Perennials in other people's yards???

[Okra]

I would take it as a compliment.

 

[Pawz4me]

 I've been thinking about this a little tonight.  I think the reason it seems odd to me is that, while I generally have no problem saying no to requests I don't want to fill, it would be weird to have to say no to someone asking for a piece of a plant.  I mean, I think it would be weird for a person to ask a stranger for a piece of plant, but it would also be weird to say "no."  I don't want to be put in that position by someone I don't know but will see around the neighborhood.  

 

And asking someone "do you have enough to share?" That is not any different to me.

 

Someone upthread made a comment that asking for part of a plant would be a great way to start a friendship (something close to that).  I disagree. You start a friendship first, and then talk about swapping plants or whatever. If I have no more than a waving relationship with someone in my neighborhood for some number of months or years, and then one day that person comes over to see me but it's to ask me if they can have a piece of a plant... that to me is not the way to start a friendship. 

 

Admiring the plants, yes, and perhaps building up to asking about a swap or outright getting a cutting, but not right out of the gate. 

 

BTW this is all hypothetical for me because I don't have a nice garden, though I have offered seeds from my abundance of cleome plants to people who've admired them.  

 

Oh and I do agree with one thing - I don't think this is an introvert thing.  Maybe a shyness thing. (I am both.But I don't think either characteristic makes me think it's odd to ask for plants. I just think it's odd for people to ask strangers for stuff, even replaceable stuff like perennials.)

 

 

 

Perhaps the bolded is part of the divide here. I'd never classify someone who lives in my neighborhood and who I wave to regularly as a stranger.

[MEmama]

Perhaps the bolded is part of the divide here. I'd never classify someone who lives in my neighborhood and who I wave to regularly as a stranger.

I think you are right. I would.

 

Now, the neighbors I pass and regularly chat with about gardening and neighbourhood stuff? Not strangers. But not BFF's either, you know?

 

It's not a matter of being unfriendly, I promise. :)

[Pam in CT]

Almost the entire backyard and front yard of our corner lot home was buried in irises and hostas when we moved in. I'm not sure they even needed to mow. I needed a yard the let kids could play in, so I pulled all of it up. Bags and bags and bags and bags of irises and hostas. Took me months to give it all away.

 

With the exception of my special hydrangeas (my favorite plant) all of my garden is perennials I found on after their planting season/clearance shelf finds. I dig a hole, plop it in, and let nature decide the rest. Next season anything that died is pulled up and I fill the spaces with whatever I find on the clearance shelf that year. It does surprisingly well most years even if it isn't as huge a garden as the previous owner. And even in winter I have quite a bit more color than previous owner did bc once the irises were done blooming, the yard was just a bunch of huge green hosta leaves and huge green iris leaves.

 

I'm thrilled with my hydrangeas this year! Third year plants and they finally really bushed out and bloomed bright hot pink abundance this year. I think I'm going to have to pull out a double bang bush next to them so they have room to grow next year. ðŸ˜

 

Wow.  Hydrangeas flourish in Texas?  They flourish all the way up to northern Maine as well!  That is a wondrous thing.  I always marvel when I visit other habitats to see what grows and what doesn't, or what does grow, but differently.

 

 

I'd ask a friend for a division, but not someone I didn't know.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Thanks for all of the comments. I like the idea of striking up a conversation about how well her ferns are doing. I'm talking a 4' x ~6-8' section of ferns that are even into her yard, so definitely established & ample. I would never steal plants or ask someone for fruit or vegetables unless it's something like apples on a tree going to waste, which I have asked before & picked.

[marbel]

Perhaps the bolded is part of the divide here. I'd never classify someone who lives in my neighborhood and who I wave to regularly as a stranger.

 

Interesting.  I think of anyone I've never spoken to as a stranger.  Once we say hi and/or meet and know each other's names... completely different.

 

I met one of our neighbors once when we moved in here, almost 9 years ago.  Now we have a waving acquaintance - as she drives by.  I never see her outside her house!  But I don't think of her as a stranger because we've met and spoken, even though it was only the one time.

