Shopping Alert

Smith & Hawken, the iconic garden supply store is closing its doors after 30 years of furnishing gardeners with outstanding products and customer service.

If you are a gardener, the brick and mortar stores were a mecca of seasonal delights. Whether you were shopping for bulbs, outdoor furniture, or well made tools, stepping inside was always a respite from the elements. If you only dream about a prolific English garden because all your plants turn brown, Smith & Hawken provided ideas and simple window sill solutions to help bring the outside indoors. In this thorny retail climate, it is surely a store that will be missed when the economy re-blooms.

Currently, the discounts are 20% off most items, 30% off furniture. They are exhausting their inventory through the stores only. Already, the catalog and website branches are no longer accepting orders. A little birdie told me the discounts should go to 40% off everything by late August or possibly earlier depending on sales. Now is the time to get to a store near you, there are 56 locations around the US. The store I recently visited was loaded with merchandise, so the selection was still very good. BONUS: Check the back of the store for their clearance items, some of the merchandise is 50%+ off the original prices.

Gardening is one of those activities that unite people in the simplest of ways but carries a deep respect for Mother Nature and those who tend to her. In the spring, I suggested sharing seeds to "Plant the Seeds of Friendship." It is fun to share, learn, and trade. In growing nature, you grow, too. Flowery? Maybe. But ask any gardener, novice or pro, and they will agree.

Recently, I passed a house with a sign in the driveway propped up by a bunch of full grown plants that read, "Free." I turned the car around and was delighted to meet Bob, an avid gardener whose home garden is stunning. His garden is so plentiful, it needed reshaping; plus, it is a Certified Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation. After a brief chat about our love of gardening, I drove away with a trunk full of green goodies. The picture above is one of the Echinacea plants from Bob's garden transplanted into mine. Thank you, Bob!

Have you made a friend through gardening? Has gardening taught you something about life? (Mine is "patience.") Tell us, so we can grow with you.