Many things! When I choose irises and daylilies I try to pick a colour I don't already have. I have a garden where I grow roses that represent family members either in name or for some other reason. Sometimes I buy something because I like the name, hence my flesh-coloured TB iris "No Bikini Atoll" which makes me giggle.

Misc. perennials I will usually try anything I haven't tried before, especially if they're cheap or I can get seeds.

Love, love, love No Bikini Atoll! Also have one named Kahuna. Mentioned to Chuck that he should name new cultivars after the Gidget series. Moon Doggy, Gidget and Lover Boy. I'm still looking for the daylily 'Sweet Amy Lynn' after my daughter.

LOL glad someone else got the joke there. It's a great iris too, it's really increased this year:

I need to tell Chuck to introduce that accident that I got instead of Cinnamon Girl. It's the best TB I've ever grown. Maybe he could name it Gidget.

Gorgeous iris...

Back to the original question, I'll buy a plant for almost any reason, or no reason at all. Anything 1/2 off or more that I don't already have just jumps in my cart. And then there are those plants screaming "save me, save me" that I can't resist. Yesterday there were 10 cent 6-packs at Walmart. Sooooo pathetic looking, but I'm sure I can bring them back to life! So I brought home 20 cents worth of wilted stock and snapdragon. Not like I don't already have both that I started from seed and haven't even gotten in the ground yet! But I got the poor dying things in the ground, and I bet they'll be fine in a day or two.

I wonder what our plant habits say about our personalities and the way we are about other things in our life? I am a Certified Plant Addict with many sub addictions under that umbrella as well as a dually diagnosed ALT (any living thing) Addict. Sounds like I have LOTS of company!
NS- Beautiful picture!! I have only bought irises, my tomatoes, and a few annuals to fill in my porch pots this year. I usually spend more on annuals and random perennials but this year I spent WAY too much on irises. One of my most active addictions under that umbrella.....and I usually find any excuse to buy more.
Mytime- Sounds like you fit into one of those under-the-umbrella groups too. LOL

I just returned from Home Depot, where I went only to help DH load lumber. He-he...that's what he thought. I came home with a perennial sedge that likely won't survive here, but at 1/2 off, it's cheaper than an annual bought earlier in the year. Then I couldn't resist 2 varieties of lavender and a geranium...all iffy here, but at 1/2 off, and a guarantee (of course that guarantee is only good if I can find time to look for receipts!), who cares. And then there's the 4 packs of petunias I bought to fill in the deck pots that I haven't potted yet. So what am I doing in here? Out to work I go...

I buy anything and everything if I like it, or think I might like it. I love Johnny Jump Ups and let them grow wherever they want, as my wonderful great aunt had them when I was a kid. I bought a daylily called April in Paris, as our son went to Paris in April. I buy plants for color but also if the leaves are a unique shape. I don't have a budget. I've yet to ever figure out how much $$ I've spent in a season. To me, it doesn't matter. If I were ever in a situation where I could only afford to buy plants or new clothing, unless all my clothing was full of holes, I'd likely buy plants, LOL ! In the scheme of things, they provide much more long lasting satisfaction than a new outfit. I used to buy expensive clothing in my "younger days" so it just demonstrates how addicted to my garden I'm becoming =:)

I only occasionally have a specific cultivar in mind when I hit the garden centres. When shopping for annuals I usually have a mental list of the plants I've decided may go well together in my containers. Usually when I'm actually in the garden centre pulling that little wagon I deviate from any plans I made as I find plants I just have to have!

I think it would be wonderful to do a theme with plant names but it's a miracle if I can even stick to a vague color theme - one of the reasons I like cottage style gardens.

I've never bothered with a budget as seldom buy a lot of perennials and only enough annuals for containers and borders. However this year I decided to redo beds and pot up more containers. So bought a boatload of annuals, some of which need to go in the perennial beds as I used all my large containers. However they aren't getting there very fast because of the constant rain and I've had to pot on many in medium pots so they are not root bound.