 

(My husband has talked to her husband several times, but only after winter storms when people are out snowblowing and shoveling.  :-)  Other than that, he's never outside either.)

 

Anyway, yeah, that would change the perspective on the question!  :-)

 

[8circles]

Um. . . I specifically said that I would think it strange. I don't believe that I ever said the word rude?

Sorry, I wasn't directing that bit to you. I can only legibly quote so many posts on my phone.

[ktgrok]

If some had an ample perennial, would you stop & ask for a start? If you had ample perennials & someone stopped, what would you think? I really want perennial ferns & someone in our neighborhood has a huge area with them, but I don't know if I should ask. I see her regularly on my walks, but just wave.

 

My Dad has done this many times, and people have always said yes, and end up chatting with him about the plants, etc. Most people seem quite flattered to be asked. I can't imagine anyone actually getting upset, even if they say no. 

[Murphy101]

Wow. Hydrangeas flourish in Texas? They flourish all the way up to northern Maine as well! That is a wondrous thing. I always marvel when I visit other habitats to see what grows and what doesn't, or what does grow, but differently.

 

 

I'd ask a friend for a division, but not someone I didn't know.

I'm not in Texas, tho my husband is. :)

 

Hydrangeas can grow in the south but we have to plant them in partial sun, and if it's too partial they will grow but not bloom, and we have to water them from the ground very frequently bc they aren't even slightly happy in high heat indexes and spraying them with water sprinklers risks the burning as the water droplets magnify the sun during the day.

 

So mine are flourishing this year so far, but I got nada blooms for the first two years bc I didn't baby them like I should have.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Murphy101

[KungFuPanda]

I'd have a gardening conversation with her and ask her about establishing ferns. Give her a chance to offer or not. You won't even have to ask. I know if anyone even hints at an interest in sourdough I'm forcing starter on them.

[Lady Florida.]

I'd gladly give people a cutting if they asked. It would seem a little weird if someone I don't regularly talk to knocked on my door and asked, but if it was a neighbor I'd soon realize they've probably been eyeing the plants for a while and finally got up the nerve to ask me for a cutting.

 

If I wanted a cutting from a neighbor I don't regularly talk to, I'd wait until I saw her/him outside and ask. I wouldn't knock on the door and ask out of the blue not because I think it would be rude or anything, but because I would feel a little weird doing that. I live on a small cul de sac and we all tend to wave at one another even if we don't actually know each others names. We only knock on the doors of those we actually know.

[Lady Florida.]

Well, I wish somebody would stop by and ask for some of my hostas.

 

 

 

Lol.  You can't kill em. 

 

If you want your hostas to die, send some my way. Hostas don't do well in Florida at all, but people keep trying to pretend they do. They see lovely photos of gardens in Southern Living and think the word Southern includes Central and South Florida. It doesn't. Not when it comes to gardening.

[aggie96]

I personally would love it if someone asked for some of my plants. ETA more detail...where I live, it's a part of a yard tour to take people around and when they say, oh I love that, you say, my great grandma gave me a piece of that before she died, isn't it beautiful, wouldn't you like a piece of it? If someone notices your beautiful plants and asks for some, that's a huge compliment. And then they remember you as that nice neighbor lady who gave you a start of her (insert plant name). Then they invite you to come get a start of their plant, and then you remember them. Of course if you are just starting a garden, they will not expect any reciprocation, so don't be shy about that. Even if you admit that you have a brown thumb and nothing grows in your yard, and you don't have anything to give back, they won't mind, but they will be proud everytime they see their plant growing happily in your yard. Or if you kill it, they'll cluck their tounge in sympathy, try to figure out why it died, and will give you advice, or perhaps suggest something more suitable. Read the book "pass along plants "

 

 

This is how it works where I live, also.  Hence someone just driving by asking for some of my plants.  :)  The only reason I wouldn't ask for someone else's plants is because I'm a reluctant extrovert.  You have to MAKE me do it.  But then, I'm happy to comply.  :)  I have several plants around the garden that came from friends and family.

