LOL...this is a hilarious post. I'm happy to see that you're settling into your new job...and having a little fun? Your wonderful sense of humor, great imagination, and your vast knowledge of plants, should definitely make for repeat customers!

I always enjoy reading your posts...but this one, by far, has to be my favourite! Makes me want to apply to my local garden centers just to meet some *interesting* people...LOL

mr_subjunctive, you need a blog. And when you get one, tell me where it is so I can read it. :)

For the spider mites issue, I'd tell anyone who buys a hibiscus that a solution of a quart of water with a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid will finish them off, if you're careful to spray the underside of the leaves as well. My hibiscus seem to get them all the time--when more than one or two leaves starts to yellow and drop off, I always know it's time to spray.

I'm so glad you are enjoying your job more now---it always takes awhile to feel comfortable. Your employer should treat you like gold---I mean, an *employee* in a greenhouse actually knowing about plants?!?!? That's unheard of in my area. I frequent several nurseries and the employees are always asking *me* questions. As much as I'd love to stand there for three hours telling them what all their plants are and how to take care of them, I'm there to shop. If I ever met one with even remedial knowledge I'd probably FALL OVER (yesterday I told the lady at the greenhouse that her palms were covered in spider mites, she asked, "what's a spider mite?"). So good for you for at least trying to direct people on the right path.

As much as I loved the humor in your above post, please be cautious about the heat stroke thing. Vomiting/fainting from heat is extrememly serious---you are only a small step away from cooking your brain. Please take care of yourself. :)

ROFLMBO!!!!! I am in stitches(and tears!) here. This was just what I needed at this very moment--- a rip-roaring laugh to ease the stress of my day. I agree with the poster above....you should have a blog. I'd read it everyday!

You are a really talented writer/story-teller. Thanks..

GH

Think about adding stand up comic to your resume!This is hilarious!!!!!!

I too am one that looks forward to your posts, you should post weekly about your job....lol. I am one that would love to work in a greenhouse too, but knowing I probably cant......back problems. I am glad to hear you are somewhat enjoying it, at least you can see the humour it all. :)

Love having you around Mr Subjunctive!

Tracy

LOL!
Yeah, what is it about Peace Lilies and Jade plants....they're always available....and everywhere.....you'd think the world would be 'saturated' with them....I guess people are unintentionally killing them and simply always coming back for more?
I do own one of each (actually a few different Spathiphyllums) so have nothing against them, but it just seems that they're always for sale, everywhere, and they do, indeed, sell!

Hmm...so you're saying that if a plant is growing on the GH floor, it's usually free if you ask?
I visit a certain greenhouse that has quite a few plants growing on the GH floor and other 'ledges'....and never though to ask if I could buy/have one...I assumed they'd eventually pot them up to sell? This GH doesn't?

About your suggesting a Calathea....I've noticed that when it comes to variegated or colorful plants, people either hate 'em or love 'em and there's not really a happy medium.
Personally, I love 'em, but I've noted many people who literally feel they're downright UGLY! I think they're full of character, and the fact that nature can make these interesting patterns and colors is fascinating!

Good post!

LOVED reading your post!! Please write often, and yes, I will be one of several reading your blog if you start one!
Wow, I'm impressed with the knowledge of all the plant names. I'm going to try and learn the botanical names of plants. I'm always amazed when people know them, as do most of the people on this forum. It's far too easy just to call my palm a "parlor palm" instead of the proper name.
I googled Calathea to see what they are, and they are nice!

Good luck and keep writing Mr. Sub.

LOL!

BTW, I love Calatheas, and no, I probably don't have the right conditions to grow them. Although the one I had in my cubicle at my last job flourished happily in all the wrong conditions for close to a year, then nearly died when I brought it home and gave it what should have been perfect growing conditions for it. Go figure....

Hi - if you have any Lithops and/or Swedish ivy lying around, I'll take 'em - think they're terrific and easy to grow! What IS it with people anyhow?

shiver:

Yeah, I know (about the heat thing). If it helps, there's been no actual fainting or vomiting, and the one time that I did really feel like I was going to do one or the other, I went home early.

The heat is pretty serious in the greenhouse, though. There's some kind of, whaddya call it, "effect." The National Weather Service has a heat index calculator on their web site, and just for fun I plugged in the values from one afternoon at work (96F, 100% humidity) and the calculator came back with 167.5F. And I'm told that's not even as bad as it can get.

nanw:

I have peace lilies and jades also, and I like them just fine, but there's something that just seems weird to me about how many go out the door, compared to other stuff that's prettier or easier or whatever. Maybe they're popular because they're familiar, and then they're familiar because they're popular. Something like that.

