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#1
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent here a bit, so excuse
me.... Where I live there seem to be 3 types of places where I can buy plants: --Places like Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. that have "garden centers" but that isn't the main thing they focus on. --Mid-size to large commercial nurseries that specialize in plants. --Small "mom-and-pop" type places. Of those 3, I'd really prefer to patronize the last two figuring that I'll get better plants. BUT, at least in our area the last 2 places are very bad about labelling their plants well. Meaning, they give you the general name of the plant, but not the particular name or variety. Generally, places like Lowes, etc. actually have tags on their plant that give all the information one could desire, so why can't the local nurseries? I understand that they often raise the plants themselves, but I'd think that would make it more important for their own sake to track these things better. Example, earlier today I was looking for a Passion Vine. There are many different varieties of this plant. One large local nursery had quite a selection in their greenhouse. This nursery is the premier nursery in this area with several locations and friendly, helpful stuff. They had at least 5 different varieties of what I was looking for. All of them labelled "Red Passion Vine." Never mind that several of them had different leaf shapes and other differences were obvious. They were all grouped together as if they were the same. A very nice staff lady tried to describe the blooms, but that's not very helpful and it doesn't account for how obviously different plants would have the same bloom. Another local nursery, owned by two very nice people that have sold me many very nice plants, had a similar selection of diverse plants all bearing tags that simply had their color--no other information. I WANT to buy from the local nurseries, but I also want to know exactly what I'm buying. I wish I had the experience to look at a plant and immediately know what variety it is, but I don't--especially if the plant isn't in bloom. I wish nurseries in my area would do a better job with this. Tony |
#2
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
This is a valid rant. I expect proper and correct labeling of all
plants. I bought some pepper plants that were supposed to be "sweet" but 2.5 months later found out that they set your mouth on fire. Another time bought a dogwood tree that bloomed white and it was labeled "pink." Sure I could return it to Home Depot, but it is established and growing exceptionally well. |
#3
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
For the small nursery it can be a problem, over 90% of customers don't want
to know the "Proper" name of a plant, and would rather buy it in flower or from a picture. You have those customers that remove labels to read then just stick them back in the nearest pot, I have seen a plant with 5 different labels in it. Easy when Thymus label is in rosemary, but much harder when different varieties of the same plant, Mint cam be fairly easy to re label, but the different forms of Michelmass Daisy can be almost impossible till around flowering time like the idea I came across on one nursery where they have bed labels well fastened down and if you want your plants labelled you pick up a pencil and labels and write them yourself. But this still doesn't stop those who pick up a plant and put it down somewhere else. (We've all seen the cans of baked beans amongst the cans of meat or fruit where someone had changed their mind and cant be bothered to take them back to the place they got them from). -- David Hill Abacus Nurseries www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk |
#4
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
Tony wrote:
: I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent here a bit, so excuse : me.... : Where I live there seem to be 3 types of places where I can buy plants: : --Places like Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. that have "garden centers" : but that isn't the main thing they focus on. : --Mid-size to large commercial nurseries that specialize in plants. : --Small "mom-and-pop" type places. : Of those 3, I'd really prefer to patronize the last two figuring that I'll : get better plants. Actually, places like Lowe's order from the same large wholesale nurseries that many smaller nurseries and garden centers do. Labelling comes with the plant and is thus often better and more accurate than that at places that grow their own. Their turnover is high, so if your timing is right, you can get plants fresh off the truck from the grower that are still in peak condition. Signage