I've just been round a few garden centres looking for veg seeds that can be
sown at this time of the year.
Frankly I'm surprised some seed merchants are still in business or are
carried by garden centres.

In the first garden centre I looked, there were literally hundreds of
packets of seeds with no visible information on the front regarding sowing
dates and harvesting dates - this was buried in text on the back of the
packets. While this may not matter if you know before hand exactly what you
want to buy, it is a real pain in the rear when you are browsing for seeds
to plant in a given month. I gave up pulling packets off the shelves to read
so went to another garden centre.

In another garden centre the display was wonderful - their seed supplier had
a clear grid on the front of every seed packet so you could tell at a glance
what can be planted in what month and what months it can be harvested.
Brilliant.
Came away with several packets. Will shop there again.

Rant over!

David.

On 29/6/07 16:21, in article ,
"David (Normandy)" wrote:

I've just been round a few garden centres looking for veg seeds that can be
sown at this time of the year.
Frankly I'm surprised some seed merchants are still in business or are
carried by garden centres.

In the first garden centre I looked, there were literally hundreds of
packets of seeds with no visible information on the front regarding sowing
dates and harvesting dates - this was buried in text on the back of the
packets. While this may not matter if you know before hand exactly what you
want to buy, it is a real pain in the rear when you are browsing for seeds
to plant in a given month. I gave up pulling packets off the shelves to read
so went to another garden centre.

In another garden centre the display was wonderful - their seed supplier had
a clear grid on the front of every seed packet so you could tell at a glance
what can be planted in what month and what months it can be harvested.
Brilliant.
Came away with several packets. Will shop there again.

Rant over!

Gentle hint - did you tell both of them? The first one won't improve
without feedback!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
I've just been round a few garden centres looking for veg seeds that can
be sown at this time of the year.
Frankly I'm surprised some seed merchants are still in business or are
carried by garden centres.

In the first garden centre I looked, there were literally hundreds of
packets of seeds with no visible information on the front regarding sowing
dates and harvesting dates - this was buried in text on the back of the
packets. While this may not matter if you know before hand exactly what
you want to buy, it is a real pain in the rear when you are browsing for
seeds to plant in a given month. I gave up pulling packets off the shelves
to read so went to another garden centre.

In another garden centre the display was wonderful - their seed supplier
had a clear grid on the front of every seed packet so you could tell at a
glance what can be planted in what month and what months it can be
harvested. Brilliant.
Came away with several packets. Will shop there again.

Rant over!

David.

Are you going to tell us which the second was?

Mary

Are you going to tell us which the second was?

Mary

I didn't mention specific names as the garden centres in question are
French, though I've had similar problems in the past in the UK. At "Pointe
Verte" every seed packet had a clear month grid on the front so it was a
doddle browsing for what I can sow now. I didn't even need to take them off
the shelf to determine if they were suitable. It is very frustrating pulling
seed packets off the racks, one after another, reading the back and wading
through the French equivalent of "blah blah blah sow March to April blah
blah blah". Grrr!

While I'm in ranting mood, the other thing that rattles my cage is items
with no prices on them. Many garden centres are sloppy or hap-hazard in this
respect. If a plant really interests me then I'll track down a member of
staff or take the plant to the cash desk to find out. However, if the plant
is only of "half interest" i.e. a possible impulse buy, then no price tag
usually means no sale as it is usually too much trouble to find out the
price.

And another thing... (going for it today)... why do some garden centres
still leave dead plants on display? It doesn't inspire confidence. It is one
thing putting up plants for discount sale which have finished flowering for
this season or past their best or which are just in need of a little TLC,
repotting etc. But leaving dead plants on sale is another thing.
I often joke to Mrs that some garden centres need a big sign saying "Dead
plants - Half price!"

David. Feeling much better now! :-)

Sacha:

I've got to reply to your posting from here as a little accident with
Outlook Express wiped out uk.rec.gardening

Yes, I agree it can be worth while making suggestions or reporting failings
of a business to it's management when done with the best of intentions. It
depends very much on the business and who you actually get to speak to. At a
Walmart owned ASDA in England I took a pack of completely green - rotting
oranges from their display of "fresh fruit" to the information desk and the
member of staff couldn't have cared less, tossing them under the desk and
giving me a look of contempt for bringing them to her.

Just don't get me started on "customer service". The concept is unheard of
in France, especially with the telecomms companies who treat all their
customers with total contempt - a common theme on French forums.

David.

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
Are you going to tell us which the second was?

Mary

I didn't mention specific names as the garden centres in question are
French,

Ah, I see, thanks.

though I've had similar problems in the past in the UK. At "Pointe Verte"
every seed packet had a clear month grid on the front so it was a doddle
browsing for what I can sow now. I didn't even need to take them off the
shelf to determine if they were suitable. It is very frustrating pulling
seed packets off the racks, one after another, reading the back and wading
through the French equivalent of "blah blah blah sow March to April blah
blah blah". Grrr!

