"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"Sue" wrote in message

Another reason gardeners can get choice of trees or spacing/position
wrong is misleading info when they do look for advice. One thing
that I
blame is the tendency of some plant labels, and often also books, to
give the height and spread of trees and shrubs as a rough size
*after
ten years* but neglect to give any idea of mature eventual size. The
ten
year bit isn't always stated, either.

Plant labels! Now that is a subject that makes me very cross! I
dunno about the UK, but here the trend in plant labelling seems
designed to mislead or keep people ignorant.

For example, Alstromerias here are being sold under the name of
"Princess Lilly" and nowhere on the label could a mug garden find out
it's real name. I was so cross when I saw this that I simply refused
to buy some that I would rather like in my garden. Since they cope so
well with dry conditions I thought that they'd make a useful addition
to my drought ravaged garden but I simply won't encourage the plant
producers shoddy behaviour by buying them.


You are lucky to get even that info on a plant. Many of the local
supermarket plants are just labelled "Herbaceous perennial" or "Houseplant".
I once asked for the actual name and the assistant grabbed the label and
said it was called Herbaceous.