A dollar spent with local merchants, acts like $1.60 to the local
economy. A dollar spent at Lowe's is gone, gone all the way back to
Mooresville, NC.

In article ,
wrote:

Wandered through a local big box over the weekend.. looking for plants
(lowes)

Noticed they have they Easter displays out, some really nice potted
hydrangeas. I
raise big leafed hydrangeas myself... so I'm looking and it suddenly dawned
on me....
These look like branches that have been cut off a blooming bush and stuck
into a pot
of soil.

Duhh... no wonder a lot of them will never grow... they're CUTTINGS, in
full bloom with
all the leaves. For years I always though these were actually rooted
plants that would
grow in the container until they could be planted...... boy am I dumb !!!

It took me years to figure out that all those colorful holiday season
poinsettia's were
also just cuttings taking off a blooming bush...no wonder they die after the
holiday
season passes.

Anyway... continued out to the shrubs and azaleas. Saw some nice specimen
azaleas,
glossy foliage, white flowers. Checked the fact tag and saw these
beauties are
for hardiness zone 8. The store is in zone 6. No way they would survive
the winters.

And they have a complete display of encore azaleas, maybe a dozen
different
varieties, none of which have a hardiness zone listed on the plants, but
are
actually zone 7's or higher and will not overwinter here.


It makes me think about all the 'weekend' gardeners who will buy these
plants... put
them in the ground and then wonder why they don't survive. Sure they have a
one
year warranty (store credit only) but who can find a receipt after a few
months.

You would think the big box stores would be more careful in what they sell.
I
guess making a buck is more important. Perhaps this is also why a lot of
people feel they don't have a 'green' thumb.

Peter (who used to not have a 'green' thumb, but is slowly improving thanks
to this ng).
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html