Penny Carnathan

Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.

Kim Franke-Folstad

Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.

Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.

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The Frugal Gardener (Another One!)

Posted Apr 15, 2009 by Loren Omoto

Updated Apr 15, 2009 at 12:54 AM

Back in January, I introduced you to Carole Shepherd, the Plant City woman whose traffic-stopping garden has been grown almost entirely from cuttings, seeds, and $1 bargains at her favorite produce stand. (Click here for pictures.)  She has crimson pentas from cuttings her son brought home more than 20 years ago! (By the way, she taught me a few things about penta cuttings, and I now have some beautiful ones awaiting transplant come rainy season.)

When Carole’s daughter, Sally Bielen, was planning her wedding, she went to Mom for help. Smart girl.

“I, of course, jumped in my car and headed to Forbes Road produce where I bought white & green decorative kale, pansies, fuschia impatiens, and petunias. I found square 6” box planters in white for a just a few dollars each, filled them with soil, and put 4 different plants in each one. I fertilized them every other week and as her wedding day approached they became showstoppers,” Carole writes.

These are begonias. And check out the kale!

Pansies, one of my favs, are a great choice for ensuring happy faces at every table.

“Everyone who attended the wedding commented on the flowers and after all was said and done, each arrangement cost around $5 to create,” Carole writes. “What a savings for a bride to be! We gave the guests an arrangement to take home as a favor and reminder of the special day.”

Now, that’s what I call a frugal gardener!