If you're a master gardener, you stumbled into the wrong blog. This one is for the casual green thumb who wants a cheap hanging basket and doesn't care that it's not the new black petunia or super bloom impatiens. For people who just want, excuse the pun, garden variety annuals to hang on the porch, you don't have to pay $15 to $25 for a 10-inch pot from the greenhouse at the local hardware store or grocery superstore.
Starting today, May 11, Aldi grocery is selling 10-inch hanging pots for $5.99. They're in excellent condition but don't assunme they'll stay that way until they're sold. Aldi employees do a poor job of watering them, so shop early. Earlier today, I saw a good selection available at the stores on Franklin and Lake St. in Minneapolis. Varieties included Vinca, New Guinea impatiens in pink and purple, Torenia, Pentas and Wishbone.
I compared prices at temporary greenhouses at Ace Hardware and Cub Foods, also on Lake Street. The 10-inch hanging baskets at Ace were $25. The colors and foliage looked a little more vibrant on the Ace baskets, but was it worth the extra $19? Not to a casual gardener. By the way, Cub's baskets looked similar in quality to Aldi's. Its 10-inch baskets are $15 on sale.
Starting next Wednesday (May 18) Aldi stores will have tomato or pepper plants in 2-gallon pots for $8. At Cub, I noticed similar pots were $13. Aldi will also have the aluminum wire tomato cages for $1.49 starting next Wednesday.
On a related note, has anyone else noticed how popular the hanging baskets and other plants are at Costco? It seems as if nearly half of customers' shopping carts have plants in them. Last week, a large pot of begonias was $20. That seemed like a "just okay" price to me. Anyone else ever compared Costoc's prices on annuals or perennials? Just curious.
