Hines Bankruptcy
totototo@telus.net (Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:21:52 PDT)
On 13 Sep 08, at 15:05, James Waddick wrote:
The big box stores get plants from growers at no cost. They pay only for
those that sell. If they die under the box store care or just get discarded
at the end of the season, the box store has no investment and the grower
takes all the risks.
Judging from what I see at the Walmart here, the nurseries fight back by
shipping complete crap to Walmart. Summer bedding annuals I see in the one here
seem to have just been potted on and aren't at all established in their pots.
If what you say is the way Walmart does business here, it's clear that shipping
such bad stuff is a way of lowering one's cost of production.
The rule at Walmart is that the prices are low, but so is the quality.
The situation isn't as dire at Home Depot, but neither is it good there. I
bought a pink Styrax japonica and on going to plant it out, discovered it was a
balled & burlaped plant that had been pushed into a large pot and backfilled
with soil. No feeder roots at all!
So beware bargains at big boxes: they may be no bargains at all.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island