Sales and the Half-Dead

For most of the country, now is the time where garden centers and greenhouses are selling the rest of their plants for insanely low prices. Some places the plants are half-dead, which isn't too bad. They just need some lovin' care, with lots of water and fertilizer when they bounce back. Some people shy away from buying plants this time of year, especially veggies. This is actually a great opportunity. It isn't too late!

You can actually plant fruits and veggies til August. They will be late crops, but they will grow very well until late September when the sun really starts to diminish and the cold air comes in. There are a handful of annual plants that you only really need to buy once, because they self-seed. I have a few listed, but this is by no means a complete list. These I would grab first off the clearance rack:

• Herbs. Basil, chamomile, cilantro, dill, and parsley.
• Veggies. Amaranth, arugula, beets, carrots, collards, kale, lettuce, mustards, pumpkin, tomatillo, tomato, turnips, winter squash. 
• Flowers. Snapdragons, geraniums, bachelor button, calendula, celosia, cosmos, sunflowers, poppies, sweet alyssum, viola.

To make sure the plants seed themselves, let them flower and don't pull off the dead buds. They will go to seed and fall to the ground. If you want the seeds to grow in a different location, grab the entire flower head (after it's gone to seed), and throw it where you would like. Make sure you can identify these self-seeders so that you don't accidentally pull them when weeding next spring!