 

I'm a garden stalker and junkie. If I see something I like in another yard, I snap a picture, then research and purchase.  I found a place online to order daylilies at about 80% off the retail prices around here.  I went NUTS!  Yep, I ordered 85 plants.  I had a heart attack when they arrived.  85 freakin' plants to plant!  Instead of getting them in the ground within 48 hours, I put them in water and waited 3 weeks.  I was forced to get to it because they started rotting.  So I donned a face mask (the smell was retched) and spent 3.5 hours planting...in a rain storm.  Good times!

 

Signed Online Plant Junkie  ;)

[gardenmom5]

This is how it works where I live, also.  Hence someone just driving by asking for some of my plants.   :)  The only reason I wouldn't ask for someone else's plants is because I'm a reluctant extrovert.  You have to MAKE me do it.  But then, I'm happy to comply.   :)  I have several plants around the garden that came from friends and family.

 

I'm a garden stalker and junkie. If I see something I like in another yard, I snap a picture, then research and purchase.  I found a place online to order daylilies at about 80% off the retail prices around here.  I went NUTS!  Yep, I ordered 85 plants.  I had a heart attack when they arrived.  85 freakin' plants to plant!  Instead of getting them in the ground within 48 hours, I put them in water and waited 3 weeks.  I was forced to get to it because they started rotting.  So I donned a face mask (the smell was retched) and spent 3.5 hours planting...in a rain storm.  Good times!

 

Signed Online Plant Junkie   ;)

 where?

[aggie96]

Smokey's Daylily Garden

 

They have a main site and a specific lily site.  I couldn't really discern why the two sites.  BUT I did notice that some of the lots/sales were different depending on the site.  I ended up ordering from the specific daylily site  https://smokeysdaylilies.com/

 

The other "main" site is http://smokeysdaylilygardens.com/

 

I read reviews of various place to buy daylilies online for many hours.  This one had very, very good overall reviews.  They did mess up my order and forgot to send the Stella's, but I emailed that night and had them 2 days later, no problems.  The plants look great despite my mismanagement of them, and 2 bloomed already even though they shouldn't start blooming until next year.

 

Hope that helps! 

[gardenmom5]

Smokey's Daylily Garden

 

They have a main site and a specific lily site.  I couldn't really discern why the two sites.  BUT I did notice that some of the lots/sales were different depending on the site.  I ended up ordering from the specific daylily site  https://smokeysdaylilies.com/

 

The other "main" site is http://smokeysdaylilygardens.com/

 

I read reviews of various place to buy daylilies online for many hours.  This one had very, very good overall reviews.  They did mess up my order and forgot to send the Stella's, but I emailed that night and had them 2 days later, no problems.  The plants look great despite my mismanagement of them, and 2 bloomed already even though they shouldn't start blooming until next year.

 

Hope that helps! 

 

I have a bulb company I've ordered from with the same thing.  same company - different websites.

www.johnscheepers.com is residential and the catalog has lots of colorful pictures.

and www.vanengelen.com is bulk/commercial  (some bulbs come in lots of 15, but they also have lots of 5,000) and the pricing per bulb reflects that. but they don't have the pictures of the other catalog.

 

I have a big yard - so I order in bulk. I will be putting in an order this fall.  

 

I have some daylilies - and they've done very well here.  they're pretty tough.  but I like the more tropical looking colors, which are harder to find.  (I have an area I am ready to get serious about planting for a 'tropical' effect and daylilies should like it there.)

Edited June 8, 2016 by gardenmom5

[wintermom]

No.  Go to a nursery.  I had someone do this to me and I found it very strange.  Well, the strangest part was that she asked me after taking the start, but even if she had asked beforehand, I would have thought it weird.  Now if I was talking to a neighbor friend and they were admiring my plants and I said "Oh, would you like a start?" then that would not be weird at all. 

 

The plants in local nurseries are not always from the local area and won't always do well in the local climate, though.  She should have asked first, for sure.

[ErinE]

Huh. I'm surprised to find out that anyone thinks it's acceptable to ask someone they don't know to dig up their plant and give them some just 'cause. If anyone did that to me not only would I be really baffled, but I'd probably stop gardening in my front yard for fear it might happen again.

