what a great way to re-use! I use all leftover water in bottles to water plants and have been known to re-use the peat pellets too! Good Job!

My frugally, low confession...I was leaving the local elementary school in June, when I noticed a broken piece of wandering jew plant (that pinkish thick stemmed variety) on the ground. The teachers were taking their plants home for the summer and a piece had broken off from someone's plant. I picked up the 5 inch piece, took some dirt from the side of the asphalt parking lot, grabbed a used plastic sandwich bag from the outside trashcan, then scooped up some standing water in the street. The cutting eventually rooted in the baggie and has since been repotted. Talk about trash to treasure :)

I have a begonia in a 6 inch pot now that I rooted from a piece that I found on the ground at one of the box stores. I cut it into 3 pieces and rooted it on my windowsill in water. It really was on the ground ..I swear... this time!

Garden witch, we must be related! I did the same thing- exactly!

Suzi

Hi,
With envelopes and a pencil in my purse I cruised the aisles in the WM garden center. Found petunia and Scabiosa seeds. Helped myself and felt real proud of helping WM "dead head" their plants. Smile.
Then I went to my niece's home in Iowa and she let me gleen seeds from her plants. I save all my junk mail envelopes and use those to collect the seed. I also carry paper clips so I can fold the envelope over several times and clip so I don't lose my seed on the way home. A pencil writes the name on the outside. When I have bagged up the seeds I erase the name on the envelope and reuse it.
TrowelGal

I planted some seedlings in strofoam cups this year, and wrote the name on the rim with permanent marker. When I potted them up to 1 gallons, I saved the cups to use for next year's crop.

Once I had everyone in the office save their styrofoam cups from the coffee maker in the office for me to plant things in.

I've picked up broken off pieces from store garden centers many times, as well as seeds. I even grew a succulent from a leaf I found on the floor at HD.

Spring was so wacky this year in Michigan (a nice surprise frost in May) that most of my seeds recieved from Gardenweb trades went to waste - tons of plants got killed. What to do with no seeds & bare land? I took a large pot from last years sad crop of tomatoes & broke up the old soil. Got 3 grape tomatoes out of a grocery-store batch & spread the seeds into the pot. In a week, I had dozens of baby tomato plants that got split up & planted in a 2 by 10 foot strip on the side of the house. The cheapest & most successful thing I've done yet! They all ended up really strong & produce hundreds of perfect little grape-sized tomatoes. So many, that there's no choice but to give tons away to neighbors & friends. I never thought 3 little tomatoes could become this! Happy growin', Shannon

My husband rescued some bromeliads from his workplace's dumpster and brought them home to me. The timing couldn't be better as it was about 2 days out from our wedding anniversary. The bromeliads are dying, but pups are coming up from the sides. You should've seen the look on my face when he brought those things home! I thought it was real sweet of him, and I'm looking forward to the pups getting bigger.

I used to work on a college campus that had great flower beds. I regularly supported their deadheading efforts. I used to carry my used lunch baggies around in my purse to put the seeds in. When I would get home, I would staple a scrap of paper to the outside of the bag with the seed name. Between curbside leaf and grass clipping pick up, horse show manure compost gathering, coffee grounds and vegetable scraps from local restaurants and coffee shops, newspaper mooched from neighbors and city leaf compost, I was able to put in some free flower beds at my old house.

When I moved this spring, I divided all my perennials, potted the divisions up, and took them with me when I moved.

Everytime I had to visit another office I would admire the plants until they would give me a cutting. This works both ways. I watered plants with leftover coffee. I put the blood from a pack of meat in a gallon of water and water plants with it.