Congrats to …
The winner …
Whose name was randomly chosen …
And will now be the lucky owner of $100 to spend at Santa Rosa Gardens
The winner’s name is …
Congrats Kate, I’ll forward your email address to Santa Rosa Gardens and you should be hearing from them shortly.
To all – thank you for entering and we’ll do it again soon.
I’m staring out the window at nothing but white. It would be pretty if I didn’t hate it. I’m pretty sure I just heard what my daughter tells me is “thunder snow.” We’re expecting up to two feet of the white stuff today with winds that could lead to power outages across the area.
Fun.
My wife and I continue to work from home while the kids sleep late, eat like crap and throw out the occasional “I’m bored”. The dog cries at my feet begging to play in the snow outside. I’ll make one of the kids take her out.
All I want to think about is the garden. It’s March and it’s that time. Bulbs have emerged and there are subtle signs of perennials coming to life. The fun is just starting.
So you know what I want to do to celebrate even with this crappy weather? I want to give something away. I want to fire you all up and get you plant shopping. I want you to forget about the nasty weather and think spring and green.
How would you like a $100 gift card to my favorite place to buy plants online, Santa Rosa Gardens?
You want it? Just leave your email address in the comments section below and I’ll pick a winner in a week’s time.
Here are the specifics:
After you’ve entered, why not head to the Santa Rosa website and get yourself:
Seriouly, head to their site now and do some shopping. I’ve never been disappointed by a single plant I’ve ordered from them and I’ve been doing so for at least seven years running.
Enjoy.
Tell them John sent you.
Don’t say I never gave you anything.
Head over to Santa Rosa Gardens now and save 40% on their in-stock inventory by using the coupon code “40foryou” at checkout. The deal expires on 6/8 so stock up now. I’m scouring the site as I type this.
And if you head here and use the coupon code “8KQUT6K5” you can get 25% off of the purchase price of my new book “Perennials Through the Seasons”.
You won’t regret it.
But if you do, don’t let me know.
The two winners of my book and 5 plants from Santa Rosa Gardens are …
Kristin Fast and Jerry Zachmann
Please send me an email at ongardener@yahoo.com with your home address so I can coordinate sending out the winnings.
Thanks to all who entered.
Want to win a copy of my new book, “Perennials Through the Seasons”?
I know, deep breaths, it’s a bit overwhelming.
But what if I up the ante? What if I throw in 5 plants from my absolute favorite online purveyor of plants, Santa Rosa Gardens?
I know, dreams do come true.
So in addition to my awe inspiring book (which I will sign and personally inscribe), the winners (2 in total) will also receive the following 5 plants, all of which inspired the book:
I highly suggest clicking on each of the plant names above to see photos of these beauties.
All that’s required to enter the giveaway is to leave a comment on this post.
If for some reason you have an issue leaving a comment, please send me an email at ongardener@yahoo.com. There have been issues for some of you lately and I’m still working with WordPress to address the issue.
The contest will run through Monday May 1, 9:00 PM EST. Winners, chosen at random, will be announced at that time.
Contestants must live within the continental U.S.
Good luck.
One of the nice perks of writing a garden blog is that there are opportunities to test out products from various garden and plant vendors. I could write an entire post about some of the more bizarre offers I’ve received the past 7 years so there is a need to find the flowers among the weeds. I’ve probably said “no thanks” 95% of the time.
Many times in the past I’ve mentioned that my go to purveyor for ordering plants online, especially grasses, is Santa Rosa Gardens. I’ve even held multiple contests giving away gift certificates to this nursery. Santa Rosa Gardens has never failed me and all of the plants I’ve purchased from them over the years are still thriving in my garden today.
So when Santa Rosa Gardens reaches out and asks me to sample/trial a product, I’m all ears. This happened a few weeks back when they asked me to try out their “My Garden Box” product.
**A quick disclaimer** This product was provided to me free of charge and no expectations were set in terms of a review.
“My Garden Box” is a subscription service where Santa Rosa designs a custom crafted collection of plants and gardening goods on a monthly basis and delivers them to those who sign up. Think of it as a “Wine of the Month Club” but with plants in a deftly themed format.
Or to describe it more specifically, as pulled right from their website:
Seasonal Plants, Tools & Living Decor and a Touch of DIY
I’ll provide some additional details in a bit as I first want to show you the contents of what I received in my inaugural box.
