Clearance Garden Plants

As you are walking through the greenhouses at this time of year the colorful clearance signs are probably catching your eye.  Annuals and perennials labeled anywhere from 50-75% off.  What a deal!  However, these are marked at these prices for more than just moving inventory.  Plants are meant to live in soil where their roots are able to stretch and grow, not in plastic containers.  After so long waiting on the shelf the roots become bound and tangled due to the tight growing space or they turn black and slimy from the greenhouse environment.  Since the plant is already under stress it is more septible to disease and insect damage.  Slightly pull the plant out of the container to ensure a good quality root system and look on both side of the foliage for insects (some bugs like to hide on the underside of leaves where they think we won't see them).  Avoid plants with withering or mushy foilage, usually it means the provider is giving too much or too little water requirements over a long period of time.  If all looks healthy, it looks like you scored a good deal!