LOL I do keep all my receipts but for plants and garden costs I seldom total them! Don't want to know!

NAF- You sound like a person after my own heart. My plants, my kids, my dogs, my friends, not necessarily in that order but always myself last. All the aforementioned is really for me anyway. :) Ihave a couple of themes in mind but have yet to give them life. Still just collecting and growing out perennials till we decide where our permanent home is going to be. That way I can garden in the meantime. I do, however, buy plants with names I like, people I know, my dogs names, and themes like my Angel garden,Moon garden, and color themes. I really need a farm!

Mytime- good work! Never go to HD with the man unless you intend to be a little selfish! Love it!!

Luckygal-Same problem here. When I do have the time, the gound it wet! Still ahead of last year so I'm learning to accept that! LOL I also love cottage gardening. Have a garden out back with all the plants from the song English Country Garden which my mother used to sing to me as a child. She didn't love gardening but I loved her! :)

I love your iris Gillian plus the name. I think I have a plan when I buy plants but really I am only fooling myself..lol. I rarely buy annuals becaise I start them myself plus I do some perennials every year. I have a hard time passing up any iris, peonies, daylilies or roses though. The last couple years I have been filling in the front fenceline (156 feet) with a shrub and perennial bed so I have had lots of excuses to buy plants...lol..Jean

Ditto Jean! I have not purchased a new peony in 2 years now which is an amazing act of control for me. My focus lately is on irises. And to think I didn't even know what an iris was until I was 30! First one I saw was a species iris growing under my neighbours tree in Saskatoon. Instant addiction!

Something else I find interesting: I will not buy a plant BECAUSE of it's name as well. No matter how beautiful it may be, if it is named after someone or something attached to a negative energy for me I will avoid it like the plague! Or at least until I come to peace with the energy......sometimes the plant comes to stand on it's own merit with me and I have to add it to my garden. :)

Honalee - I forgot about that. I won't buy anything with a name that bothers me, either. Names are really important even if I don't remember half of them =:) It was a stretch when I bought a Blizzard MockOrange.

I won't buy anything with an irritating name either! I don't like names that sound silly without being hilariously witty. Razzle Dazzle and things like that. I had a really hard time buying Sexy Rexy rose.

I also have an SDB iris called Low Life which I found amusing.

NS- Spoken as a true Scorpio. Lol. I too had to think twice about Sexy Rexy, TB iris Horni Lori, and SDB iris Down and Dirty. But also, like you, I find names amusing and so much fun! I like to keep that attitude when I name my puppies as well. I can't imagine someone adopting a puppy from me when they are embarassed to tell anyone their name....and, IMO, they often live up to the name you give them. I have a 14 week old pup from my last litter whom I named Gairden's Johnny Cash....in hindsight, probably not a good move.....yet...:)

Names are definitely a thing with me and there are many plants i've passed over because i didn't want anything with that name in my garden. But i do have things that are "for" different people too - Shirley peony and tulips as well as the hosta "Remember Me" in the memorial bed for a friend, a lily called "Peachy Keen" for our old dog Peaches, one called "Giraffe" because i like giraffes, etc.

I don't usually have much of a plan- sometimes there's something specific i have in mind when plant shopping but other times i just buy something because i don't already have it. And every year i tell myself to plan better for containers, but beyond petunias that i have to start early, not much planning happens!

I can't believe I forgot the most important point:

People on this forum with their talking about their beautiful plants, and then of all things, showing us pictures........that makes me buy all kinds of things, LOL !!

It's so wonderful to share!

We're such enablers.... :>

Yes, I admit it...My name is Ginny and I am a Floraholic! And I am also a classic enabler. Who likes to indulge alone?? So privilaged to be part of such a progressive group! Keep up the good work! My Garden of Angels is growing beautifully!

So, I need to ask........

Does anyone else buy plants, figure out later that you really don't have a spot for them, and end up giving them away to friends?

