Those of you who've followed our shopping adventures for a while may remember that Sue used to drive up here from San Jose to shop with me at my local nurseries. That's a 200-mile round trip. No wonder she's giddy now.

Gas was cheaper then, still, that's the sign of a true plant fanatic/nut!

It's also one of the reasons we bought this vehicle last year. (that is one of probably 10 loads of plants we brought from our other house when moving here)

HAHAH!!! That looks about right! But with gas at $4/gal, I try to stay within a 50 mile radius 1way. Nothing uncommon for me to put on 200+ miles on a Saturday, though...

Closest nurseries here, 5 of them within 1-2 miles. Lowes and HD about 10 miles, the rest of the nurseries between 10-15 miles.

Tagawa's is about 1.5 miles, but Nick's is .. 7-10 miles, Country Fair is about 10, O'Toole's is about 14, and it keeps getting further & further out. Since I'm in the extreme SE corner of Denver, EVERYTHING'S a hop for me. Heck, the closest Home Depot is 7 miles away (nothing here is built up, everything's built OUT) & the closest Lowes is 4 miles. Thinking about it, closest grocery store is about 3 miles away too. And I'm not classified as being in the boondocks!

My daughter in San Diego is coming home for a visit on May 10, and I'm sending her a shopping list from nurseries her area. Her suitcase will be full of plants, I hope. I can buy her clothes once she gets here, we have 4 Kohls stores in town but no really good nurseries.
She discovered the cool and cheap farmers markets out there on her own. I had no idea they were cheaper than stores, because here that's not the case.

Are there only 5 within 1-2 miles? Off the bat, I can think of Grow Gardens, Empire, Peacock, Lone Pine, and Sonoma Hort, but it seems like there are more.

Those are the 5 I meant but I was also thinking of that rhodie/bamboo nursery sign I pointed out to you on Bloomfield so that's 6.

Right, and Harmony, California Flora, two pond plant nurseries, Emerisa, and a ton of others are within 5 miles.

Groan. My green is getting brighter all the time.....

I realize that we chose to live in the middle of nowhere, and that has a lot to do with things...but even in the "Little Big Town" (as I like to call it...), 25 miles away, there is hardly every anything in the Lowes worth having. If you want standard bedding plants, everywhere has them. And that's about it, save the rare gem. There is a nursery or two that might have something unusual every now and then, but the prices are truly outrageous! Easily double mailorder. Plus Chamblees Speaking of, we finally went last weekend, and started my rose garden! Whooo-hoooo! I'll tell you all about it as soon as I get some time.

Zuzu- I goofed around and missed the shipping opportunity from the sources that you sent Well, there was the one that only ships out 3 galloners, but that was way above my price point. I won't wait around next time!! There must be a phase 2, after all

Our nearest grocery store is 5 miles away. There is a good nursery 4.5 miles away. Any closer, and I wouldn't have money for groceries.
Our town is short on grocery stores and nurseries. There's an abundance of restaurants, bars, and department stores. Fast food places everywhere. At one point, we ranked #1 in the country for fast food joints per capita. We're probably #2 for number of obese people. I know #1 goes to Huntington, West Virginia, where my daughter went to graduate school. Two years there, and she got huge. now that she's in Tempe, she works out all the time and eats healthier food. A city with an outdoor focus has healthier people....gardens get you outside, away from the couch and the potato chips.
She says in Tempe, "everyone" has little gardens on their apartment patios. It's a start in the right direction...so I send her plants...as if there aren't any nurseries in Tempe.

Not to worry, Trish: There's always a phase 2 (and phases 3 to100, for that matter) . Right now we all have to keep an eye on the Roses Unlimited website to get in on their annual sale as early as possible.

I knew you were at Chamblees because of all the great rose photos Dave posted. Can't wait to hear all the details about the rose garden.

You're a good enabling Momma Cindi!

I think you all should move out here! We need all the help we can get to keep these nurseries in business!

As much as we try, we can't keep them in business singlehandedly.

You think that sale will be soon? I'm very near the end of my safe planting season....

Sometime in the month of May every year up to now, and they send them out right away, so you don't have to worry about waiting weeks for your order to be filled. They sell own-root roses in 1-gallon containers, grown in South Carolina, so they should like your climate.

It's usually a half-price sale or a two-for-one sale (buy one, get one free). Their prices aren't that high to begin with, but the sale knocks them down to about $8 per rose -- a great price for a one-gallon rose bush!

Sue, my 3rd daughter just informed me that SHE'S moving to California to look for a job or grad school if no job magically appears this summer.
She's planning to live with my oldest daughter in San Diego. With the middle child at Tempe, I am tempted. I do not like the extreme weather or the political and religious extremism in Kansas.
I wasn't going to ever move again. We are remodeling this house so we can stay for the duration. BUT I sure miss the kids, and I can't blame them for wanting to stay where they have high salaries, perfect climate, lots of opportunities.

Thanks, Zuzu!
That is quite a good deal! I'll take my chances about the timing and wait on the sale.

Meanwhile, I'll put a wishlist together

Trish - Not to mention the shipping wouldn't be that bad for you unlike the rest of us Western people. Check out this thread: The thread "Roses Unlimited does it again!" in Roses forum The pictures there are VERY typical of the roses I get from them. Not teeny sprouts but actual plants. Unfortunately for me, though, they just really don't survive here with my wacky weather without a LOT of babying.

*sigh* going through their list.. I'm going to kick myself, but I'm going to put in an order. I have to. I can't help it. It's like an addiction. Roses, much nicer than Meth.

Not a whole lot of difference- $7.00 per plant for me

Hopefully they will do the sale in May.

How do you order??