The box arrived just before the holidays and that old familiar logo put a smile on my face when I found it on the front doorstep.
Upon opening it, I was surprised to see that there was a lot more inside than expected. I could have read up on what to expect before opening the box, but I’m a I-like-to-be- surprised kind of guy.
Here is what was inside, after opening each of the carefully wrapped and protected items.
Now I have to admit I’m typically a dig hole, drop plant in hole kind of gardener and crafty plant stuff can be a struggle for me. That is why I have a smart wife (who loves all of this even more than I do) who can hold my hand along the way. On top of that, each item came with detailed instructions, simple enough that even this dope couldn’t screw it up.
For me personally, I immediately jumped to the gigantic Amaryllis bulb. It is ‘Apple Blossom’ and wouldn’t you know it, my wife’s personal favorite. Score one for good garden blogger husband.
In no time, that bulb was planted according to the easy to consume directions and it sits on my windowsill just waiting for the growth to kick in.
The “box” included the bulb and the stones and the glass bowl you see above.
Next in line was the Tillandsia “Airplant” in a hanging glass ornament terrarium. Who knew such a thing existed? Yes, I know what you are thinking, dreams do come true. It fits right in with the living decor movement. 
And yes, that is a Hello Kitty ornament. Don’t judge. I have an 11 year old daughter.
The kit included the Tillandsia, the glass ornament terrarium, faux snow, faux ornaments/gifts and faux moss/grass. Crafty ONG put it all together with no problem and has properly followed the directions by soaking the plant once a week. It still sits on our Christmas tree as I type this and I’m not exaggerating when I say 7-10 people have specifically asked about this ornament ever since it made its way on there.
The final item in the box is this classic looking soap dispenser that has become the default soap dispenser in our kitchen every since it arrived.
If my math serves me correctly, that is three items that have made a big impact in the Markowski household over the holidays.
You can get all of the details as to how the subscription service works here.
I like the fact that you can do it for a year automatically, 3 months automatically or try it one time. There is something about getting this during the quiet time of year in terms of gardening here in the Northeast US. A little ray of sunshine through the bleakness.
I admittedly know little about houseplants and I am using this opportunity to get myself acquainted with them. It is a nice way to get the hands dirty even while indoors. The Tillandsia is my gateway houseplant.
I’d love to get your thoughts on this product/service. What do you think? Would you consider trying it out? Would you ever give it as a gift? Have you ever done anything like it in the past? Would you be interested in a giveaway for a subscription (wink wink)?
Thanks in advance and thank you to Santa Rosa Gardens for the opportunity to test drive this exciting product.
I used the random generator at Random.org and got the following number: 4
So 4th comment was …
And our winner is …
A $100 Santa Rosa gift card goes to …
Wait for it …
Wait for it …
Modern Mia!!!!!!!
Congrats and thank you to all for participating!!!
To celebrate me and how awesome I am, I am looking to give away a $100 gift card to Santa Rosa Gardens.
As I have mentioned numerous times in the past, Santa Rosa has provided close to half of the ornamental grasses currently residing in my garden. Their plants are ALWAYS shipped perfectly and timely and me thinks you will love the huge variety they have to offer.
In order to enter, simply leave a comment on this post, along with your email address, and tell me the one plant you would like to acquire from Santa Rosa Gardens. I will pick a random winner from all of those who comment.
A few additional details:
Good luck!
After randomly picking a number through Random.org, I have selected the winner of the Santa Rosa Gardens $100 gift card.
And that winner is …
Wait for it …
Wait for it …
Wait for it …
“Larkspur” wins the $100 to Santa Rosa Gardens. Big congrats!
All I need you to do is send your email address to ongardener@yahoo.com and I’ll get the gift certificate sent out to you right away.
Thank you to all who left comments. We’ll do this again soon.
I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong.
Specifically, man enough to admit that a gardening game show/podcast ain’t the best idea in the world (but it WILL be revisited in the future).
There was not one response to my idea from last Wednesday, so time for a reboot. I still have that $100 gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I need to give it away to one of you. So here’s the deal.
Simply leave a comment on this post, along with your email address, telling me the one plant you would like to acquire from Santa Rosa Gardens and I will pick a random winner from all of those who comment. A few additional details:
So let’s try this again, shall we?