[Stonehenge]

I was at one of our local nurseries lately and stumbled across a plant I hadn't recalled seeing in a very long time. They were even offering it in a few different cultivars. I thought "hmmm...maybe I should find a way to work that into some plans...if I could just remember whether it's hardy in our area..."

After later looking through some references, I saw that in fact, it was not hardy where we were, and these plants would essentially be big, expensive annuals. Then I also remembered seeing that the pot had a label on it indicating it had been grown in a much warmer climate.

Do you trust your local nurseries implicitly? Do you take them to task on plants you know won't survive the winter in your home town?

[Lanelle]

I think that it is my responsibility to choose plants that will do well in the microclimate where I will plant them. We have sheltered areas downtown that will allow more tender plants to survive as well as colder areas that are tough on trees and plants that we generally assume to be hardy. If I ask questions, I expect honest answers but I mostly rely on my own knowledge and research.

[LabourofLove]

The smaller and more local (as opposed to an Agway or HD or Lowes) your nursery suppler, the more likely it's folks are to be knowledgeable regarding plants for your specific needs (zone and/or heat hardiness). Some of us guarantee our stock when it's professionally installed. I guarantee mine against everything but customer stupidity (like planting it in an unsuitable site).

Keep in mind that VERY FEW nurseries grow their own plant materials. Their plants are virtually all shipped in from somewhere else. If that somewhere else isn't in your zone - beware.

Perform your due diligence, own a couple of good reference books, and you can purchase safely even from the big box stores.

If you're lucky, you'll find a nursery like mine where the signs and the handouts tell the unvarnished truth (if it's invasive, it's invasive NOT "robust").

Good luck and don't give up finding the place that best suits your needs.

[Stonehenge]

I do feel lucky that for our big trees we have a great supplier - a bit of a travel, but great looking stuff that's all grown locally. And some more interesting ornamental stuff from a nursery that is also a competitor (as an installer), but we have a nice relationship anyway.

But the nursery in question provides plants and lots of 'em, and is a great source for us for very good wholesale prices on our more common items. I just have to keep my imagination in check when they pull in something from left field, double-checking whether it'll survive even the most favorable microclimate.

Just wondering if others have developed an implicit trust with their suppliers - sounds like a definite maybe.

[PSUscaper]

I question my supplier on everything and always will. Way too many times have I heard 'it will do fine' or 'so and so planted one and it looks great' and then replace it a year later.

I'm speaking for my area, but have to say that all in all, I don't get the feeling from any of my suppliers that they really know what they sell.

It's all business. They get the plants for a hot price and sell them.....what are they going to do? Tell you they might not make it? Hek no.

My favorite deals with plants that don't look so hot. I always experience the problem of going to a garden center for a specific plant and find that they have only a few left and they all look like dog doo.....I always love it when they say 'it will come back'! Yah, right.

Granted, I like my suppliers, and admit they will stand by their product if something went wrong like 200 shrubs died in less than a year.....but the old motto always remains the same.....'buyer beware'

[NCSULandscaper]

totally different here, 95% of the nurseries in this area grow their own stock and bring in nothing.......and instead of bringing things in from other parts of the US..........they trade within one another because each nursery grows something different. Never had an issue with non-hardy plants showing up at any of the growers.

[bigviclbi]

Did they tell you it would come back? I just bought some palm trees as BIG EXPENSIVE ANNUALS but no one told me they'll last through winter. Now if they told you it would do fine that's a different story but I'm not sure they are trying to trick you by just having it for sale.

[bcx400]

In my area, land has gotten so expensive that all the local nurseries are growing houses. The nurseries that have sold off their land still exist, but they are now re-wholesalers. Often, wholesale prices are no better then the local garden centers, who also offer wholesale discounts. So the 'nurseries' are really no different than the garden centers (just catering to landscapers).

My plant costs have gone up dramatically in the last several years. Here is one idea all of you buying from re-wholesalers could benefit from- How about getting together with your local competition and create an informal co-op? If you could find a place to accept deliveries, share in the cost of shipping, and buy trailer-load quantities directly from the grower, would you save money?

I recently purchased a 7.5 acre property, and I am thinking about doing this co-op thing. I could take deliveries, and those in the co-op could pick up their plants here.

I would be interested to here from anyone who has tried this, or from anyone who thinks this may or may not work.

[Stonehenge]

At first blush that sounds like a great idea -

In crunching the numbers, would your administrative costs push the prices close to what the re-wholesalers are already selling for?

If not, I would think that pretty much any market with a population of 200,000 or more would be big enough to have enough landscape companies to float an idea like that.

[Paul]

We never bought much from re-wholesalers, mostly because we had too many really good growers in our area. One thing that I noticed from some re-wholesalers was the quality of root ball. Here we have heavy clay soils, moving in plants that are grown in nice black dirt or sandy clay soils to our area creates a bath tub effect. Now water, lots of it and tree roots never get along too well! Now lots of nurseries here have large holding yards that they keep the trees and plants under shade so sun scald isn't a problem along with being grown in our native soil reduces risk of loss.

[Greensmith]

I work at a nursery and some of the plants we sell are borderline. I try to steer customers and contractors away from them. Cherry Laurel comes to mind, I have never seen a plant that so consistently gets winter burn like this does.

[Bamboo]

Rules are made to be broken. When you have a plant that "dosent grow here" And it is florishing in the perfect spot you made it is the best feeling of fooling nature. Just dont let the plant know it dosent grow there.

[VoodooChile]

Many nurseries are selling and shipping plants to buyers in a many hundred mile radius, and moving north to south that potential market could incorporate 2-3 hardiness zones.

Thus, is it surprising to find plants at the local nursery that might be marginally hardy in their hometown, but rock solid 100 miles south???

Why should a nursery lose a sale, because they won't stock a plant that isn't hardy in Sheyboygan, but is in Chicagoland?

And, it's hard enough to grow quality plants in a quantity which the buying public demands without winding up long and in the red, much less to assume responsibility for design success.

I trust my observations, experience and the expertise of others, and happily patronize nurseries that maximize my options, and minimize my running around. That my suppliers sell a quality plant is a given.

[Greensmith]

That is the downward spiral the buyer at my nursery seems stuck with. How come you don't care plant X, the guy two miles down does?

[VoodooChile]

Greensmith,
It matters. When I make a nursery run, or schedule a delivery, I want to kill as many birds with that one stone as possible. An extra stop, with the nutso pace of the green industry round here, could mean a couple hours spent just to pick up 20-30 cans.

I like thick catalogs.