Wednesday, November 08, 2006

What a yard sale find ! !



I got tell you my wife and I are Yard Sale junkies. Every Saturday morning weather permitting we set out looking for treasures at bargain prices. My wife is a collector of many things so there always is something to buy. I on the other hand concentrate on plants, garden accessories and my only collection hobby “Airline Memorabilia”
Most mornings we end up buying so many things we don’t need nor have a place to put in our home. Many end up in our annual neighborhood yard sale, it’s our way to contribute to the endless recycling of yard sale junk.
Is incredible to me what people sell in yard sales, it tells you a lot about our throw away society and how little value we give to our possession. If our ancestors had been anything like us, there would be nothing to collect today.
I have decided that all my garden accessories, pots and tools will come from my Saturday morning outings. I have a hard time paying retail prices at the local gardening center when I can get bargain prices from my neighbor’s sales. Often my wife tells me “another pot! where are you going to put it” and my reply is "but honey is only 50 cents, this will cost you $5 at Home Depot".
This bougainvillea plant is one of my great find. I paid one dollar for the plant and container this past summer. The plant was dead not one green leaf on her, dead branches everywhere and dried to the bone. I figured the container along was worth $30 to $40. So I decided to try a rescue mission and see if I could bring her back from the dead.
After some trimming, new potting soil and some tender loving care, she came back to life. Fast forward 5 months and here she is in her full glory.

5 comments:

Brenda Maas said...

I love bouganvillea, I couldn't grow it where I am from in Canada. It was the first plant I bought here. My is the purple color. Are there 2 separate plants in that pot, I am just wondering because some of the flowers look purple and some look orange.
Brenda

Carol Michel said...

How pretty! Bouganvillea doesn't mix with snow and ice, so I would have to have it as a house plant, and it is too thorny for that.

Anita said...

You are right, yard sales can be very interesting. We had one in our village this June and sold lots of old stuff that we did not need anymore. There are quite a few farms here that opened their barns. So ended up with some old pots and kitchen tools that were produced long time ago. I just LOVE those old things (like the collection of my old water cans, you surely know them) ;-))
Enjoy your week-end - and have fun at another yard sale!

Tea said...

Good job reviving that poor plant! It`s nice to see all your gardening pictures because it won`t happen this way for a good while again! Thanks for visiting my blog :)

tea
xo

La Gringa said...

I think I have that same bougainvillea, hot pink and orange all together? I'm glad to hear that they are so tough, since mine will have to survive me.