is a significant cost for a nursery or garden center and many will trim costs that way. But failure to label informatively and accurately is one of the surest ways to lose customers. Good signage helps customers buy the right plants for their growing conditions and learn enough about its care to keep it from croaking. If you're selling the Top Twenty annuals, this isn't such a big deal but if you're trying to offer less commonly known plants, it's absolutely crucial. Nothing will kill a standalone garden center/nursery faster than poor and inaccurate signage and uninformed staff. -- Karen The Garden Gate http://garden-gate.prairienet.org ================================================== ================= "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." ^and cats -- Cicero ================================================== ================= On the Web since 1994 Forbes Best of Web 2002 |
#5
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
"Tony" wrote:
I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent here a bit, so excuse me.... Example, earlier today I was looking for a Passion Vine. There are many different varieties of this plant. One large local nursery had quite a selection in their greenhouse. This nursery is the premier nursery in this area with several locations and friendly, helpful stuff. They had at least 5 different varieties of what I was looking for. All of them labelled "Red Passion Vine." Never mind that several of them had different leaf shapes and other differences were obvious. They were all grouped together as if they were the same. A very nice staff lady tried to describe the blooms, but that's not very helpful and it doesn't account for how obviously different plants would have the same bloom. Haul all the vines to the checkout, ask to speak to the owner ... and point out that having clearly different vines all labelled the same has just put his nursery on your do-not-buy list. Then abandon the plants and go somewhere where they do label them. Tsu -- To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. - Jules Henri Poincaré |
#6
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
I live in a small town and know the nursery owner personally. Get to know
your nursery man/woman to the point that if you see them shopping somewhere else, you stop and talk to them. Then tell them about the problems and ask for their individual help the next year. They hire help each year to do the planting and labeling, and that is where the problem can get started. Once the nursery man knows about the problem, he can correct it the next year. The small ones in this area close in July. No customers. I have asked him to plant some cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Etc. for fall gardens. He said he would check into it. At least he knows now that there is a desire to have them. Lowes, Wal Mart Etc. are all fine places to buy your plants. The only problem with them is that those located in my town might have plants that aren't for my area. I bought Thompson grapes one year and had them planted. Then took a pruning class at the university there. At the College I was told that Thompson grapes would not survive in that state. They never made it to the next summer. You just have to find someone who knows the most about plants in what ever place you are going to buy and rely on them. Become friends with them and let them know just what you want. The will work harder for you. Good luck. Dwayne "Tsu Dho Nimh" wrote in message ... "Tony" wrote: I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent here a bit, so excuse me.... Example, earlier today I was looking for a Passion Vine. There are many different varieties of this plant. One large local nursery had quite a selection in their greenhouse. This nursery is the premier nursery in this area with several locations and friendly, helpful stuff. They had at least 5 different varieties of what I was looking for. All of them labelled "Red Passion Vine." Never mind that several of them had different leaf shapes and other differences were obvious. They were all grouped together as if they were the same. A very nice staff lady tried to describe the blooms, but that's not very helpful and it doesn't account for how obviously different plants would have the same bloom. Haul all the vines to the checkout, ask to speak to the owner ... and point out that having clearly different vines all labelled the same has just put his nursery on your do-not-buy list. Then abandon the plants and go somewhere where they do label them. Tsu -- To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. - Jules Henri Poincaré |
#7
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
Haul all the vines to the checkout, ask to speak to the owner ...