As for getting free plants and cuttings off the floor, not every place would do that, but it can't hurt to ask if there's something that seems really interesting. If it would cost them more to grow it into a sellable plant than it would to just order one from a wholesaler, then I don't see why they wouldn't just let you have it: it's not worth anything to them just sitting there on the floor.

lucy:

Mainly what we have growing on the floor is normal outdoor weeds for the area (some kind of Oxalis, mostly), but there are a lot of mother of thousands (Kalanchoe daigremontiana) too, and wandering jew (Tradescantia). There are a few strawberry begonias (Saxifraga sarmentosa) at the moment, because I haven't cleaned up that area yet. Today I found a panda plant (Kalanchoe tomentosa) leaf that had sat in one of the trays, untended, long enough to grow two shoots and a pretty impressive root system, considering that there was no soil anywhere near it (I didn't know those would do that: it was kind of cool.). We also get the occasional detached jade plant (Crassula) or Echeveria leaf that grows roots and a shoot on its own. Occasionally I've seen minor Begonias, though those don't seem to last much past the one- or two-leaf stage. I find occasional Joseph's coat (Alternanthra) plants, though they don't develop very far either. The all-time most impressive plant I've seen is the holly fern (Cyrtomium) I posted on elsewhere, and it wasn't necessarily something that would have sold well by itself -- it was tall, but it doesn't have a lot of fronds, and some of the fronds it does have are incomplete. So the greenhouse floor isn't one-stop shopping or anything, but still, free is free.

I enjoyed your post immensely too, Mr. S. About learning the proper names of things--I had a huge advantage in a mother that thought botanical names were fun, and taught them to us, even the names of weeds. (Don't have the same ones here, and I don't prefer to give them that much respect anyway!) But on several occasions I've admired plants in someone else's yard and wanted to try some myself. They didn't know the botanical names. I've been looking for one for about thirty years! Order lots of things that had the common name she suggested--none seem right.

Hehehe - I really enjoyed your post because I also used to work in a greenhouse. Here are a couple more things to add from my experience.

Greenhouses throw out tons of plants. If a plant isn't thriving or it has finished flowering, it is more cost effective to throw it out and make space for better plants than to try and revive/reflower it. I brought home perfectly healthy (or easily saved) bromeliads, orchids like sherry baby (the chocolate orchid!), wildcats, phalaenopsis and vandas, Aglaonema varieties, spider plant varieties, dieffenbachias, anthuriums, columneas, zz, two huge georgeous philodendron selloums, and tons of broken pieces of various plants (aroids especially and succulents) that were easily rooted.

As well as free plants, there are a lot of free animals as well. Geckos, anoles, green and cuban tree frogs were common hitchhikers on plants coming up from Florida and I had terrariums at home full of them.

Heat was never a problem for me because I loved it. I remember days in the greenhouse that it would be in the mid-40s Celcius and I would still be happily working.

I developed a fear (well justified I feel) of barrel cacti and opuntias and steer well away. I still have the scars...

Never sold venus fly traps, but pitcher plants we had to throw out probably 9 out of 10 per shipment.

The ignorance of people astounded me. Common responses to questions were like:
Me: What type of plant is it?
Customer: I don't know.
Me: Well, what does it look like?
Customer: It's green.

Me: What direction does your window face?
Customer: To the left.

One customer I spent a fair bit of time brainstorming with trying to find out why her plant was slowing dying until I found out she was growing it in her closet.

And I still can't understand why people insist on overwatering their cacti. It's a cacti! It grows in the desert? How many times do you think it rains in the desert? I'll give you a hint - it's not twice a day!

If people treat plants like living creatures instead of just decorations then they would be infinitely more successful at growing them. You wouldn't buy a puppy/kitten, tie it up in a corner of your kitchen where it will look 'pretty' and expect it to live on scraps that fall on the floor. Why treat a plant the same way? Then again, most people just buy plants and consider them to be disposable. I spent a lot of time convincing customers that orchids, african violets, poinsettias, etc are able to keep living after they flower and can flower again. And even then, they still often said that they can't be bothered.

I loved the experience of working there, but it was not an easy job. It is literally back-breaking labour. Try carrying hundreds of freshly watered trays of plants from one side of a greenhouse to another all day every day - that was spring time rush for us. My hands were always cracked and dry from constant repotting. And many task were extremely mundane, like sweeping dirt up and dusting bottles of fertilizer. Yet I learned so much about plants that it was well worth it. I just wish it paid more! Enjoy your time there Mr Subjunctive!

