Buy Spring Bloomers In The Summer

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - This is the time of year when you can buy spring and early summer perennials on sale. Often, they look sort of sad because they're past their peak - that's why the price is so low. There's no denying that it's lots of fun to buy plants in flower - you walk into the garden center and see pink, yellow, purple, orange, red and white - and feel like a kid in a candy store - oooh, which colors will you pick and how many? It's a little tougher to get excited just looking at leaves, so let buying a bargain put a spring in your step instead.

Since they're not in bloom, it's smart to look up the plants you're interested in before you go shopping so you have some idea of which varieties you want. Use your tablet or phone to check the cultivars online as you shop too - a plant tag should have the correct name, but often the photo isn't enough to help you decide.

So get out and shop now and you can go home with a carload of perennials that may be past their prime in the dead of summer, but will fill your garden with all kinds of amazing colors when they bloom again next spring.