and point out that having clearly different vines all labelled the same has just put his nursery on your do-not-buy list. Then abandon the plants and go somewhere where they do label them. Tsu Rather than abandoning the merchant altogether, I would simply bring the problem to his/her attention. Very often, business owners are not aware of the problems, or believe that their signage/labelling is sufficient. I owned/operated a small business for 10 years, and always appreciated my customers' feedback, both positive and negative, and would always act on the negative feedback to improve my service level. A thunk a simple discussion will bring much more positive results than simply dumping stuff on the products on the counter, complaining, and then walking out. -- Shadow Made In Canada, eh. |
#8
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
In Tsu Dho Nimh wrote:
Haul all the vines to the checkout, ask to speak to the owner ... and point out that having clearly different vines all labelled the same has just put his nursery on your do-not-buy list. Then abandon the plants and go somewhere where they do label them. You live in a city, don't you? You wouldn't burn your bridges like that in a smaller town. But you also would likely be able to talk to the owner without having to resort to Rambo tactics to get their attention. |
#9
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
In some states, like California, there are laws governing the information that
must be included on plant labels. Unfortunately, this only applies to outdoor plants. Therefore, nursery stock which originates in California, like anything from Monrovia, will be properly labeled. The local nurseries are not going to do anything they are not forced to do by law. And the mom-and-pop nurseries can't afford the time to research the subject. If you want named cultivars of a particular plant, you probably have to patronize the specialist mail-order houses & pay the extra cost. Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 "If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming train." Robert Lowell (1917-1977) |
#10
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
Iris Cohen wrote: In some states, like California, there are laws governing the information that must be included on plant labels. Unfortunately, this only applies to outdoor plants. Therefore, nursery stock which originates in California, like anything from Monrovia, will be properly labeled. The local nurseries are not going to do anything they are not forced to do by law. And the mom-and-pop nurseries can't afford the time to research the subject. If you want named cultivars of a particular plant, you probably have to patronize the specialist mail-order houses & pay the extra cost. Nonsense. If a nursery wants to be successful (and this is a very competitive business given the influence of the 'box' stores), then providing proper informational signage and correct labeling AND customer service is essential. The nursery I work with is individually owned (could be termed a "mom and pop", but only with a pop), but informational signage and labeling is a priority. It is all created in-house (I write a good portion of it) and is included in addition to growers' tag info. Growers' tag info tends to be very generic and does not always reflect correct growing conditions for our specific location - Monrovia is notorious for this. Monrovia also tends to rename previously named cultivars with their own cultivar name. While I realize that the PNW is a very active and competitive gardening region, there is no reason why this attitude should not be carried into other areas of the country. Running a nursery or garden center business is the same as running any other business - to succeed you must offer a quality product at a reasonable price and provide enough of the extras - superior customer service, guarantees, correct information and labeling - to attract your customers away from other, competitive sources. It's a matter of professionalism. There is no excuse for improper or missing labeling (other than the odd misplaced or missing tag) - it reflects only laziness or lack of knowledge. BTW, when a plant label goes missing at my nursery and we are unable to be sure of the particular plant/cultivar in question, it is sold at a significant discount. The 'mystery plant' area is extremely popular with bargain hunters. pam - gardengal |
#11
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent
here a bit, so excuse me.... Hehe, you should go to a place I like going to to get plants. I'm not sure who owns it, but I have seen four people working there, all older Japanese people, two males, two females. Only one speaks English very well. Mostly, I've dealt with one woman, who is very sweet (I think grin), but speaks very, very little English. I get either the Japanese name of the plant or the Hawaiian. Very rarely even a common English name. One plant I came away with and still waiting for it to bloom is, as far as I know, a 'big double'. A 'big double' what, I don't know. Tracey |
#12
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
The problem is that nowadays they all tend to purchase their plants from the
