the season, the writer went in for light bulbs and left with a plant haul instead. The bag held three geraniums, a lavender plant, a Rockapulco Rose Double Impatiens and a Sun Patiens, along with potting soil and plant food.
The purchase started with a different list. The writer was looking for light bulbs and plant propagation powder, but the shelf and sale signs changed the outcome. The Rockapulco Rose Double Impatiens was marked buy one, get two free, and the plant itself was half off.
Liberty Park Greenhouse and Garden Center
The stop fit the same pattern that often shapes the writer’s garden buying: limited space, deer pressure and a running rule that plants need to be chosen carefully. The writer said deer keep most flowers out of the yard, leaving only marigolds, salvia and a few other flowers as options in what was described as an urban wildlife highway.
That is why the geraniums and the Sun Patiens were headed for the deck and other protected spots instead of the yard. One Sun Patiens went next to the writer’s one-and-only tomato plant, a Sweet 100 cherry, while the geraniums were chosen for their color and for the extra protection they need outside.
Rockapulco Rose Double Impatiens
The buying choices also followed price. A deep rose geranium joined a blush pink Sun Patiens, and the sale on the Rockapulco Rose Double Impatiens made it easy to add one more flowering plant. The writer said there is always room for at least one more flowering plant.
The same impulse that sent the writer in for bulbs also kept the propagation powder in the store. Instead, the cart left with soil, food and plants that were already slated for a deck life rather than a yard life.
For readers making the same kind of seasonal stop, the practical rule is simple: protected space decides what can survive, and sale pricing decides how quickly the cart fills up. The only unanswered part is the size of the final bill.