That was awesome, tasdevil. "On the left" made me laugh out loud.

In less than a month, I've brought bits and pieces home of:

Philodendron 'Silver Metal'
Philodendron 'Red Emerald'
Ardisia crenata (coral berry)
Aspidistra lurida 'Milky Way'
Rhapis excelsa (lady palm)
Plectranthus nummularis variegata (variegated Swedish ivy)
Cyrtomium falcatum (holly fern)
Pilea caderei (aluminum plant)
Alternanthra something (Joseph's coat)
Cordyline glauca (green ti plant)
Ficus binnendijkii (long-leaf fig)
Ficus benjamina variegata (variegated Ficus tree)
Anthurium x
Vriesea splendens (flaming sword)
Begonia x (rex begonia)
Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii'
Aglaonema x (unknown cv. of Chinese evergreen)

most of which would otherwise have wound up in the trash. So, yeah, it's a perk, and people should be jealous, but less jealous than you'd think: 1) the cuttings flow in both directions -- I've brought stuff to them that I had and they didn't. 2) The stuff I've brought home so far isn't necessarily going to make it (and even if it did, it wouldn't necessarily be something one would want to display). Right now, of that batch, one (Alternanthra) is already dead, another (Ardisia) is likely to follow soon, and I'm thinking only the Ficus binnendijkii, 'Red Emerald,' Swedish ivy and Dracaena have a good shot at sticking around (and I already had three out of those four). But we'll see.

There's also the matter of coveting plants for several days before not being able to take it anymore and buying them, which has so far happened with a false aralia (Dizygotheca elegantissima) and a bird of paradise (Strelitzia spp. -- and I already had three of these at home, so a fourth was really not necessary at all). There will be more, I'd bet, when I have money again.

Sounds a lot like when I worked in a pet store. I ended up running up a $1100 bill on supplies and other things. I also brought home more fish than anyone could imagine and a few birds also. I finally had to quit my job and pay my bill, but it was fun while it lasted. I can imagine what my bill would be if I worked in a greenhouse.

I just started a job working for a parrot breeder. My son ended up having a double yellow head amazon bonding with him and calling his name in less than two days, so Caesar's going to have to come home with us. I bought a pair of doves, and my daughter is the proud mama of 4 baby button quail. All in two weeks! At this rate I'm going to end up with more birds than she has.

Too funny!!

Awww, button quail are so cute. And I acquired one of my budgies when she decided to attach herself to me at a bird show and not let go. I should have known she'd be trouble - before she decided to adopt me, she was trying to break out of the little communal playpen while the other baby budgies were all playing quietly in the other corner.

I have several of my plants at work and I get irritated when people tell me I should water the plant on Friday before I leave for the weekend. I tell them I watered it on Tuesday, it will be fine - but people insist I water it, lol.
I will never forget I had one of the more senior physicians looked at me like I was nuts when I was misting my ficus and lime tree in the atrium of our office building.

He remarked, "You know those are fake, right?"

I said no, they are real, I have been growing them for years.

You can't grow limes in Chicago, he said.

I said, "Wanna bet".

He was dumbfounded, he really thought they were fake. I took it as the biggest compliment, though. He said, there's not even a yellow leaf on the whole tree!!!

This is one of the best posts I've ever read!

Mr Subjunctive, I live in an apartment in Detroit and would like to grow apple and pear trees in my living room. What size pots do I need? Can I just use my african violet fertilizer?

Ha, ha, ha... :-)

I actually did get a call today from somebody who wanted 1) a plant with yellow flowers, that 2) didn't need a lot of care, 3) for a spot "without a lot of light."

No, but wait -- it gets better!

So I tell her that as far as I can think, there's nothing that matches all three of those criteria simultaneously, that the best I could come up with was a peace lily, and would that be okay, to substitute white flowers for the yellow?

Grumble grumble. Don't *want* a peace lily. Buying it for someone else. Yellow flowers are important. What about them, you know, those flowers that are kind of like daisies, but different?

Gerbera daisies? No, no, gerbera daisies need quite a bit of sun, I think.

And the lady snaps, well of course it would have *sun*, just, you know, *indoor* sun.

Which I could probably have recovered from that and gone on to suggest something, but nothing leapt to mind. And I was pretty thrown by the idea of sun = not a lot of light, so she and I sort of gave up on the conversation simultaneously. Even taking that into account, nothing is coming to mind that has yellow flowers and doesn't require a lot of care.

