Happy February! Putting January in the rearview mirror is always a joyous event for me. Days are getting longer. The sun is getting stronger. And flowers are just beginning to peek out, some on their own and others helped along.
On my midday walk Wednesday, I spotted two houses with pots of primroses near the front doors. These pots looked so cheery. I wanted the same for my front door. The last time I was at Fred Meyer, they were selling primroses in the outdoor section for $1.79 per 4-inch potted plant. So tempting -- to have some outdoor flowers in late-January or early February!
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| a dozen small plants rescued from their overly shady spot |
I was ready to head out to the store and pick up a few plants when I remembered the primroses in my own yard. In particular, I had long ago planted several white primroses around the base of a new shrub. Over the years, the shrub has grown and now almost entirely shades out the struggling primroses. Well, what do you think a frugal person like me would do -- go to the store and buy new ones or lift and move the struggling ones to a better location, this time into my own pots by the door.
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| I used rumpled and used Christmas gift wrap to catch the mess of repotting |
If you guessed that I would dig up the white ones in my own yard, you know me well. That's exactly what I did. I lifted a dozen tiny plants and put them into new soil in individual pots. I've got the tray of them up against the south side of the house, where they'll get more sun, be sheltered from harsher conditions for the next week or two, as well as size up a bit before replanting. I'll be cleaning up the outdoor pots in the coming days, readying them for planting the primroses.
I used fresh potting soil (not quite $1 worth). So my total cost for a dozen "new" primrose plants was about half-price of what it would have cost to buy a single plant at Fred Meyer. I can't wait for them to bloom!
Although it's great to save money and use what I have on hand, I do admit there is one downside. The plants at Fred Meyer were already blooming. I'll have to wait 2-3 weeks before I see blooms on my plants. But I remind myself, blooms at the end of February are better than no blooms at all.
