Gardening is always a low-cost way to beautify your home or produce food — but this Redditor took it to an extreme with a plant they said they found for only 50 cents.
The r/gardening subreddit is full of success stories from both beginner gardeners and green-thumbed veterans. Some of the most heartwarming stories are about plant rehabilitation: starting with a damaged, dying, or neglected plant and nurturing it until it blossoms.
"My 50 cent find at Lowe's planted in May vs. today," said the Redditor, sharing two photos that don't even look like the same plant. In the first image, the verbena was small, ragged, and partially dried up, with only a scattering of dried and wilted blossoms.
The second image, taken in July, showed a flourishing plant that had filled in with dozens of pink and white flower clusters. The plant had expanded to many times its previous size, and healthy green leaves just managed to peek out between the plentiful petals.
"How do you make it look so good?" a commenter asked. "Mine always look like they're drying out or wilting."
"My other two that I bought in hanging planters are drying out and wilting," said the original poster in a reply. "Not sure how I got so lucky with this one. I just water it once a day and I guess I picked a happy spot for it, I'm still learning."
Growing flowers is great for gardeners since it comes with exercise and sunshine. The plants themselves help protect and even enrich the soil while removing heat-trapping carbon pollution from the air. Also, as this Redditor showed, it really doesn't take a lot of money — just care and patience.
"So there is hope for those clearance plants!" one person said.
"Great job!" said another commenter. "I have had some success with Lowes clearance plants, but I'm always skeptical. You saved their lives!"
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