I'm wondering....maybe "Nuts" is in my handle for a reason =:)

I think I'm a plantaholic ! =:)

Sometimes I start too many seeds and end up composting them. I have a big new bed I'm still filling so that didn't happen this year.

BTW I picked up Adelaide Hoodless, Champlain, and Morden Centennial, small but healthy, for $5 each at Walmart just now! Score!

"Does anyone else buy plants, figure out later that you really don't have a spot for them, and end up giving them away to friends?"

No, I guess I'm not quite that *nice*! ;-D What I do is buy plants and give away some of my old ones to make room for the new! If the plants multiply and I have too many I'll give them away. And of course a lot of the plants I grow from seed.

I'm not admitting to anything to do with seeds! Hey, some seeds will germinate even if years old, won't they? LOL I *was* going to thin the collection this year but the rain has hampered my best intentions.

NAF - Now don't you feel better having shared that? You are not alone and there are worse addictions. :)

Honalee, I'm soooo relieved.

Luckygal, I didn't even think to give away the old ones and keep the new ones. Interesting concept =:)

Northspruce - OMG Two years ago when I started on this forum, I would have had to ask you what type of plants your $5 Walmart bargains were. Not Now ! =:)

Hmmmm. What old plants could I give away to make room for $5 roses....... :D

Beegood - Now I just have to get me some Edelweiss cause my favorite movie of all timeis The Sound Of Music and my daughter had the Fisher Price record player with the song Edelweiss. That's how I buy flowers. Obviously I am a sentimental fool. Just have to have TB iris Heartstring Strummer now cause my girlfriends kennel name is Heartstring's......true addicts don't need an excuse. :)

Hmmm...winter makes me buy plants. To many catalog's and faulty memory for all the work I swore I would curtail next year. Long drawn out mucky/icky springs inspire me also to chase the winter blues away, garden therapy you know. Watching the sizzling summer heat weather reports seems to make me forget all about my cool maritime climate especially when I dream of gardens past...buzzing bees drunken swaying in the hollyhocks, the whine of mosquito
s and the scent of bug spray. Autum rolls around, hints of yellowing leaves, shorter days makes me think of purchasing "just a few more bulbs" before winter settles in again. Then there are the memory plants, the ones I grow or purchase because they remind me of people I love or those that have passed...and pass along plants-must not forget those! Old fashioned flowers, the kinds that children delight in picking a big bunch of for their mama's before they head out for home, plants that smell good or have some outstanding feature that carry them beyond the blooming season. I grow plants that self-seed, the ones that knit the garden togather like a quiet friend you always know will help you through the rough patches though you may not see them often. The reasons are as varied and many as the hours I have spent in my gardens.

freezengirl, that was a beautiful tribute to gardening. You have the gift of being able with words to evoke feelings and scents and the essence of nature so vividly.

Ditto North53!! :) :) :)

That was beautifully written freezengirl. thanks for adding it..Jean

Your welcome and thank you for the compliments. I got in a big patch of stinging nettles today trying to get control over some of the wild areas. The nettles are taller then I am so I figured I would cut them down by hand rather then using the weedwacker and getting them in the face. Judging by the stinging on my arms despite protective clothing, it was the correct decision.

Lots of things make me spend money on plants:
Boredom - in the winter, usually far enough in that I've begun to forget about how exhausted I was at the end of the previous summer, and the fact that I really don't have any more room unless I dig a new bed.

The Odd and the Unusual - If something can be both beautiful and very unique, I'll probably buy it. (my various weeping evergreens attest to this...they look like monsters covered in swamp grass or something!)

Something I've seen somewhere else that evokes good feelings - if I see some roses that remind me of an English garden or some such thing, I'll find a spot for it.

Fragrance - I love LOVE a fragrant garden..it is absolutely heavenly. If I'm walking through a greenhouse and a flower's scent brings me over, it'll probably be coming home with me.

And so on and so forth...