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| I am frequently bemused and sometimes a tad envious of the many references to buying stuff at places like Home Depot and Walmart. Here in England, we have nothing of the sort. Oh sure, there are always a few roses which appear in cheap outlets such as Poundland and even in some of the home improvement places but nothing anyone would seriously consider and rarely even having a name other than 'pink',
'red' or 'white'. Walmart is our ASDA which attempts a few horrid and dessicated plug plants and pansy trays as well as a couple of measly hanging baskets, usually planted up with a sad little polyanthus and a couple of impatiens. Basically, the nearest we come to the US is in the garden centre - a US invention which the UK adopted in the 70's. Generally, we go to nurseries which just sell plants (many, many) or to a garden centre if we want pots or compost. We rarely, if ever, chance upon plants when buying our groceries. Having seen the general care of these few plants in the large stores, I am not convinced we are missing out on much especially since the actual nurseries tend to be better priced. Even so, i often think it would be nice to pick something up at the same time as I am buying butter and bread but OTOH, I have noticed that all the garden centres sell a basic stock of around 50 perennials...and there will only be one rudbeckia, one daylily and one campanula. The result tends to be a lot of gardens which all look the same. I guess this is where the hatred of Knockout (which actually looks like a decent rose) stems from. Horticulture seems to be in the blood of the english so I am not too concerned yet but we often follow where the US goes - in this instance, I hope we remain eccentrically diverse, even if special trips for plants are required. Planning a trip to a nursery 30 miles from me tomorrow for a hellebore day. Yikes, must check the bank balance. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by Strawberryhill 5a IL (My Page) on Tue, Feb 21, 12 at 9:50
| Hi Campanula: You always get me laughing when I read your post, "Walmart ... a few horrid and dessicated plug plants, pansy trays, and measly hanging baskets." What a perfect description of the stores here! Two large nurseries neary closed a long time ago. I miss them. This past summer, my neighbor told me, "I wasted my time going to HomeDepo but could not find anything except Knock-outs." I saw mini-roses sold at Sam's Club and Trader's Joe for $5 to $6 each, but they have zero fragrance. One of my neighbor stuck plastic flowers onto her evergreen bush and it looked better than Knock-out. The other neighbor could not get much blooms from the Rugosa roses so she stuck K-Mart silk flowers on them. We were looking at a few real flowers left, versus the silk flowers - and frankly, the silk flowers looked way-better.
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| Campanula, you know more than you think you do; it sounds like you are thinking too hard. Winter is just about over for you, and getting out check out the hellebore is a good thing even if the account is low-you don't have to buy, just being out and mulling things over is plenty. I think our large stores are just a result of our geography and our economic system. Large country=large personalities=large fortunes...capitalism gone haywire. Some people love the convenience of it all, a few simple choices and "they're good to go", they have other things on their minds. Others like the challenge of finding the right plant and don't mind too much about the drive or the shipping to achieve it. It sounds like you have the same situation in your garden centers over there, but it doesn't seem to be as widespread as it is here. I haven't been to to England in a long time, I do pick up some gardening and decorating magazines, and I am seeing that you can pick up flats of flowers or vegetable starts at "box stores". I was able to go to Europe in high school for a summer school session, and remember being on the tourbus heading towards London. I saw neighborhoods with whole sections of one type of merchant, all the tailors, butchers, bakers in their own enclave. It was so foreign to me. I've since been back but only as a tourist, and haven't seen the changes I'm sure that have taken place. It's one thing to pick up a magazine with a picture of a carefully staged garden shop, or a cosy cheese shop, and Harrod's is unto it's self, but to see how the average person gardens (or doesn't) and how many people get to a place like Lowes, or Home Depot is a different matter. Really, when it gets right down to it, we are all closer than we think. I do envy some of the tools available to you, one of those sod cutters would have been very handy a few years ago! Get out there and enjoy spring!!! |
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| Yes, campanula, you do know more than you realize. Familiarity breeds contempt. Knock Out and Iceberg and their variants, ARE basic, decent roses in most places. So much so, they account for the lion's share of US production and sales and have literally displaced an enormous chunk of selection previously produced. Both, depending upon climate, have become obligatory and completely ubiquitous. That is what makes them so universally disparaged. It's unfortunate that neither seems ever destined to enjoy the cult status popularity of the "old" VW Bug; Mini (the Brazilian-made BMW one, not the REAL one with which you grew up) or what the new Fiat 500 is beginning to enjoy. In the right place, they can be very serviceable and actually quite good. Kim |
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| As nice as it is to buy a $5.00 bareroot rose at Lowes/Home Depot, the quality is never there. Every year I get anxious and and up buying one or two, but they rarely do as well as bareroots purchased online. I guess you get what you pay for :) Tammy |
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| Campanula, what about Marks and Sparks? I was just looking at a few (uninteresting) roses there today, but I did actually find an Austin once, Spirit of Freedom, which I was able to get for only 6 pounds. I've bought summer bulbs, foxgloves, delphiniums, and hydrangias there as well. It's not my first choice for buying plants by any means, but if I stop by to pick up some things on the walk home, and see a plant or two on sale, I do sometimes succumb. cheers, |
