One of the nice things about having the studio / store is that I’m talking to more new gardeners, and am being reminded of what I didn’t know when I first got started.
Some of these things can save you a lot of money! There’s no need to buy standard green hostas around here, for example — there will be plenty of them available from other gardeners.
DISCLAIMER: I’m no expert. I’d love to take a master gardener course at some point. But I’ve been gardening for about 30 years now, and I’ve watched a LOT of Gardener’s World. 
If I make any mistakes below, please let me know — I’m always happy to learn more about gardening!
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ANNUALS VS. PERENNIALS: I think most gardeners, even newbies, have a vague understanding that annuals bloom for one season, and perennials come back year after year. But that doesn’t really tell you everything you need to know.
1) ANNUALS: are typically long-blooming — some of them will bloom for months. So they’re great for long seasons of color. I always hesitated to buy them, though, because I didn’t want to spend money every year on them. Perennials tend to cost a little more, but I figured they were a better long-term investment.
But it turns out that some annuals will freely self-seed — my cosmos plants, for example, tend to drop enough seed that they come back every year. Sometimes they get a little thin, and I might then plant more seeds or plants, but I definitely don’t have to plant every year.
And you don’t even have to buy seeds after the first year — you can collect seeds (or be given some by a neighbor who collected more than they need), and then if you scatter them next spring (or start them indoors, for probably even more flowers), you’ll likely get a lot more flowers.
If you’re looking for annual seeds, don’t hesitate to ask in your local garden club group — there’s a good chance that people will have more than they need, and will be happy to share.
SUMMARY: Collect seeds (your own or others’ donations) for free annual flowers in future years.
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2) PERENNIALS: often only bloom for a week or two, but they come back year after year. They also tend to get bigger each year, until they reach their mature size. At that point (maybe 3-5 years in), they can be dug up and divided.
So if you have buy and plant one nepeta plant, for example, a few years later, you can dig it up, divide it into thirds, replant in a few spots. And then do that again a few years later (now you have 9 plants!). Before long, you’ll have more nepeta plants than you know what to do with — that’s when you start giving them away.
You can often tell if a perennial is ready to be divided because it’ll start flopping away from a bare center. You don’t HAVE to divide, but it’ll look better if you do, and again, more free plants!
Eventually, you’ll probably want to look up each perennial to figure out when it wants dividing.
Bearded irises, for example, are rhizome-based, and when the rhizomes start pushing their way up out of the soil, that’s a sign that they want dividing. If you don’t divide them, they’ll start blooming less! They’re easy to dig up and break into clumps — I usually replant one rhizome, and give away the rest — often 10-12 clumps from one big iris plant.
Daffodils are bulb plants, and in our zone, they thrive and multiply. So when your daffodil clump is getting a little crowded-looking, you can dig it up, plant some bulbs back in the same spot, and dig a new hole or two for the other bulbs. Or give them away!
For perennial gardeners with mature gardens, they’ll often be dividing their irises, hostas, daffodils, etc. so that they don’t get overcrowded. So you’re doing them a favor by taking some away!
(Exception — some perennials are expensive, and slow to come to maturity. Hellebores, for example, you’re less likely to find as giveaways. But in that case, you can buy your first hellebore, and when it’s ready to divide, you can trade with other hellebore-obsessed gardeners, for more variety.)
SUMMARY: You can divide perennials when they’re ready, so they look their best, and you get more plants!
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LAST NOTES:
People often worry about when is the best time to divide. You can look it up for any given plant, and usually the recommendation is to divide when plants are dormant (not flowering), but honestly, I divide whenever it’s convenient for me — I would completely forget otherwise. Almost all of my divisions live. I’m pretty Darwinian with my gardening — only the strong survive!
Just remember that dividing is stressful for a plant, so you want to reduce stress as much as possible. So pick a cool, overcast day, water it in well when you plant it, and keep it watered daily for the next 2-3 weeks. After that, your new plant should be settled in, and can join your regular watering schedule for the rest of the garden.
Newer gardeners sometime hesitate to take plants and seeds at garden meet-ups and swaps because they don’t have anything to trade yet. Don’t worry about that! In 3-5 years, you’ll be ready to start giving plants away too. Just pass it on, when your garden is established enough.
Gardens are, by their nature, generous. They teach us to be generous too.
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Today’s garden meet-up — 3-4 p.m. (we may go a little later, but come early for best selection of free plants), 301 Harrison Street, Serendib House.
Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1313621913504512
Plants I’m bringing: Purple-black irises, magenta & white irises, Canadian anemone (which I originally was given by a neighbor), giant hostas (I had to dig them up because they were too big for the spots I had them in, so I figured I’d divide some off while I was moving them), and my current favorite hosta from my garden, a blue-yellow beauty. Sharing that one just because I like you folks. I think I also have some marigold seeds around here somewhere…
