OK Folks NOW IS THE TIME

I have been asked to participate in a focus group this Friday with green industry professionals and retail garden center owners.
They want to know what do YOU like or dislike as to plant materials and products/service.
Let me know what you want when you walk into a grenhouse or garden center.
I will take the information with me and be your voice. You may either post here or send me an Email.

If anyone in SE Michigan would like to attend let me know.
Its 12:30 PM this Friday/3/15

I like to see things price! Signs attached by tape to shelves often get bumped off, and the bar code only helps the checker. Even matching the bar codes to the price on a posted list would be OK.

My favorite potting soil is Sunshine Mix..I prefer the Watersaver variety for my seedlings, and my least favorite potting soil is Black Gold, which our locals lovingly refer to as "Black Death", but as Dennis Miller always says, That's just my opinion"...WZ

amen! price things. give us the Latin name so I can look it up correctly when I get home.

Amen! No more stupid names that don't match up with anything. Also, labels on the pots rather than tags in the soil...they get crossed up as people pull them out to look at them.

Lack of scientific name is my number one pet peeve. When I buy a passionflower I want to know which one of the 300+ species it is.

Another irritation is invasive exotic species. Anyone selling these plants should know a little about them. If they really want to sell an invasive species (in a state where it's still allowed), they should sell the plant with a warning about what it can do. Don't get me wrong, I love exotic perennials as long as they behave and don't escape the garden and push out the native species in the natural areas.

Price, definately. I won't buy something if it's not priced and I don't feel like walking from one end of garden center to the other just to find out the price. A clearance section would be nice too :) Every place has something that they could clearance rather than throw out.

Great Points Thank You all keep em coming

Love the idea of lables on pots. Tags in soil don't exist.
Also having the correct Family, Genius, Species listed. Now that DG has helped me with this, am amazed at how many things are misslabled.

Good points WZ'
Paul,this may not be worth anything but you can decide,ok? When I go into a garden center and before I even get close to the area of the pesticides/chemicals,I begin getting sick and coughing' I call it "indoor polution"and someone needs to be aware of it for all of us shopping in their centers' Ceiling fans perhaps??

I think there needs to be more WHITE FLOWER SEEDS too. There is never very many to choose from and usually aren't enough. Seems they are the first to fly out the door,lol' I've mentioned it to the sales(seed sales folks)they take notes but still the next season,same o,same o'

My biggest concern is never enough mulch. They get a certain amt. in and when it's sold out that's all folks. Wish they'd realize people continue to redesign and landscape throughout the summer and it should be available'IMHO too,lol'

Oh what fun Paulgrow....Wish I were heading in your direction....we think......Price...no 1....no 2 would be plants in ..."Sun"..."Shade".. "Moist".etc...Size too...signs that do not blow off...each plant has an latin name and reg. name...on side of pot...like weezingreens said.....When you find a perfect place let us know....lol...
Wantabe....(Diana)...ps paul...is the Flat rock place open yet........Thanks....!!!!!!

Great point Sis, our garden center here has all the pesticides and such when you first walk in too. Makes me sick every time. Maybe there could be a better choice of placement for these products so it doesn't choke people when they first walk int the door

Cruelty to plants! I drives me nuts to go to some big discount store with a tent plant sale, and the poor little buggers are root bound, dry as a bone, and either out in the baking sun or stuck in some sunless tent. If they did this to puppies, they'd be arrested! Why not mark plants down when they are past their prime, then donate them for compost to a local garden club when they don't sell. Bring on the plant police!
"SPCP"

yea Weezingreens any way my x/wife went into a home depot the other week on a monday and they had just got a shipement of plants the week befor and they were all dead or dying. she said something to the guy that worked ther and he acted like he didn't give a D**Nso she went to the manager and showed him and he called the guy over and fired him on the spot.


yes latin names on the plants
more organic fertilizers and pestisides(yes can't stand that chemical smell eather)

I hate walking into any "garden center" to see dead and droopy plants, it make me think that if a company doesn't care about their product they probally don't care about their customers either, most of the time when I see this I turn around and walk out, there are plenty of other small family owned nurseries and greenhouses I'd much rather patronize. I also can't stand to see petunias pining under the canopy or inside a building and impatiens cooking away on the sidewalk, I do work in a retail flower shop and sometimes teaching the customer is apart of my job. Sometimes a "thrifty" customer will want to buy a huge funeral arrangment for mom's birthday, because it's only $40 and HUGE but I explain this is for a funeral not a birthday(mom would be quite offended I'm sure), likewise
the impatiens should not be in the blazing sun!!! to a novice gardener this could cause quite a disappointment, loss of money,and maybe trust in the store itself.
that's just one o my pet peaves, thanks for the opp. to vent!!!
Becky

I agree with all that has been said. I would also like to see: pots with something other than a "10 inch various tropical" sticker on the side of the pot.

