On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 16:14:18 GMT, animaux
wrote:

But, has anyone seen the great section at Lowes where they mark down perfectly
good plants, but which are no longer in color and not saleable because most
people with no knowledge will not buy it if it doesn't have a flower?

At our house, Lowes a nasty word, given that at their first store in
San Antonio they cut down one of the area's fine, old oak trees to
make room for a few more parking spaces. Now *there* was a waste!

David

I agree with you totally as I was a professional grower up on Long Island in one
of the largest growers on the east coast (name kept to myself...). This
particular grower had a "new" invention which he rigged up and is probably
selling to growers of plugs, everywhere. A label insertion machine. Constantly
the labels would be put in wrong, or with incorrect information or the worse
offense IMO, the generic label for "annuals, or perennials."

I do think that, in this case, 'Silverado Sage' because of its patent did come
with a modicum of insurance the plant would be dwarf, at least under the
conditions where the species would be native.

There was a lot of hype around 'Silverado Sage' when it came out to trade,
several years ago. I recall seeing one gallon pots being sold for 15 dollars!
Wowie wow!

I also see your point that no matter how stable any given plant in any
particular condition or region is difficult, at best, to maintain a perfect
constant. In this case, I think Red Barn should have sucked it up and taken
care of this customer. Why? Because they would have gotten far beyond their
costs in marketing by the happy customer than they would get if they spent even
MORE to put up an ad somewhere.

Thankfully, "by word of mouth" is still a very viable marketing tool. I will
think before I run up to Red Barn, now. That's not very good...especially since
I'm a maniacal plant collector.

Victoria


On 9 Jul 2003 09:54:35 -0700, (Steve Coyle) wrote:

Howdy folks,
In regards to the Sage mix up: Retail outlets are only as
dependable as their wholesale vendors. What seperates a reliable
Nursery from one that sells mislabeled plants, is the care with which
they chose and oversee the vendors stock. I had a lot of problems with
one major supplier of six packs who would stick 'Ichiban Eggplant'
tags in Italian standard eggplants on a regular basis. That was an
easy one to catch because the Ichiban have a dark vein in their leaves
that the Italian did not. Whether that was unintentional or they were
simply filling orders. I don't know, but I learned to stay away from
them.
If there are any folks who work in retail on the list, or run
landscaping businesses, I'm going to shamelessly plug two growers of
who I think are the best wholesale operations in Central Texas:
Gabriel Valley Farms up in Georgetown owned by Sam and Cathy
Slaughter, who I've dealt with for some years and are meticulous in
their controls and getting out good product. The second is Greenman,
out near New Sweden. ( Neither do retail sales, they are Business to
Business enterprises.)
The common denominator between Greenman and Gabriel Valley is they
are serious plant people who make sure they grow good stock, they know
their plants and make sure they are accurately labeled.

As far as plant height descriptions, I'm a lot more comfortable
when a range of possible heights are given. It's unrealistic with
plants, given genetic variability of seeds and more importantly with
asexually propagated plants, variability in conditions, to expect them
to grow to a uniform height designated by a single measurement.

take care,
Steve Coyle
www.austingardencenter.com

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 17:37:55 GMT, David Wright wrote:

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 16:14:18 GMT, animaux
wrote:

But, has anyone seen the great section at Lowes where they mark down perfectly
good plants, but which are no longer in color and not saleable because most
people with no knowledge will not buy it if it doesn't have a flower?

At our house, Lowes a nasty word, given that at their first store in
San Antonio they cut down one of the area's fine, old oak trees to
make room for a few more parking spaces. Now *there* was a waste!

David

Oh, not just wasteful, most disgusting. With an operation that large they could
have used the twenty thousand dollars to have a bucket come remove the specimen
and transplant it elsewhere. Maybe even make it a donation to an arboretum or
the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center...and even BIGGER marketing bang for the
buck.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I suppose if I followed all the tenets I restrict
myself to, I'd never go anywhere, buy anything or DO anything! I suppose I
shouldn't punish the local garden center and praise the box store. It's pretty
hypocritical of myself. Then, we're all hypocrites now and then.

Victoria