Thrifty Thursday!

Whew! It's Thursday, and I'm worn out! But I'm here, and ready to tell you all one more way to be thrifty! Now that it's springtime (almost summer!), it's time to get your flowerbeds and gardens ready. Lots of people are dropping lots of cash at nurseries and garden centers. But I'm going to tell you a way to save lots of money in this department, but in order to take advantage of it, you have to have a kind and generous neighbor or family member.

When David and I moved into our house, the flowerbeds were a wreck. The soil wasn't in good shape, and the beds were weedy. We went to work cleaning them up, but David and I are both pretty tight with our money, and we just couldn't bear to spend a ton of money on flowers that were probably just going to die (because I do not have a green thumb). We did buy one flowering cherry tree, but that was about it.

My mom told me that it would be a good idea to plant lots of perennials, so that I wouldn't just be spending money every season on annuals that would only be good for a season. And then, Mom offered to divide some of her plants so that I could get my flowerbeds started! She's a pretty awesome Mom, that's for sure. Here are some pictures:

This one is my favorite. I think it's called cetum. It reminds me of a cactus, but it's not prickly. It's a succulent, I think. And it's hardy. If it ain't hardy, I ain't plantin' it, that's for sure. It just gets bigger and bigger every year!
This is my biggest hosta (please overlook the weeds). Mom gave me five hostas from her plants, and this one is HUGE compared to the others. The funny thing is this: hostas are shade plants, but I didn't know this when I got started with my planting, and I don't have a lot of shade. It got planted in full sun, and it's thriving. To the right there is some kind of a lilly. Mom gave me several lillies, and most of them have done well. I also got two butterfly bushes from her, and they're doing great!
Overall, I've had more luck with the hand-me-down divided plants than with anything else I've planted. I feel like they've kind of proven themselves and they're established, so they're pretty safe bets. I told one of my friends about this a year or so ago, and then she asked her grandmother if she would mind to divide her plants. I know that my Mom doesn't really like for her plants to get really huge, because her beds aren't that big. She seemed to welcome the opportunity to divide them and share them with me. Maybe some of your friends and family wouldn't mind to hook you up with some hardy foliage, as well! It never hurts to ask!