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Miscellaneous => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Umbrian on April 03, 2018, 06:11:15 PM

Title: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Umbrian on April 03, 2018, 06:11:15 PM
Might not be the right place for this post but as it involves the same supermarket I will
post here and the powers that be might consider it worthy of a separate heading....
Today I let my heart overrule my head when I saw some Trachelopspermum jasminoides
languishing in said supermarket. They were present in abundance pre Easter but obviously did not sell well. Today, most of them were dead, or well on the way to being dead not having been watered since arrival I would think. I felt so sorry for them and, needing another,  decided to try to find one looking capable of surviving with some TLC.
I do hate the way plants are treated so casually by big supermarket outlets and the fact that suppliers have no concern except profit obviously....
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: David Dickinson on April 05, 2018, 11:29:51 PM
While in the UK over Easter I went into a chain store and saw box after box with either dead twigs protruding out or long lank growth where the plants which still had some life in them were struggling to reach light. I bought 4 at £1 each and I think they will pull through. On the way home I called in at a real nursery and left my bag at the tills to avoid any confusion. I needn't have, as there was no way the  nursery would have claimed my boxed plants were theirs. When I went back to pay for the nursery plants the owner handed back my bag saying "and here are your weeds"!

So, yes, sad to see rows of dead, unwatered, plants on the back shelves of stores. But I may make something of them yet.
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Umbrian on April 11, 2018, 06:57:24 AM
Another rescue mission yesterday at my supermarket where I saw a display proclaiming
' Marguerite Plants' - any flower with lots of petals that resemble a daisy are just called 'Marguerites' by many Italians. Amongst the various plants that included Dimorphotheca in various shades, I found a decidedly sad looking Rhodanthenum hosmariensis 'Casablanca' squashed inside a cellophane sleeve where it was sweating profusely and looking very limp. A bargain at €1.98 however and so I rescued it. On arriving home I released  it from its prison and plunged the pot in a bucket containing a few inches of rainwater. This morning it is fully recovered, holding its flowers erect and I look forward to weeks of blooms and of course the wonderful silvery foliage.
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Umbrian on April 19, 2018, 08:07:48 AM
Am adding Garden Centres (- Viviao- in Italy - ) as also guilty of plant abuse in some cases. A few weeks ago I rescued a poor looking Clematis from a go ahead viviao in my local town that is fast expanding into a more UK type garden centre - even had a Santa's Grotto' this Christmas! Whilst I welcome the opportunity to buy a greater variety of plants I notice that those that do not sell well are often relegated to obscure positions and subsequently neglected.  This winter was particularly harsh and many plants suffered more than usual - on an early spring visit I found a huge area with " bargain plants" on offer - all looking very sad and many obviously dead
Amongst these sad offerings were numerous clematis  - bought in when in spectacular forced bloom and then neglected once the flowers faded. Searching through I found one reasonably hopeful specimen and succumbed - at €5 rather than anything between  €15- €20 I thought it worth a try. Now it repaying my attention , growing away strongly and already covered in buds. I am looking forward to seeing the first flowers of "Giselle"
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: David Dickinson on July 01, 2018, 10:18:02 AM
Re my "weeds" (5.4.18 posting). Philadelphus coronarius is doing well planted in soil, several Hostas and a Lonicera tartarica too (in pots for the moment).  Both plants and gardener very happy for the moment.
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Trevor Australis on August 01, 2018, 11:10:49 AM
If plant retailers can afford to have hundreds of plants die surely that suggests the wholesalers are selling them too cheaply??? Just a thought.
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Umbrian on August 02, 2018, 06:07:15 AM
Yes, it would appear that plant production has just become part of the whole " Let's make as much money as we can" syndrome so dominant in our world now. Seasonal offerings of cheap plants in supermarkets particularly annoy me as they seldom seem to be cared for, looking sad and half dead after a day or two. When one considers the numbers involved - thousands of plants bought by any one chain- it reduces the whole operation to one of mass production for commercial reasons. I fear that soon we shall see them labelled ' Made in China"!
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: David Dickinson on September 15, 2018, 11:26:36 AM
One of my supermarket rescues today. A Hosta sitting happily in the shade of a lemon tree between Iris Japonica and the air duct leading to the Roman catacombs directly under my house
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Charithea on September 15, 2018, 01:02:02 PM
Lovely.  Good deeds should be rewarded.
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Alisdair on September 23, 2018, 09:29:59 AM
(and what an amazing site for your house!)
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: David Dickinson on April 23, 2019, 08:13:50 AM
Last night I went to a supermarket just before going to the cinema. 7 "dead" plants were on display. I asked an assistant if he had any water and said I would water them, hoping that he might see the need to water things occasionally. He said that it was a holiday and the head of department would be back tomorrow and would throw them out then. One of them was a Coronilla cross and the others were Cytisus of varying colours. All pretty drought tolerant so one can only imagine how long they had been without water to be in such a state.

Given that they were to be thrown out, I offered to take them off their hands hoping that I might have a slim chance of reviving them. I was met with a polite "no" . :(

In the meantime the Hosta I rescued last year are doing well. :)
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse Philadelphus coronarius
Post by: David Dickinson on May 16, 2020, 11:41:23 AM
Hi Umbrian,

I had hoped to be posting this on the "scented" page you started but it was not to be. Comparing the plant now with my posting in April 2018 you can see what a success it has been. But not in the perfume department, though. Not a whiff. Must have been bred out of it  while getting the double flowers. Still, worth having.
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: David Dickinson on May 17, 2020, 10:25:00 AM
Here is my latest rescue bid. A Tibouchina for €1.50. I have tried with it before and had success over summer but lost it in winter. If I get a few flowers over summer, I will be happy. And, if the winter is as mild as it was this year, maybe some flowers next summer too?
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: David Dickinson on May 11, 2021, 12:06:12 AM
While in the UK over Easter I went into a chain store and saw box after box with either dead twigs protruding out or long lank growth where the plants which still had some life in them were struggling to reach light.
So, yes, sad to see rows of dead, unwatered, plants on the back shelves of stores. But I may make something of them yet.

3 years later and, from 2 uninspiring twigs, the Philadelphus coronarius is now taller than me  :) but still no perfume  :(
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Umbrian on May 11, 2021, 07:39:35 AM
Shame about the lack of perfume David but a lovely sight when so laden with flowers and extra pleasure I am sure as you remember what it looked like when you rescued it😊
Title: Re: Supermarket plant-abuse
Post by: Charithea on May 11, 2021, 12:17:48 PM
There is a wow factor in this. It is amazing.  I am glad that your effort has been rewarded.