In article ,
says...

On Thu, 09 Jan 2014 10:57:47 +0000, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Wed, 08 Jan 2014 23:37:27 +0000, Janet wrote:

There isn't on the page, although there may be hidden somewhere else
on the site. But even so, they're advertising the award of garden
merit for something that most definitely didn't win it!


? The RHS website shows it has won an AGM

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=29

Janet

Yes, I know 'Osakasuki' won it,

which is what the advert said. So that part was not misleading.


Here's what the advert says:

On the top is the parent name. To the right, below the price is the
following text:

"A glorious variety with soft green, usually seven-lobed leaves, often
with pink-tinged margins, that in autumn turn a blazing scarlet. An added
attraction are the scarlet keys that during the summer dangle beneath the
foliage. Hardy throughout the British Isles. Packet of 12 seeds."

Just below this is the AGM symbol.

You honestly don't find that this description and the AGM are intended to
be seen as applying to the seeds they're selling?

No. As a gardener, I wouldn't mistake tree SEEDS to have an RHS AGM
award because of the potential for crossfertilisation.

Neither is accurate.

Writing something unintentionally ambiguous is easily done, as the
thread demonstrates.And it's not unheard of for online catalogues to
accidentally mismatch the name, photo, description.

but its offspring did not. Nor will they
much resemble the plant that won the AGM.

It's possible the seller is unaware of that, but you could correct
them; or if you think it's a deliberate deception and misuse of the RHS
award, inform the RHS.

If the seller doesn't know that woody plant cultivars are propagated
clonally then they're in the wrong business. That would be astonishing
(but possible).

Equally, there are plenty of gardeners well aware of that, who happily
seek out and grow the mystery seeds of a favourite in the hope one of
them just might turn out to be a brand new treasure.

Google shows plenty of other places offering the same seeds for sale.
Maybe all the takers, are people like you; well enough informed to know
that because the parent named cultivar has an RHS award, does not mean
its seeds will be true to the parent.

So to answer the original question, Janet, you don't believe this is
unethical practice?

No, I'd classify it as too obvious and trivial to be intentional
deception.

Janet.