- - - - - - - - - -

On the "you can't grow limes in Chicago" tip, I had a customer actually come in the store today with a jar of bugs (which happens all the time, people bringing in bugs; it's not officially encouraged, but it's tolerated), bugs I had seen before.

I say, if I remember right, those are a kind of tent caterpillar; people have brought them in before, let me see if I can find them in the book and check them against the picture.

Well, she was *adamant* that these couldn't possibly be any kind of tent caterpillar. There were no webs, for one thing. She just went out one day and when she got back, her dogwood was completely defoliated. But no webs. Nothing at all. Webless. Web-free. Zero webs.

So I eventually find the picture in the book, with her telling me (in kind of an unpleasant and condescending manner) all the while that they can't be tent caterpillars, and they're on her *dogwoods* (which she emphasizes to me like this is supposed to mean something), and there are, again, NO WEBS, just a whole lot of defoliation. Also I think the I-came-back-and-they-were-defoliated story gets rolled out a couple more times.

And then I find the picture in the book. Though it takes a while, she (slowly) comes to understand that the picture in the book is the same as what she's holding in the jar (uglynest caterpillars, as it turns out -- I couldn't remember the name before), but even as she's realizing this, she keeps insisting that they can't possibly *be* what I've clearly shown her that they *are*, and finally I reached the point where I had to let a little snark through, and I tell her, well, maybe they haven't read the book, so they don't *know* they're supposed to be making webs.

She was surprised (i.e., she stopped talking for a while), but she was not amused. So we finished the checkout, and I completely accidentally (no, it really was totally inadvertent on my part. Just instant karma.) got wet dirt all over her back seat, loading her plants into the car.

And I bet you anything that she's still not convinced that she has on her dogwood what she knows she has on her dogwood. No webs, you see. *sigh*

Hmmm - yellow flowers and not a lot of light? I hear they're doing some wonderful things with silk nowadays, lady...

It's a good thing for my pocketbook that I'm not within lunch distance of your greenhouse. :) Although I rescued a huge fuzzy white cactus from the grocery store today, and it thanked me by jamming a spike (this thing looks like the love child of an emperor penguin chick and a medieval mace) under my right thumbnail. Ow...

LOL!!

I just graduated June 2006 with an AA in Greenhouse/Nursery. The first thing I learned was water, water, water LOL...or at least check a few time a day on your spring/fall crops!

Pricking seedlings from seed trays, potting up, sticking cuttings, ect. was MUCH funner than the watering hundreds of trays/pots by hand!

I agree.... most get what they want anyways even if it's suggested not too for the wrong conditions. What's even worse is they return later to complain!

Spider mites were minimal compared to fungus gnats.... especially in the more warm/humid houses.

It's a good thing that cactus don't need transplanted all that much. Our Cacti/succulents didn't need much care period. BTW should you ever need to do it again; grab a newspaper and fold it up several times width wise and use it like a vise to lift and set down :D

What was my funnest crops to grow? Poinsettia hands down!

Vera

1) a plant with yellow flowers, that 2) didn't need a lot of care, 3) for a spot "without a lot of light."

maybe clivia?

I was thinking of one of several yellow-flowered begonias in a terrarium. They need terrarium conditions, and as long as they're set up well they don't need care very often. And they don't need a lot of bright light--tho' 'sun' might cook 'em, depending on what she means. If she knows!

Well, we have Begonias that might work (though I suspect putting together a terrarium would be more trouble than she'd have been willing to go to). Clivia, we don't even have -- but I thought Clivia were sort of demanding. This isn't true?

We do have fungus gnats pretty bad, but I don't personally consider them bad enough to count as pests (in my book, it has to be capable of killing the plant to qualify as a real pest or problem), and hardly even notice them anymore. They put out sticky yellow traps for them a while back, and it seems to have helped, though the traps are, from my perspective, more trouble than the gnats were -- the cards are attached to stakes and then the stakes are stuck in the soil of random plants at an angle, so they stick out away from the plant they're stuck in, and so periodically when I'm moving plants around, I'll forget about the cards and get a card stuck on a leaf and then take fifteen minutes trying to unstick them. It's especially a problem with Dracaena marginatas, which have so many thin leaves that it's really hard to have them all unstuck simultaneously.

i believe clivia require a drop in temperature to bloom, other than that i think culture is similar to most houseplants, however the cold treatment is probably something most arent willing to do.