Dried out, diseased, wilted plants also make me angry. REMOVE THEM!

Sales people who wouldn't know a cactus from a blade of grass - why are they even there? Anyone can scan the sticker on my purchase!

That's why I prefer to trade for plants or buy from a good greenhouse.

More organic products. And nursery containers...the 4" square pots and the gallon pots and the 3 gallon pots, etc. Not the fancy, pricey ones, just the utilitarian ones.

Oh, I forgot one...it's not that big of a deal, but I cannot stand trying to push my cart over hoses, this irks me even more when no one is even watering!!! It's just commonsense and courtesy in a public place ROLL THE HOSES UP AND PUT THEM AWAY WHEN YOUR DONE WITH THEM. It might sound like a minor thing but it really can be a pain trying to maneuver a cart in a crowded greenhouse and avoid hoses at the same time.
Thanks,
Becky

Not being in the USA I have no idea how GC's are run, but I imagine my expectations are pretty much the same as all of you. I agree with all of the previous comments, I like to see a tidy, clean, well presented store with a good choice of plants. Botanical names are imperitive, if I can't identify a leaf and there isn't a tag then I don't buy. I love the clearance tables, especially if they have been knocked down at least 25%. I will buy more full priced plants because I make more trips to those GCs.

have zone marked will have will zone 6 in 5 area live on the line and it makes it hard if you just see something you would like and not research it

The smell of the chemicals really bothers me too. If the plants are not properly taken care of I lose interest, and I really wish the prices were listed. There is a local nursery that I really enjoy but it is so huge and there are never prices. I don't like that. I also don't like it when they have people with no clue that are supposed to help you. You ask them if they carry and certain plant or item and they have no idea what you are talking about. Good Luck Paul!!

Amen to all of the above. Although this isn't really the domain of a local nursery, having a plant label that is flat-out WRONG in its hardiness, light requirements, height, etc. is very frustrating. (And nurserymen have a choice of where they buy their plant tags, and they should insist they are accurate.) Last year, I brought home several plants from a nursery center. I chose them because I'd done my homework, and knew they were suited to a particular spot in my garden. But if I had gone off the tag info, I would have planted them in a totally different setting, and/or expected a tender perennial to be hardy here in an unprotected spot in my Zone 6 garden.

For the "average weekend gardener", it's no wonder they can't figure out why their plants die - even if they follow the supposed instructions, they're likely to be sentencing the poor things to death.

(And for the record, I TOTALLY agree with whoever commented about the hoses - if you have a cart full of plants and potting soil, it's no easy task to scoot it over the hoses.)

My best nursery experiences have been where a helpful and knowledgeable salesperson is nearby to point me toward what I'm looking for, or to consult on the pros/cons of a particular plant given my site. (Not hovering, just near enough and sufficiently attuned to notice when I need them.) That, plus having wide aisles and good-size carts or wagons can make for a very pleasant buying experience :)

1) More uncommon stuff.

2) No latin no sale.

3) Smarter sales folks. I hate asking someone a question about something and all they do is read me the tag. DUH I can read and already have.

4) Don't sell perennials out of their zone. Most folks probably don't even know what zone they are in. I'm not talking about DG folks.

Yes, Sari - get past the impatiens and the petunias PLEASE!!

The labelling, the chemicals, the sales people, the dead plants (I gotta tell you, if Martha ever visited our local K Mart she'd probably fall down as dead as the plants!).

Hello all
I just found out that the focus group has been cancelled due to a lack of intrest by the garden stores and nurseries (what does that tell you)
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR INPUT

Hello all
I juct found out that the focus group has been cancelled due to a lack of intrest by the garden stores and nurseries (what does that tell you)
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR INPUT

This message was edited Tuesday, Mar 12th 9:24 AM

Oh Paul!! That certainly says a lot! Well it did make an interesting topic and "Hot" thread.

There's a lot well deserved gripes here & I agree with all of them. One thing that I really think makes a nursery for me....... is to see the plants growing in the landscape. These types of places are far & few between but we have a wonderful one near here and it gets my business every year. There's a gorgeous garden to walk through and ask questions about while you buy. The owner (aka grower) is on the premises ALWAYS. Gotta question ... he's there. It's a very pleasant experience.

oops!
- dble post

This message was edited Tuesday, Mar 12th 11:02 AM

We were having such fun venting, Paul...can't we just pretend that the focus group has just been postponed a month and we can continue our gripes?