It would be.

While I'm in ranting mood, the other thing that rattles my cage is items
with no prices on them.

I thought that was illegal according to the EU. I could be wrong, it has
been known ;-)

Many garden centres are sloppy or hap-hazard in this respect. If a plant
really interests me then I'll track down a member of staff or take the
plant to the cash desk to find out. However, if the plant is only of "half
interest" i.e. a possible impulse buy, then no price tag usually means no
sale as it is usually too much trouble to find out the price.

Yes.

And another thing... (going for it today)... why do some garden centres
still leave dead plants on display?

I've never seen any - but I've never been to a French plant centre. Or a
French anything, come to that.

It doesn't inspire confidence. It is one thing putting up plants for
discount sale which have finished flowering for this season or past their
best or which are just in need of a little TLC, repotting etc. But leaving
dead plants on sale is another thing.
I often joke to Mrs that some garden centres need a big sign saying "Dead
plants - Half price!"

You should suggest that they offer them free.


David. Feeling much better now! :-)

Good :-)

Mary

[quote=And another thing... (going for it today)... why do some garden centres
still leave dead plants on display? It doesn't inspire confidence. It is one
thing putting up plants for discount sale which have finished flowering for
this season or past their best or which are just in need of a little TLC,
repotting etc. But leaving dead plants on sale is another thing.
I often joke to Mrs that some garden centres need a big sign saying "Dead
plants - Half price!"
[/QUOTE]

In my experience, running a small Nursery, most Garden Centre proprietors are simply middle-men with little knowledge of what they are selling, and only interested in making money!

Better to buy from those who grow the plants for a living, and who are not simply shop keepers.

On 29/6/07 18:56, in article ,
"David (Normandy)" wrote:

Sacha:

I've got to reply to your posting from here as a little accident with
Outlook Express wiped out uk.rec.gardening

Yes, I agree it can be worth while making suggestions or reporting failings
of a business to it's management when done with the best of intentions. It
depends very much on the business and who you actually get to speak to. At a
Walmart owned ASDA in England I took a pack of completely green - rotting
oranges from their display of "fresh fruit" to the information desk and the
member of staff couldn't have cared less, tossing them under the desk and
giving me a look of contempt for bringing them to her.

Just don't get me started on "customer service". The concept is unheard of
in France, especially with the telecomms companies who treat all their
customers with total contempt - a common theme on French forums.

David.


I do see your problem in that case! If I may, I'd like also to address your
remarks about dead leaves on plants etc.
I'm not sure if you're talking about garden centres or real nurseries here.
In garden centres - not all but many - plants come in one end and are shoved
out through the cash point at the other. Staff do not know how to look
after plants and they're not trained to do so. In effect, they're
supermarkets with an unloading bay at one end and a check out at the other.
In real nurseries plants will certainly be on display both at their
beginnings, at their best and 'going over', because real nurseries either
sell their stock or keep it and run it on, potting it on, feeding it,
weeding it etc. until the next year. In this case, you're bound to see some
plants with dead leaves from time to time because nursery customers often
buy plants that are not at their supermarket best because they want the
plant, not a showroom model. ;-)
OTOH, like any garden centre or nursery, we can tell you that if we put out
a bench full of plants in full flower, looking truly magnificent, they'll
run out of the nursery because that is how some people want to buy them.
Others will be quite happy to buy them looking a bit under-developed, or
even a bit tatty because they want that particular plant and they know that
next year it will be doing just as it should. Customers vary a lot in that
approach.
All gcs and nurseries will vary in their approach but it's a fact of life
that not all plants look 100% at all times. The difference is whether this
is due to natural causes i.e. season, or to neglect and bad handling. If we
have plants that we think are poor 'doers' they are burned or chucked on the
compost heap - no reprieve. But we certainly wouldn't throw out plants that
are simply going through their natural process of dieback, for example.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

In the first garden centre I looked, there were literally hundreds of
packets of seeds with no visible information on the front regarding sowing
dates and harvesting dates - this was buried in text on the back of the
packets.

David,
I have had the same problem but I now use this site (http://www.the-
gardeners-calendar.co.uk)to help me plan the planting schedules. If
you click on the vegetable you are interested in, you are taken to a
page with different varieties and planting schedules. Not everything
is covered, but it has been getting better over the past few months.
I hope it helps,
Crivens

On 30 Jun, 05:57, Crivens wrote:
In the first garden centre I looked, there were literally hundreds of
packets of seeds with no visible information on the front regarding sowing
dates and harvesting dates - this was buried in text on the back of the
packets.