same wholesalers who don't give a fig about the proper identification of plants. It is much cheaper to buy the plants from wholesalers than for them to grow the plants themselves and there is little incentive to take the time to bother to properly label the plants because the vast majority of people who buy plants are uninformed and don't care what the names are. Most people throw away the labels as soon as they stick the plants in soil. Tony wrote in message news:8E67F3DFDDCD7E8E.655309D77E3FB574.7C0E9686A62 ... I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent here a bit, so excuse me.... Where I live there seem to be 3 types of places where I can buy plants: --Places like Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. that have "garden centers" but that isn't the main thing they focus on. --Mid-size to large commercial nurseries that specialize in plants. --Small "mom-and-pop" type places. Of those 3, I'd really prefer to patronize the last two figuring that I'll get better plants. BUT, at least in our area the last 2 places are very bad about labelling their plants well. Meaning, they give you the general name of the plant, but not the particular name or variety. Generally, places like Lowes, etc. actually have tags on their plant that give all the information one could desire, so why can't the local nurseries? I understand that they often raise the plants themselves, but I'd think that would make it more important for their own sake to track these things better. Example, earlier today I was looking for a Passion Vine. There are many different varieties of this plant. One large local nursery had quite a selection in their greenhouse. This nursery is the premier nursery in this area with several locations and friendly, helpful stuff. They had at least 5 different varieties of what I was looking for. All of them labelled "Red Passion Vine." Never mind that several of them had different leaf shapes and other differences were obvious. They were all grouped together as if they were the same. A very nice staff lady tried to describe the blooms, but that's not very helpful and it doesn't account for how obviously different plants would have the same bloom. Another local nursery, owned by two very nice people that have sold me many very nice plants, had a similar selection of diverse plants all bearing tags that simply had their color--no other information. I WANT to buy from the local nurseries, but I also want to know exactly what I'm buying. I wish I had the experience to look at a plant and immediately know what variety it is, but I don't--especially if the plant isn't in bloom. I wish nurseries in my area would do a better job with this. Tony |
#13
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
Then what do you do after security throws you out of the store and your are
banned from there forever? Tsu Dho Nimh wrote in message ... "Tony" wrote: I'm frustrated about something and thought I'd vent here a bit, so excuse me.... Example, earlier today I was looking for a Passion Vine. There are many different varieties of this plant. One large local nursery had quite a selection in their greenhouse. This nursery is the premier nursery in this area with several locations and friendly, helpful stuff. They had at least 5 different varieties of what I was looking for. All of them labelled "Red Passion Vine." Never mind that several of them had different leaf shapes and other differences were obvious. They were all grouped together as if they were the same. A very nice staff lady tried to describe the blooms, but that's not very helpful and it doesn't account for how obviously different plants would have the same bloom. Haul all the vines to the checkout, ask to speak to the owner ... and point out that having clearly different vines all labelled the same has just put his nursery on your do-not-buy list. Then abandon the plants and go somewhere where they do label them. Tsu -- To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. - Jules Henri Poincaré |
#14
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
The problem of poorly labelled plants can originate from several possible
sources. It is a problem but if you visit a place which does supply you with good quality plants, with a healthy root ball at a fair price and your gripe is with their labelling alone. Then I'd recommend that you bring your gripe to the owner's attention and see how they react. There is no point abstaining from an otherwise good plant source if you know the labels are poor kind of shooting yourself in the foot. Buy the healthy plant at modest price with a poor label, do some research and correct the label when you put it in your own back yard. A common miss-labelling problem which I do object to and which I regularly come across at locations which buy-in in bulk is due to the meddling effects of the marketing professionals. In an age when new homes and gardens for first-time buyers are getting smaller, when such people have not the desire or the time to research their garden plants as enthusiasts may do, they simply want to buy plants of a certain size that does not crowd their living area. As a result it is very hard to find a plant carrying a labels that honestly declares the plant's ultimate size as 20 feet, that it will do so in five years. Otherwise such plants would never be sold. Consequently most advertised sizes are 4-5 feet height and spread or less. Regards, Mike Gilmore www.winsfordwalledgarden.freeserve.co.uk |
#15
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Rant--why don't nurseries label things better?
He is also an idiot so I wouldn't take the dude seriously.
Wouldn't be surprised if he makes a scene everywhere he goes and is constantly being thrown out of stores. Wouldn't be surprised if he would even throws a tantrums in resturants over his glass of water!!! wrote in message ... In Tsu Dho Nimh wrote: Haul all the vines to the checkout, ask to speak to the owner ... and point out that having clearly different vines all labelled the same has just put his nursery on your do-not-buy list. Then abandon the plants and go somewhere where they do label them. You live in a city, don't you? You wouldn't burn your bridges like that in a smaller town. But you also would likely be able to talk to the owner without having to resort to Rambo tactics to get their attention. |
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