Buying Plants At The Store

[Verity Darkwaters]

I have seen lovely flowers at Walmart. I considered getting some and putting them in pots. However, is it just me or do they always look wilted and sad? If I replant them in healthier dirt, make sure they get light, and water, do you think they will perk up. I'm sure they'd work better if I would just plant them and wait, but occasionally I am tempted.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I'm sure they'd be fine. Being at a store like Walmart, they hardly get cared for so they usually look bad, but once they're watered and in the ground (or a pot of an appropriate size) they typically do just fine.

I stopped buying from stores like Walmart and department stores when I learned that their plants are often laced with insecticides/pesticides that can kill bees and butterflies. Now I stick to nurseries where I know nothing like that is used.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

saw this at Walmart last summer.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

I stopped buying from stores like Walmart and department stores when I learned that their plants are often laced with insecticides/pesticides that can kill bees and butterflies. Now I stick to nurseries where I know nothing like that is used.

good to know. have a nice Amish farm not far that sells wonderful annuals.

 

[marlingardener]

Like JB, I don't buy from big box stores unless I just can't find what I need anywhere else. If you can find a local family owned nursery, give them your business. If something goes wrong, or if you have a question, they can help.
At a local large big box, I was told that humus was made from human bones. Their "garden associates" rarely know marigolds from impatiens.
I feel sorry for the plants at WalMart and the other box stores, but not sorry enough to risk having them in my garden. If I do have to buy starts from one of those stores, I isolate the plants and "flush" them with rain water until they go into the garden.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

So the picture I posted above. See anything interesting about it.????

 

[marlingardener]

Yup, Their "garden associates" rarely know marigolds from impatiens.

 

[splinx]

So the picture I posted above. See anything interesting about it.????

Yup, Their "garden associates" rarely know marigolds from impatiens.

What!? So those are not "Marigold"?

Trying to understand...

 

[Greenhorn]

I sometimes look at the "scratch and dent" plants at one of the local big box stores. Generally not too much I'd want, but once I did buy a Gardenia and another time a Miniature Rose nursed them both back to health. They were pretty poor to start with, but with some care they did really good.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Yes @splinx they are not marigolds.

 

[IcyBC]

Walmart and Meijer usually don't take care of their flowers/plants much. I saw them wilted and sad all the time. I sometimes buy one or two and then try to nurture them back, but I often buy the perennial ones only.

 

[claudine]

They will be fine, don't worry Verity Darkwaters I often buy plants in the local supermarket and most of them are doing great.
The best thing about plants like that is that they're very inexpensive

 

[Pat]

I also get some of my plants from the "scratch and dent" section of the stores if I see some that have been reduced in price also. I get most of my plants from the local garden nursery close to my home.

 

[amelia88]

I've bought plants from the supermarket and things like that before, or from gardening stores where the plants seem to be on their last legs. I guess I view it as a challenge, almost? I've had some great success reviving things, and I guess it just makes me happy to try and make them look healthy again!

 

[Corzhens]

Last Sunday we were going on a long trip when we stopped to have breakfast at McDonald's beside a plant nursery. My sister said she wanted to replace the felled mango caused by the typhoon the other year. I invited her to see the plants in the nursery. At once, she was smitten by the small mango tree, about 4 feet tall, that has flowers. She had wanted to buy but I advised against it because we still have a long way to go. Maybe this weekend we will be going back to that nursery.