 

That's some serious introversion for ya I guess. ;)

 

That said, it's not uncommon in my neighbourhood for people to put out pots on the sidewalk of whatever they divided with a "free" sign on them. Then it's not weird to take what you want, and of course thank them if they are outside. Sharing plants is always lovely, but straight up asking someone to dig up their garden for you is...not so much.

Move to the South and let me get you some sweet tea. Trading plants, recipes, and gossip are about the only good things around here. Otherwise, what are neighbors for?

[ErinE]

Tangent: my neighbor used to have the most breathtaking field of daffodils behind her house, which is at the front of my house. She was quite elderly, and I always wanted to ask of I could take some daffosil divisons, but she wan't very accessible and eventually moved. The folks who bought her house tore down and re-built a new house...AND THEY UNWITTINGLY DUG UP ALL THOSE DAFFODILS! So sad. That was a breathtaking spectacle each spring, but the new owners either did not know or didn't care and the daffodils are no more.

I didn't have a field, but one fall I planted over a hundred daffodils. They naturalized freely and many years later, I still get updates from my neighbors about their beauty.

 

ETA: My avatar is one of my daffodils, left many moves ago. Is there anything more wonderful for a gardener than the first happy sunshine daffodil of the spring?

Edited June 8, 2016 by ErinE

[Guest]

I didn't have a field, but one fall I planted over a hundred daffodils. They naturalized freely and many years later, I still get updates from my neighbors about their beauty.

 

ETA: My avatar is one of my daffodils, left many moves ago. Is there anything more wonderful for a gardener than the first happy sunshine daffodil of the spring?

I absolutely love them! They are such a sight for sore eyes after winter.

 

I believe that lady was also a very intentional gardener; many of the daffodils that were there were unusual and special varieties.

[Guest]

If some had an ample perennial, would you stop & ask for a start? If you had ample perennials & someone stopped, what would you think? I really want perennial ferns & someone in our neighborhood has a huge area with them, but I don't know if I should ask. I see her regularly on my walks, but just wave.

I wouldn't mind in the slightest. I would be most happy if the asker had a backhoe. Our perennials are complete attack plants at this point and I fear for my life.

[Guest]

If some had an ample perennial, would you stop & ask for a start? If you had ample perennials & someone stopped, what would you think? I really want perennial ferns & someone in our neighborhood has a huge area with them, but I don't know if I should ask. I see her regularly on my walks, but just wave.

I wouldn't mind in the slightest. I would be most happy if the asker had a backhoe. Our perennials are complete attack plants at this point and I fear for my life.

[MotherGoose]

Chickens ate mine. :(

After the deer ate mine, they grew back beautifully, and then the chickens escaped and ate them!

[Mom22ns]

Thanks for all of the comments. I like the idea of striking up a conversation about how well her ferns are doing. I'm talking a 4' x ~6-8' section of ferns that are even into her yard, so definitely established & ample. I would never steal plants or ask someone for fruit or vegetables unless it's something like apples on a tree going to waste, which I have asked before & picked.

 

If she is like me, you will walk away with ferns! Mine are overwhelming my bed. I have spread them to a second bed and I'm going to have to start digging them and throwing them away. Would you like to walk by my house and ask for ferns? Anyone? Anyone at all.

[Guest]

If she is like me, you will walk away with ferns! Mine are overwhelming my bed. I have spread them to a second bed and I'm going to have to start digging them and throwing them away. Would you like to walk by my house and ask for ferns? Anyone? Anyone at all.

 

I think a lot of the response has to do with where you live.  

 

Where I grew up, in Colorado, you paid big money for a Boston Fern, watered it carefully, cossetted it with sweet conversation and fertilizer and it still died.  Here in Seattle, I rip them out by the roots, screaming, DIE, you and your blackberry allies!!!"

[Audrey]

I have found that people who have lovely gardens are very flattered when you compliment their hard work.  Most will share a start if the plants are in the shape for it.  So, yes... I would ask, but I wouldn't just walk up and say "hey, would you mind parting with a bit of x plant?"  I'd approach them and have a conversation mentioning my admiration for their handiwork. And then, if they seem to be the (rightfully) proud and (hopefully) sharing type, I would ask.