Maybe she meant some kind of mum? They do have yellow flowers and will survive low light as long as the temps stay low also. They will survive weeks with little light then by they time they are ugly they are ready to be moved outside. Hmmm could be mums sure'nuff. ;)

mr subjunctive, I was just going to drop you an email asking about your new job, but now I know all about it. What a great read! You should be an author.

Fungus gnats actually can kill a plant, if enough of them feed on the root systems, especially younger plants. More often, they weaken the plant and thus make it more susceptible to infestation by other pests. And they certainly annoy people, because they love to buzz around faces.

I have a terrible people with people buying infested house plants and bringing them into the office. Then the gnats spread to the plants that our plant service provides and maintains. And suddenly everyone expects the plant lady (that would be me) to spend the time and money to treat all the plants for this horrible pest problem that we had nothing to do with.

At a conference recently, I was informed that fungus gnats are becoming more resistant to many of the pesticides that used to control them. This is not a good thing!

LOL! I really enjoyed this post. I learned a lot from googling your references as well.

Like the mother of thousands--I never knew the name for that plant. I even used to have one (gave it away to someone with a greener thumb). I have a plant that I think is related to it. I'm gonna have to post a picture. Looks like I've found a place where people will know what to tell me about it!

Keep posting, Mr. Subjunctive. You're hilarious!

Practical things you learn:

Udder balm for cracked hands. Cornhusker's lotion, whatever.

Latex gloves worn when potting are a lifesaver. Nitrile gloves are better.

Other than the people you work with, no one knows what possessing a state nursery/landscape certification means. And no matter what your credentials are, the customers will still know more than you.

To quote a customer, who was amazed at the fitness level of people working at a nursery, "There's no fat people working here."

Certain plants are more appealing to men, and certain plants are more appealing to women.

Few people appreciate the richness of diversity plant life affords us.

Too many people are way too picky. I have learned to become thankful that people are unable to select their children.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana doesn't need tons of light. I've grown them before on a sunny window sill. [Now it is better for the buggers to summer outside, IMO, but once in bloom they can handle MUCH less light and stay in bloom for a long time.]

Fungus gnats rarely harm plants ... the larva feed on fungus and decaying material in moist soils. Plant death where gnats are evident is often coincidental -- too moist soil = fungus and dying roots & the gnats have a population explosion because of the food surplus. Mr S a method for control that I have read but not tried is to coat the yellow cards with a thin coat of petroleum jelly. Gnats will still stick to the cards, but the plants won't nearly as much. In my terrs, I've actually run out of gnats. Had a huge population in my bog terr ... until my pinguicula [butterworts] wiped them all out.

Other than the people you work with, no one knows what possessing a state nursery/landscape certification means. And no matter what your credentials are, the customers will still know more than you.

Alas, the same can be said in just about any service job or even some professions. Wanna guess how many people try to tell teachers how to teach?

I just sold a yellow flowered bromeliad to a client who wanted yellow flowers in low light, with the warning that she'd have to replace it every few months.

Wow, what a great thread. I would also be one of those reading that blog if you start one and let us know, Mr. S!
I remember about the heavy things: Wet bags of manure (eech), 30" terracotta and 15-gallon trees, and have the hernia scar to prove it. (I was very careful to guard my back, however.)

It is also true that if the plant has a gorgeous blossom, someone will ask if it's an orchid. (this is especially true of Streptocarpus, which only resembles orchids by having an inflorescence.)

You are absolutely right about carniverous plants. Are they easy to propigate? They certainly don't survive long in the retail environment, so someone must be making bux off them at the wholesale level. I always tossed more than I sold. But everyone's 8 year old son NEEDED one when he saw them.

Thank you for the stroll down memory lane. It's been 10 years. *sigh*

perL

Many are very easy to propagate from cuttings.

I'll bet more than one person, when they hear where you work says "you can come and do my garden for me!" ho ho.

Excellent thread.
More please....and please can I have your spare lithops?

Only one person stated the type plant that the lady asking for with yellow flowers, not much sun, not much care! She needed Silk! I too loved this post as it has been 6-7 years since I worked in the local nursery. I enjoyed it except for I too spent most of the pay check buying more plants! Keep posting, we all need a good laugh!

What a post! Would it bother you if I copied it and sent it to my greenhouse teacher?

From working at a garden center:
"What are these?"
-"Fluffy seed pods from a Clematis"
"No way, they never had them before!"
-"Yep, that's what they are."
"I want a SECOND opinion"
-"Sure, hey ... do you happen to know what these are?"
*Quizzical look at me*
"Clematis seeds..."
*Some more argument from customer on the subject*
"Well, they're hideous."

