The message kEn8b.422$AD1.11@pd7tw2no
from "Phrederik" contains these words:

Can anyone suggest some simple questions to ask at a garden center to really
see if the person you are talking to knows what they are doing?

I don't expect all gc staff to be knowledgeable, so the best question
to ask is "Is there someone here who can tell me more about X".

I quite often ask if I can look up a plant in their behind-the-counter
reference books. Keen knowledgeable staff will offer to help and take an
interest in what it is you're trying to find out. It's a very bad sign
if they don't know where it's kept, or start leafing through the index
in a puzzled way, trying to remember whereabouts X comes in the
alphabet.

Janet.