I was doing some reading this weekend while waiting for flights and while in the air. I purchased a copy of Horticulture Magazine and in the Q&A section was a question about buying plants from the big boxes type stores.  This is a topic That I have always had strong opinions about, and reading this article just brought it bubbling to the surface again. I have always advised people to purchase from nurseries rather than from the big box stores. There are many reasons for this, with the most important one to me being supporting local nursery’s. I have always said that Big Box store’s treat plants as a commodity, not a living thing that needs to be cared for. There is little concern about caring for the plants that are offered to the public. Why is that? Well, there are qute a few reasons, let me tell you some of them. First off, many of these stores have agreements with the growers which states that the plants are property of the grower until they sell, which then they become property of the store and must be paid for. This is a poor way to do business in my oppinion, but growers do it each season. It’s a crying shame that these growers chase after the large chain stores and just give away plants so that the chain stores can kill them do to the lack of care. Since the chain store is not responsible for the plant until it sells, most of them will not spend the wages for the labor required to properly care for the plant because it is not cost effective in their view.  Now in all fairness I have been in my local Home Depot and they have had some ladies in the garden center that were taking really good care of their nursery stock, but this isn’t every season.  Also my local Meijer store has had some really nice plants and employed sales clerks to care for the plants. They are isolated examples of Big Box chain stores that care for their stock. Here is what I suggest, purchase plants from local nurseries. These are the best sources of plants because that is what they do, that isn’t hard to understand. If you need medical care you see someone with a license to practice medicine, when you want plants wouldn’t you want to buy from someone with a license to sell nursery stock ? There are quite a few nurseries that do a really nice job to bring unique plants to the general public. Support these nurseries and be sure of what you are buying. These people can answer questions, and are knowledgable about plants. They are licensed by the USDA and are frequently inspected, this is to your advantage. So support your local nursery, or your favorite mail order nursery. If you need some names of good nurseries or nurseries that carry certain plants just Email me and I will suggest one.

Michael

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