Savvy Plant Shopping

Like bald eagles returning to the same lake every winter, salmon swimming upriver to spawn or swallows returning to Capistrano, gardeners are programmed to buy plants in the spring.

Unable to resist the magnetic pull of plants in bloom, they flock into retail garden centers and nurseries with checkbooks ready, wallets full.

Gardening may be relaxing, but spring shopping isn't.

The personal attention many shoppers crave is almost impossible to get. It's simply too hectic for retailers to provide in-depth consultations or on-the-spot garden designs.

So we asked those in the business as well as seasoned gardeners about their strategies for making spring shopping forays more satisfying. If possible, all retailers say, it's best to avoid shopping on busy Saturdays and Sundays.

"It's best to tag us anytime between Monday and Friday," said Michael Houseal, a salesman at Sam Stringer Nursery and Garden Center in Memphis, Tennessee.

"It's always helpful to me when customers are prepared with the rough dimensions of the area they want to fill with plants, the sun exposure and drainage," Houseal said.

"A customer with a sketch is light-years ahead of somebody without one," he said. "Some people want to use their hands and arms to describe a tree or shrub. It doesn't work. We also like to know if they have a budget or a 'not to exceed' figure." Trained personnel at nurseries are stretched so thin in the spring that temporary workers are hired to carry plants and bags of mulch and soil to cars. Temps are not the best people to ask about planting.

Having a list of plant likes and dislikes is also helpful, said Ray Bennett, a salesman and herb specialist at Outdoor Concepts in West Memphis. "And check to see if the plants are well taken care of at the nursery. If they're not, go somewhere else."

April 15 is considered the first safe planting day in the Memphis region, the day when the chance of frost is past. (Check planting charts for the "safe day" in your region.)

Gardeners may shop earlier for the best selection, but they should keep their flats in a garage or protected area until April 15.

Ken O'Dell, owner of Digger O'Dell Nurseries in Arlington, Tennessee, suggests a little homework before buying.

"Homeowners doing new landscaping should go over to (a local botanic garden) to see what's planted there," O'Dell said. "Then they might spend some time with gardening magazines."

They should not try to do everything in two months, O'Dell said. It's better to give a garden or landscape time to evolve.

"If they plant something and don't like it, they can always dig it up and give it to a friend," he said.

O'Dell and several other nurserymen provide information sheets for their customers. The information gives customers the planting essentials and other details they crave.

"If we can't talk to them, at least we can pile them up with free literature," said Plato Touliatos, owner of Trees by Touliatos.

While he welcomes the spring onslaught of customers, Touliatos said people end up with more balanced gardens if they shop all year.

He likes the approach a friend of his took. When they met for lunch about once a month, the friend always left the nursery with a plant.

"Whatever struck his eye at the time he bought," Touliatos said. "He ended up with a year-round garden of diverse plants."

People are attracted to blooms, but they will be drawn only to spring-flowering plants if they limit their shopping to one season.

"It's like looking at one frame of a movie and trying to figure out all the action and the plot," Touliatos said.

During most of her gardening years, Brenda Belus has been among the buying hordes. But this year she is reversing her role. About three months ago, she began working in the garden department of a nearby Home Depot store.

"Everyone loves to tell me what their plans are," said Belus, an accomplished gardener who is especially fond of irises, roses and Japanese maples.

Already, customers are discovering Belus knows a lot about plants and gardening.

"I looked up the other day and there was a line of people waiting to talk to me," she said.

"In the spring, patience is the name of the game." Lots of customers come for advice on taking care of their lawns.

"But they don't have a clue about what kind of grass they have," she said. Many don't even know if their lawns are mostly shady or sunny.

Lundy Wilder, now a knowledgeable gardener, remembers going to garden centers armed with notes taken at meetings of the Memphis Horticultural Society.

"My lists were hysterical," she said. "I'd write botanic names phonetically because I didn't know how to spell them. I'd fall out when I found out the real spellings."

But even when spelled phonetically, botanical names are preferable to common names because they are exact. Common names may vary from region to region, from plant producer to plant producer. Although Wilder grows lots of perennials in her garden, she still shops for annuals every spring.

"I avoid Saturdays at all costs," she said. "I am privileged to be able to go during the week, so I want to be out of the way of those who can only shop on weekends."

She shops everywhere- -full-service nurseries, garden centers, mass merchandisers and supermarkets.

"I found an unmarked native hibiscus at Kroger that I had never been able to find in Memphis before," she said.

Cass Gannaway also takes the time to look at plants for sale wherever she sees them.

"I love nurseries with specialty items, but I also shop at Wal-Mart," said Gannaway, an accomplished gardener.

Gannaway buys plants on sale at the end of the season. Last fall she paid $10 for tree roses that sold for $40 in the spring.

"I like to observe plants that are blooming in other gardens," she said. She takes notes on those plants to use when she shops.

But lately she's been buying less and dividing more.

"I'm doing large areas of like materials, mainly to cut down on maintenance," Gannaway said. "I divide the plants that do well for me and then plug them in wherever there's a bare spot." Here are some tips for making your spring plant-buying trips less stressful and more successful:

• Make a list of the kinds of plants you want; colors and how many you need to fill your sunny and shady spots.
• Buy locally grown plants whenever possible, because they are acclimated to your region.
• Shop early and often and at several places to get the best selections. If you buy annuals before the last frost date, April 15, do not plant them. Keep them well watered--not soaked-- in their flats indoors or outdoors. Keep them protected when temperatures are predicted to dip below 32 degrees.
• Shop during the week if you need help in making your selections.
• Avoid buying plants that have gotten leggy in their pots. Be more impressed with plants that have many buds rather than blooms.
• Pinch off the blooms before planting. The plant will put its initial energy into establishing roots and foliage, not flowers. A healthy root system will produce flowers all summer.
• If you want bigger plants, choose larger pot sizes, even large hanging baskets. (Simply take the plants out of the basket and plant them in the ground.)
• Avoid plants with tightly compacted roots and those with yellow foliage and weak stems.
• When planting, gently loosen roots so they will spread out into the soil.
• Mix a slow-release fertilizer into the soil or on the soil surface after planting. At least once a month, give the plants additional water-soluble fertilizer.
• After planting, give seedlings a good watering. Mulch to keep down weeds and conserve water.