Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Garden #112, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Alice, I have the same experience as you. I do a Master Gardener clinic at our Lowe's store, and they get a ton of stuff that won't grow here. The garden manager told us "just go ahead and tell people not to buy plants that aren't suited to the area". He's a good guy, and says each spring for the last 3 years they've sent him 20 Bradford pear trees. He keeps them alive and sends them back after a couple of months. They also have tomato transplants and petunias all through the summer, which is a guaranteed failure.

I'd suspect their buyers look at the zone tags on the plants that say "Zone 4 - 9" so they send the same plants to Nebraska as to Florida. Nobody told them that plant will thrive in zone 4, and barely survive, maybe, in zone 9. It's really a bit of a misrepresentation by the growers if you ask me.

Prince of Orange for Halloween, except he's decided to be red this week - go figure!