Dig them out of the National Arboretum

Anonymous wrote:Lidl. Has excellent selection and prices. Go check it out.

This.

Neighbors! Usually free but thats perrenials that people are dividing.

I second the Aldi suggestion. Check out Craigslist. We have sold seedlings on there in the past for a couple of dollars or less when we've had excess from our veggie garden. I'd also check out local garden clubs, or on Nextdoor (the online forum for neighborhoods).

I only buy perennials but found some cheap options at walmart. I also love earthsangha.org in Alexandria.

Lidl. Has excellent selection and prices. Go check it out.

Walmart's garden center is usually well priced, especially for annuals. Sometimes I'll go to a nice garden place like Merrifield or Burke Nursery and look at their crazy expensive pre-potted displays and get ideas, then recreate them with cheaper plants (or buy the plants individually and DIY it in a less expensive pot).

Creeping Jenny is inexpensive and looks really nice flowing out of pots. It spreads like crazy so you can buy one or two and divide them among planters. It'll come back year after year, too.

Layers give you maximum visual impact without breaking the bank, so like a tall grass plume with something flowy and low (ivy, sweet potato vine, creeping Jenny) and then something mid-height and flowery like petunias. All super low maintenance. Enjoy!

Anonymous wrote:Very new to gardening (if you'd call what I do that, haha), and on a STRICT budget. I'm looking for some inexpensive small flowering plants and ivy to put in my hanging baskets for my porch.

To this point I've just gone to places like Home Depot and Lowes. Do I have any other options in this price range? I'm hoping for somewhere with potentially more variety, and dare I dream, even cheaper?

Watch some videos and learn how to propagate plants. Petunias are very easy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOaxtHuU6R4

Lots of plants will propagate without growth hormone. There's a video on youtube where a guy propagates plants in sand in a cheap laundry basket.
I've done this with lots of different plants.

Stay far away from American Plant! You'll have to take out a second mortgage just for a few flowers lol

I second the clearance rack at Home Depot or Lowe’s. I got a braised hibiscus tree for $25 after the 50% clearance price just this Thursday. All they need is sun, water, maybe repotting and some love.

ALdis...$6.99 for large hanging baskets. I pull them out and use them for my flower boxes. Cheapest I have found. I would not have even noticed them if I had not seen multiple people with carts full of just them.

Costco, craigslist, fb marketplace.
Cuttings from friends/ plant clubs

Trader Joe’s

Dream you must, because it doesn’t get much cheaper.

Sometimes a grocery store will have cheaper options.

Alternative - sale rack at Lowe’s. Typically in the back of the plant area. If you go mid-week you can usually get some good deals. For example, azaleas after they have bloomed.

Final option - late fall end of the season.

Very new to gardening (if you'd call what I do that, haha), and on a STRICT budget. I'm looking for some inexpensive small flowering plants and ivy to put in my hanging baskets for my porch.

To this point I've just gone to places like Home Depot and Lowes. Do I have any other options in this price range? I'm hoping for somewhere with potentially more variety, and dare I dream, even cheaper?