They are good Write offs for them. They make too much money plus the fact that they DO have idiots working there.

I've seen that often over the years. Last year I was in Home Depot and they had a newly delivered cart of Impatiens wrapped in clear plastic and sitting in the sun. I put my hand in a slit in the plastic and it was like an oven in there. I cringed and told the salesclerk that they were frying their Impatiens. She shrugged and said they'll be all right. I gave her the dirtiest look I could muster up and said icily--They'll be dead.

I like to look around whereever there are flowers but I do my buying at my local nursery.

It is abuse isn't it? I like to think that the wholesale nurseries who supply those plants to these 'big box' stores at least try to give them the basic care if, for no other reason, the fact that they want a healthy plant to sell to these big box stores.

Once they reach the big box stores it's all downhill from there. The plants are subject to heat, drought (biggest issue) and frost. And some of these big box stores aren't really that much cheaper than nurseries in their pricing so who wants to pay for a plant that obviously lost most of it's leaves due to drought.

One hardware store had beautiful hibiscus at a very good price. They had just arrived and some of them were already drooping and dried out and these were indoors in the greenhouse. I know they have a lot to look after and water but it's sad to see.

I was in a big box store today. They had the saddest, droopiest looking plants all out in the cold wind coming from the bald prairie. What a waste. Someone took a lot of time and energy to grow them, just to let them die. I personally wish those stores weren't allowed to sell plants. People who don't know better are buying neglected plants, and taking business away from those who have the knowledge to keep the plants healthy.

I like to go places where the people who own the business also grow some of the plants and work there, or at the very least, ship them all in, but know how to care for them.(This excludes places that also sell cheap jewellry, purses, scented candles, etc.) When I go to a gardening place, I like to see things related to gardening, not junk.

That reminds me, I should go to a family run nursery tomorrow.........

Agree...
May is way too early bringing in plants, beginning of June would be
better IMO... if you get desperate wanting plants early, you could go to greenhouses.
I'm surprised I haven't seen the tender cedars they bring in every year, I bet, not half are growing here, ..like you said, all downhill from here.

I am consistently surprised at how much waste occurs in many different businesses. The first example I encountered was when I waited tables in college, and the meals were too large for at least 75% of the customers. Of course, very few of them got takeout boxes for their leftovers. Maybe my family was just poor, but that struck me as wasteful not only from the customers' point of view, but also from the business'. Our meals could have been much cheaper if they were just a little smaller.

But that pales in comparison (for me) to the utter disregard for plant health at the (big box) grocery store in town. This year they haven't had time to kill anything yet, but the brussels sprouts I bought today needed a drink already. In a week, they'll all be starting to look sad. Last year I had the displeasure of walking past an entire rack of frozen and then dessicated begonias, which looked as though they had frozen multiple times at least a few days before. So they not only neglect the plants, they neglect their storefront appearance as well. It's a good thing my parents taught me never to steal, because otherwise I would have been tempted to "liberate" some of the plants I saw there today (with no employees to be found, not that they could answer any questions if they were), before they could be tortured. Um. The plants, not the employees. I think that sentence was too long. So I will stop.

Short story - I agree!

Eh, well you have to remember that the majority of employees at these kinds of stores are paid minimum wage and have little to no training regarding plants. I worked at a Lowe's garden center, which actually wasn't too bad. We covered the plants during frosts and watered them daily. The problem with stores getting plants in too early is consumer demand. People want flowers too early, they will buy them too early, and then they will come back in the store and buy more when they've died from being planted too early.

Hi north53 and everyone...

I was at the exact same store two days ago that north53 has mentioned.. and saw the store manager chucking plant after plant into a garbage pail... I mentioned to him that they seem to throw out alot of plants at 'his' store, but he said, "No, these are the first ones I've thrown out this season"...lol... they've only been there for a week...

I also mentioned I see alot of dead flowers and plants inside and that they look very dehydrated and he said: "Well, it's because of the air conditioning!" he then proceeded to ignore me as he was about to sell one of those gorgeous $20 Green Emerald cedars they bring in from BC...

... it is hard to see so many plants die, but they just don't really care!

Rob