David,
I have had the same problem but I now use this site (http://www.the-
gardeners-calendar.co.uk)to help me plan the planting schedules. If
you click on the vegetable you are interested in, you are taken to a
page with different varieties and planting schedules. Not everything
is covered, but it has been getting better over the past few months.
I hope it helps,
Crivens

Sorry link broke

http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk

My wife points out that some seeds can be planted over a period of months
and
some in more than one period of a year. She thinks David is griping
unreasonably.
--

Martin


The good seed packets make that clear on the grid too. A mere glance is
needed to see what range of months the seeds can be planted, and indeed if
there are two periods of planting and harvesting. The irritating thing is
having to wade through lots of packets reading the text on the back,
especially when there are hundreds of seed varieties on display, most of
which are only for Spring or early Summer sowing.

David.

I do see your problem in that case! If I may, I'd like also to address
your
remarks about dead leaves on plants etc.
I'm not sure if you're talking about garden centres or real nurseries
here.
In garden centres - not all but many - plants come in one end and are
shoved
out through the cash point at the other. Staff do not know how to look
after plants and they're not trained to do so. In effect, they're
supermarkets with an unloading bay at one end and a check out at the
other.
In real nurseries plants will certainly be on display both at their
beginnings, at their best and 'going over', because real nurseries either
sell their stock or keep it and run it on, potting it on, feeding it,
weeding it etc. until the next year. In this case, you're bound to see
some
plants with dead leaves from time to time because nursery customers often
buy plants that are not at their supermarket best because they want the
plant, not a showroom model. ;-)
OTOH, like any garden centre or nursery, we can tell you that if we put
out
a bench full of plants in full flower, looking truly magnificent, they'll
run out of the nursery because that is how some people want to buy them.
Others will be quite happy to buy them looking a bit under-developed, or
even a bit tatty because they want that particular plant and they know
that
next year it will be doing just as it should. Customers vary a lot in
that
approach.
All gcs and nurseries will vary in their approach but it's a fact of life
that not all plants look 100% at all times. The difference is whether
this
is due to natural causes i.e. season, or to neglect and bad handling. If
we
have plants that we think are poor 'doers' they are burned or chucked on
the
compost heap - no reprieve. But we certainly wouldn't throw out plants
that
are simply going through their natural process of dieback, for example.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)


I'm making a distinction between plants which are simply naturally dying
back naturally such as herbaceous perennials - the Mrs has an eye for such
bargains, and plants which have crossed over to the other side, are no more,
have ceased to be, are an ex-plant, are pushing up the daisies (or rather
not), have gone to meet their maker, are deceased, passed on, are "late",
have been gathered by the grim reaper, adorning the pearly gates. :-)

David

On 30/6/07 11:54, in article , "David
(Normandy)" wrote:

I do see your problem in that case! If I may, I'd like also to address
your
remarks about dead leaves on plants etc.
I'm not sure if you're talking about garden centres or real nurseries
here.
In garden centres - not all but many - plants come in one end and are
shoved
out through the cash point at the other. Staff do not know how to look
after plants and they're not trained to do so. In effect, they're
supermarkets with an unloading bay at one end and a check out at the
other.
In real nurseries plants will certainly be on display both at their
beginnings, at their best and 'going over', because real nurseries either
sell their stock or keep it and run it on, potting it on, feeding it,
weeding it etc. until the next year
snip


I'm making a distinction between plants which are simply naturally dying
back naturally such as herbaceous perennials - the Mrs has an eye for such
bargains, and plants which have crossed over to the other side, are no more,
have ceased to be, are an ex-plant, are pushing up the daisies (or rather
not), have gone to meet their maker, are deceased, passed on, are "late",
have been gathered by the grim reaper, adorning the pearly gates. :-)

David


Sounds as if your local nurseries/gcs discount perennials which are dying
back naturally, rather than keep them and pot them on etc. for next year.
It depends on the policy of each place but generally speaking, we'd do the
keeping and potting on. We don't have plant sales though at the end of the
bedding season, we might sell e.g. 8 somethings for £2.50 than 4 for £2.50,
or whatever it might be.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

The message
from "David \(Normandy\)" contains these words:

..big snip

I often joke to Mrs that some garden centres need a big sign saying "Dead
plants - Half price!"

I agree with you totally on that one!

However surely they should be 'free to a good home' !!! Afterall they
are not going to be able to sell them are they?

Beryl

"Beryl Harwood" wrote in message
...
The message
from "David \(Normandy\)" contains these words:

..big snip

I often joke to Mrs that some garden centres need a big sign saying "Dead
plants - Half price!"

I agree with you totally on that one!

However surely they should be 'free to a good home' !!! Afterall they
are not going to be able to sell them are they?

Beryl

Good point. I've never got enough plant pots. I wonder what happens to dead
plants? Do they and the plastic pot end up in landfill? Perhaps a nursery
will re-use the pots, but I doubt garden centres do.

David.