Yeah, that was an interesting one. It's not uncommon to have customers ask for a second opinion on an insect problem or something like that when they don't like the answer. I was really taken back by this one though.
Many conversations begin with:
"You know that tree in that yard by the church on ivelivedhereallmylifebutneverheardofit street? What is it?"

You can never own too many pairs of Crocs.

Keep pennies on hand for the kiddies to throw in the fountain.

Harry Lauder's Walking Stick makes a wonderful conversation piece next to the cash register.

When ordering petunias, if it doesn't say "wave" don't bother.

People have no idea what they're exposure is like.
-Use words like South and West, then ask them questions like, what time they eat dinner in the summer and where. If the answer is 5:30 on the back deck, ask them if they have to wear sunglasses or a sweater and go from there.

If customers start a pile of plants next to the register, organize them by price.

There is one customer every day that wants you to landscape their entire yard 10 minutes to closing. Know and accept this fact.

Know plants in this order:
-Vague description
-Culture requirements and common name(s)
-Deer resistance
-Scientific names

j_nail:

No objection to you copying and sending.

I wasn't really around to see it for myself, and I don't have any details, but I'm under the impression that the wave petunias didn't sell as well as they expected this year. Can't think of anything specific, just the way people talk about them.

We do get a customer just about every day who comes in at 5 minutes to close. Different one every time, but still. I used to be that customer occasionally, before I was hired, so I find it difficult to be too upset with them.

Awesome, thanks a lot! I got a great laugh out of your post and I know it will get to her too!

Really? We couldn't keep waves in this year! We had people placing orders for a flat each of several colors on a daily basis at our peak. Interesting to hear what trends are going on in other places! I have to say that a number of ours would get pretty trashed with getting rifled through.

I've been that customer too...although I usually know what I want when I dash into a store at closing. I just caught a lot of flack from the people in the store (the GC was part of a local hardware store) when I'd get tied up with a customer at closing. I guess I was thinking more of how frustrated I got when other people were waiting on me.

I won't buy any petunia unless it's a Wave, even though they cost more, they are SO worth it. Around here, you have to snag them fairly soon after they get off the truck or they are all gone.

Why, oh why, do so many people seem to think we must carry a wide assortment of houseplants that bloom happily in light that even Abraham Lincoln couldn't read by??!! One of these days I'm gonna lose it and yell, "Buy a goshdarn skylight, will ya!"

We used to get orders in for moss baskets that were big orbs of impatiens. The first spring I started working there the person who originally did them had left and so I had to figure it out on my own. Wire basket, moss, soil, plugs...I figured it out, even made stripes. Hung them up in the unused greenhouse to fill out before they were picked up. One thing I didn't factor in was that they were going to fill out and I hung them too close together. Had an identical pair for a costumer that were gorgeous, huge and perfectly round with mirrored flat sides. Whoops!

Sigh, I miss stealing plants from work...I mean, pruning plants and offering to take the scraps home. : )

Great post Mr. S!

I remember when they first came out. Somebody marketed them to us as being perennial in the Bay Area! (zone 9) So we marketed them so. One frequent client ordered 20 flats of them and we found ourselves eating that money the next spring! Whups.
I avoid them like the plague because of this history, because I hated their TV ads and because I dislike petunias in general.
HOWEVER. Petunias look so darned good in this area that I just may fill the front border with 'em next spring so I can have time to ignore at least one bed.
-petunia, I mean, perL

Huh, yeah petunias...don't do it for me...not many annuals do for that matter.
watergal: not only do they disappear, what are left are MANGLED!!! Probably threw/gave away 1/4 or more of each shipment for this reason.

coey: Was it just one side or two? At least if it was one side they would be able to hide the bad side. Hopefully they filled out some for them once they had the extra breathing room!

Fuschia baskets...oh fuschia baskets...the ones available around here this year weren't terribly impressive to begin with. Although the guy who grew them at school last year did a FANTASTIC job! They were the most stunning I'd ever seen!

I'm just growing my first crop this year (Pointsettia, I wasn't looking forward to it, but I'm having a lot of fun! Even developing some kind of fondness for them...in a greenhouse anyway!!!). Then I'm doing the ornamental grasses and natives (Kind of an experiment, don't think anyone has grown natives at the school for their crop before).

J--Just one side on each where they were side by side. But I was mortified when he came to pick them up!

coey: I bet you were, I would have been also! I'm sure it's worth a chuckle now though!