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| Oh yeah, now you mention it Robert, I seem to recall buying some bulbs and seeds from M&S...and you can't go wrong there. Decent price too...99p for parsnips and peas. Phoebe and Kim....you are both too kind. Fortunately, today I did get out on the allotment - planted a paeony, pruned the blackcurrants, weeded round the roses and garlic and sprayed (whisper) a nectarine -the terrible peach leaf curl - either Bordeaux or a plastic bag! Anyway, reading my initial post thinking 'terminally confused, menopausal rambling' - feeling saner now. Stand by the whine about Walmart regarding plants but there is a surprising plus to shopping there - their staff. I dunno what their employent policy is but they have the most amazing range of people working there - from the barely literate to the philosopher kings, taking in every nationality, sexual proclivity (and they are NOT discreet) and mental state (somnolent to manic derangement including a fair bit of shoutiness from staff and shoppers - late nights are best of all. Yep, looking forward to hellebores - have been wanting a good yellow and a clean red for ages. Things perking up on the work front too after a blissful (but broke) few weeks. |
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| I did an accurate rather than estimate rose count recently, and including the 4 coming from David Austin, and 2 coming from S&W, I have a total of 82 roses. Of them, about 60 are from Lowes or Home Depot - none from Walmart and have never been in Sams Club. I don't have any knockouts, only have 1 Iceberg, have 3 Chrysler Imperials, 2's of Just Joey, Crimson Glory, and 2 Double Delight, otherwise have singles of the rest. In this area of California we get a very diverse selection of Modern Roses from these stores. About 1/2 were body bags, about 1/2 in 2 -> 5 gallon containers. I haven't lost a single rose, and am happy with all of them. Average price I've paid is approx $8 each. I have always shopped carefully and only selected what appear to be healthy plants, and have not been disappointed. I'm now starting to purchase online and spend more as I've finally tapped out the selection and want to expand to non-moderns. But, the box store roses are what got me hooked.
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| Last fall I was in Walmart and spied a load of just arrived potted roses - they looked in the peak of health and for once, there were some different varieties. I came home with Oldtimer, Gingersnap, Circus, New Year, Cl. America [can never have too many of those] and Medallion. I planted them right away in a raised bed and babied them from mid fall and they are now healthy as can be and putting out new growth. They were $5 each and I am hoping my bargains will continue to do well. Its like they are my little prodogies.....I actually have made something from Walmart grow! I will enjoy watching them this spring - if they should happen to die, I am not out a huge amount of money. If they thrive, I will be thrilled that the Walmart Specials persevered! I find it fun to see if I can get these cheapies to grow and even thrive. And buying plants at Walmart makes the shopping drudgery a little easier to tolerate...... Judith |
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- Posted by kittymoonbeam so. ca (My Page) on Fri, Feb 24, 12 at 23:23
| Well now it depends on the box store. My Walmart has a terrible garden center but the one 15 minutes away on the highway in a fancier neighborhood has a wonderful garden section. They get better plants and more variety and the employees actually water them. The best time to go is right as they prepare to clear the place for all the christmas items and bicycles. Then you can get all sorts of garden soils and fertilizers, etc. for 75% off or better. They really want to get rid of it. I haven't seen any decent roses there lately except some beautiful Yellow Lady Banks in 7 gallon pots. Home Depots roses have been sad looking and the fragrance collection has roses included in it that no one here would call fragrant. Lowes had some roses but they looked sad to me and I thought the really tiny ones that are sold for 5.00 or less bareroot looked runty and without promise. What bothers me most is all the damage on the little canes. Rrrrrrrrrr. Better they should sell own root potted roses in more than 12 varieties like they do with the annuals. The independent nursery down the way sells weeks roses for between 23 and 34 dollars. Good strong plants in 5 gallon cans. Maybe people don't want to pay that much so the Box stores take advantage of it. I think if people saw the big nice plant blooming next to the weak little one, they might pay more, but it also comes down to the sad fact that some of the box stores neglect the plants they get and then toss them when the new plants arrive. I don't see how they can afford it, but I see it happen at my local Walmart all the time. |
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| I agree with Kitty. My local Wally World is not a super store and is very small. They never have much selection but the one further out is HUGE and they always have some interesting roses and plants. If I get there early enough the roses are still in good shape and I can find some good bargains. But you have to go early and keep checking until they come in because if you get there too late they're pretty much dried up from lack of care. But that's true of all the box stores. As long as you can get to them when they first arrive they'll probably be OK but after a couple of weeks with not care or water they're a waste of money. And you still have to know going into these types of roses that they're not the first quality ones and will probably need extra TLC to start with. Which is sort of the problem with them because unsuspecting novices buy them by the truck load and they fail for them because they don't know that they need that little extra care so the myth that roses are difficult to grow goes on. |
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