From the "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" department. what gardening risk have you taken?

i don't do too much experimenting anymore...too much heartache! i do rescue plants off the sale racks sometimes....only things i know will grow for me here.

the garden is finally getting pretty self-sufficient as it matures and sometimes that feels like i just got out of jail....free to do other things!

all of the first four, never the fifth

My wife's grandmother dropped off some Oenothera fruticosa Sundrops while we were away for the weekend. They sat in full sun in a plastic shopping bag until we got home. I think she dropped them off the day we were to get back. Half of them were dead. The other half weren't really dug up as much as they were pulled out from the ground. I planted them because she gave them to me and now they're doing great. There were only about 6 stems that were planted and now they cover a huge area. I think they were planted summer of '12. Below is a pic.

i picked "other". i find myself getting more interested in growing volunteer seedlings and seeing just what variety each little mystery plant will be.

I have rescued more plants than I care to name. Some I had for years and some just a season. I plant also have planted old seed, some come up and some never show a sign. So if there in the bag they sure as H won't do anything so what's the harm? It's just a little dirt and water if something sprouts then your the winner. I have planted seed I had for several years and not even know what they were and have been pleasantly surprise so to me it's worth it. .

I went for other , I have grown a few that were not and are not known to grow here , Like the tropical Banana I had for two years , it died of root rot though from a flood , sometime I will try again ,, that close ..

I planted some tulips, which aren't supposed to rebloom in this zone. However, they will rebloom if I get enough nights in the 30s and low 40s. This past winter was too warm and they didn't rebloom but I'm counting on that being a fluke and with normal winters I'll get tulips again.

I'm planting old seeds right now. I'll see what they do.

Same here! This year I sowed some seeds collected a few years ago at work.. no idea what they'll be, but the entire Big Bed was sowed in the 'Sprinkle and Pray' method. :) Also, I am now the proud Mamma of a zillion Irises which were rescued from certain death last Summer (they were gonna take 'em to the dump! NOO!!!), and a lovely Paeony which I rescued from the dumpster last Summer as well. It was 2 brown sticks, nothing more. Today she is thriving and blooming and smelling Heavenly!! And this is my first time with both of those plants.
Then there's the Aegopodium in the pot out back. Invasive BIG TIME in my area.. but very well-behaved in her container. So far so good there.
I find trying new stuff all the time to be fun! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. :)

well, okay. i guess i'd better dig out my old seeds and start planting. lol

Planted 2 YO radish seeds which resulted in tasty ones . I always get petered out petunias from lowes bargain shelves, keep them shady and the reblo nicely in the fall into following spring. I have observed my closest lowes is very generous putting plants in bargain bin, while the HD never marks anything down.

Can't remember now but hv 2-3 plants that were not supposed to survive heat and are doing well.

However, I may be a negative Nellie as I've had more episodes of "something ventured nothing gained" than the other way around .

...case in point: hostas, spent a $$$ have not a single plant to show for it. Bitter...very bitter about this

I nick seeds and cuttings and dig up roadside plants. I also plant spit fruit seeds.

Vossner, I'm very sorry to hear about your Hosta misfortunes. I love Hostas! I'm wondering if it's maybe the heat in your zone..??

Reynardine, you "nick" seeds? Ummm... dare I ask from where?? ;) heeheeheee

I like to "deadhead with a purpose" at work - the purpose being to fill up my little baggies to take them home and plant them. =)

Just being melodramatic, lol

I got a very marginally hardy tree - Cedrus Deodara "Snow Sprite". It decided to like it here and has grown from about 20 in tall to over 7 ft.

I like to think of the bargain rack as a personal challenge to see if I can resurrect the mostly dead plants that I probably wouldn't purchase at full price.....and I have been known to dumpster dive for plants at Kroger, Tom Thumb and Albertson's......(I couldn't get out of a dumpster once and had to call for help.....but that is another embarrassing story!!!!)

Bargain end-of-the-season bulbs don't usually bloom for me the first year, but in the next season or two they are just as healthy as the full price ones.....I try to put them in areas that have other foliage to hide them until they get going.

Home Depot in this area doesn't put any plants on bargain racks - I asked about it once and the manager told me (rather snarkily) that the grower would take them back even if they were dead so they didn't have to discount them.....so I just go to Lowe's.....theirs usually just need a good watering and they bounce right back!!

My neighbor gave me a old rose bush that looked dead, so happy when it was resurrected for me

Texasbelle, ok now you've got me curious - please do tell about that dumpster story!? < =D

I've never "dumpster dived" for plants, since I work at a nursery. I get to help clean up what's "not gonna make it", so if it'll just be getting trashed anyway, I can just choose to put it in my truck instead. :)

Oh Flowa, that rose is beautiful!! You are clearly a wonderful Plant Mommy!! =)

Vossner, why don't hostas grow for you? Too warm a zone?

Yes too warm but I must say a couple of friends grow them well and they sell them here everywhere, Must be a case of personality clash , sniff...

That's ok, you're not missing much. I dislike hostas. When we moved into our house there was one that came up and I dug it out and threw it away. That little sucker kept trying to come up though. It never seemed like I could get all of it and then I finally had to put RoundUp on it.

all of the above... gotta take risks or its no fun.

Here is the seed I grew out from a Medjool date. I named it Palmyra.

I planted fifteen year old mimosa seeds from the tree in the backyard of my house that I had to give up. My son mixed up a solution of gibberellic acid to soak them in, and they grew! Unfortunately, the seedlings were left in the hot sun and they cooked to death.
Now that I know how invasive they can be, it's probably a good thing, lol. But it was fun while it lasted!

I nabbed a large Guzmania Bromiliad from my local Lowe's discount rack. It was in decent condition, and now has 4 pups growing on it. My best rescue so far was a Doritaenopsis, which had a small amount of root rot, because it had been sitting in water on the discount shelf.

The ultimate tale - I heard - in planting old seeds -- were archeologists that found basket gourds in the Egyptian pyramids -2,000 years old ---were able to get some to sprout.

Do you all think that is really true?

I have no idea if they had the strength to grow - if it was true?

True--they probably used the same thing that I did.

Yes, all of the above! Even the "don't take chances" on some things, especially...you gotta know what can survive in your 'ZONE'...and what just can't...once you start gardening, the challenges are endless! :)

KyWOods --- What did you do? You mean the soaking in the gibberellic acid?

2000 years though -- Wow!