Prepare Ahead for Garden Center Shopping on Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend is filled with parades, memorials, picnics, gardening and a trip or two to the garden center. All the new and beautiful plants, stacks of pots and bags of growing supplies can be overwhelming for both the experienced and new gardener.

Take the stress out of this experience by starting with a list of plants you need, spaces or containers you want to plant and the growing conditions. This will help you stay focused so you won’t end up with too many extra plants you just couldn’t resist.

Check the plant tags to find plants suited to the growing conditions that will fit in the space once mature and serve the desired purpose such as adding fragrance, attracting butterflies and are low maintenance

Arrange the plants on your cart to see how they will look together in the garden or container. Imagine them full size and blooming as shown on the tag.

A bit more information: Garden centers are often laid out based on the type of the plant. You’ll find annuals often sorted by name and groups into sun and shade lovers. Perennials can be organized by common or botanical name. You’ll find the shade lovers under shade cloth or other shade structure and sun lovers out in full sun.