[JayG]

Went out this afternoon to a local GC to replace my time-expired Lithodora plant.

Took it to the checkout and asked the lad whether it had been hardened off.
Dumbstruck , he asked an older member of staff whether she knew the answer.

'Where did you get it from?' she asked.

'Just outside your cafe, standing on a wall under the awning, so neither indoors nor outdoors really', I replied.

'We wouldn't put plants where they would be in any danger', she said.

'Yes, but has it actually been hardened off?' I asked, now mildly despairing.

Blank looks all round - I gave up! 

Bit disappointing really -  surely GC's are one of the few areas of retailing not under immediate threat of extinction by the online sellers and it's not too much to ask that the staff have at least a basic knowledge of plant care? 

[mrs bouquet]

Not very often.   I have just had a GC afternoon,  the queue and the service was so bad, I abandoned my trolle y and came home to lie down in a darkened room.   But earlier this week, I needed unusual advice on ferns, and I rang and specialist grower I had seen on google.    He was charming, very very knowledgeable, and he gave me a lot of time.       Thank goodness there are still a few around    Mrs Bouquet

[Pescador]

A lot of garden centres are now so full of hardware of all sorts, that they are more "general retail" than specialists. There seem to be fewer growers of stock and more buy-in and sell on.

[mrs bouquet]

I would agree with that, and of course there is the "Restaurant" - sheer Bedlam !!!!    I do buy quite a few plants on line now from specialists, or go to Country Fairs, Open Garden Days, that sort of thing, but generally by the time you have paid to get in, it makes it an expensive plant.    Mrs Bouquet

[New shoot]

Went out this afternoon to a local GC to replace my time-expired Lithodora plant.

Took it to the checkout and asked the lad whether it had been hardened off.

If you put a picture of the pot with the label on here JayG, I'll probably be able to tell for sure whether it is Dutch or UK grown stock.  Chances are it is Dutch stock and will have been forced on.  It will not be hardened off at all.

If UK grown, it would have been under cover, but probably just an open ended polytunnel, so semi-hardened off, but don't risk it with a heavy frost 

[JayG]

Thanks for the offer New Shoot - I have attached a pic of the plant and pot label, although I think it's fair to say neither exactly provides a wealth of information!

In any event, with mild nights forecast for at least the next week I've planted it out anyway (other pic, which doesn't do the colour justice - heavenly blue it certainly is.  )

[New shoot]

I have attached a pic of the plant and pot label, although I think it's fair to say neither exactly provides a wealth of information!

True, but it tells me that be Dutch stock bought in for instant colour, so soft as a soft thing    Its a sunny, warm bank holiday and the garden centre will be braced for impact.  There will have been no time to harden anything off.  Trolleys of plants will be flying in and out again in hours 

It will be fine in the current mild temperatures, but it would be worth chucking some fleece over it, if the weather turns.  They survive sitting on plant benches like that.  A very pretty thing though and they usually don't sit for long.  That blue is something else isn't it   

[Goosegirl]

Although the three GC's I normally go to for plants have the usual cafes and giftware etc, their staff are fairly knowledgeable and there's usually someone on site who you can ask for advice. There are others who just want to make sales so it's like creating a conveyor belt of just-bought-in sumptuous plants to tempt the unwary customer. I can also imagine a shop-worn and under-paid person at the till saying they'll be just fine and do you want any cash-back?

[JayG]

Its a sunny, warm bank holiday and the garden centre will be braced for impact.  There will have been no time to harden anything off.

True, although in the case of the GC I visited at least two of the staff would need to find out what the term meant in the first place! 

There are others who just want to make sales so it's like creating a conveyor belt of just-bought-in sumptuous plants to tempt the unwary customer.

Gardening doesn't really lend itself to the 'instant gratification, zero knowledge and effort' mentality which many GC's seem to be happy to cater for (and no doubt subsequently disappoint.)
Overcrowded trays of sweetcorn, runner beans and the like being offered from early April should be clearly labelled with a compulsory warning:

Do not even THINK of planting out before referring to https://www.allotment-garden.org/   

[New shoot]

Any plant experts in a garden centre will usually be lurking outside, but it is true that most of the staff will have no idea if you ask them. 

Tills are a skill in themselves and good till staff are a boon to any shop, but it does tend to be the place where certain staff end up, if you know what I mean.  Damage limitation and all that, when they have proved to be a disaster putting out stock or any other task assigned to them.

As for the instant gratification ... don't get me started.  It used to drive me mad but you get asked for summer stuff the moment the daffodils come out and if you don't have it, they get back in the car and go to the garden centre down the road who does.  It must be quite mind boggling how much money is made on plants doomed to fail, but customers are always so insistent that they are right.

I did used to make sure there was frost warning signage on stuff when I worked at a garden centre, but it was usually ignored or you would get asked 'so when exactly will the last frost be' .....   Or as a special treat, someone who would argue with you that there hadn't been a frost for weeks , when you had been scraping your windscreen that morning to get to work to sell them their runner beans .. see I said not to get me started 

[mrs bouquet]

   Oh, JayG,   I think your comments are a little bit harsh.I think it reasonable to say, that many GC customers are not necessarily "gardeners".   They may have been at one time, but their circumstances change, ie:  health, old age, downsizing to a balcony flat on the sea-front etc.   Maybe young with kiddies and not a lot of time.   But whatever their reason, they are looking for instant gratification.  I don't feel I should judge folk who want to make their gardens look instantly pretty.  Mrs Bouquet

[Goosegirl]

MB, I don't think the comment was meant to be harsh but at the same time there was quite a bit of truth in it. When some people with little gardening knowledge buy bedding plants sometime in March I'm sure they would appreciate a little bit of advice so they don't plant them out straight away then get disappointed when they fail in a cold snap. The check-out people are only there to complete the sale and are probably not the best ones to ask. I'm sure it would benefit GC's to have someone available in one of those little wooden outdoor rooms with a PC so they could not only assist the GC with orders etc but also provide advice and assistance if required. All it would need are a few signposts so the customers know where to go. Hey, why not employ an old but gardening-savvy OAP as it just might give both them and the GC a new lease of life and income!

[mrs bouquet]

That's a good idea Gg.  I shall present myself at my Gc's next week.  Perhaps I could be the OAP for the job.
The trouble is,of course, that they don't want an OAP saying don't put that out yet, its too early 
However, I do spend ages wandering around and nattering with anybody who will talk back -  Then I always say, Oh, you are not going to put those out yet, and don't forget to harden them off.
By this time, they wander off, going  Oh yes right.   In truth probably thinking,  P--s off. 
Mrs Bouquet

[digger1]

Going back to the early 60s aged 14 I got a part time job in a Garden and Pet food shop in the high street of our local town, I had to learn fast about plants just from the shape of the leaves as most of the staff were ladies and they were more interested in pets than gardening.
All of the plants that we sold came from local nurseries usually delivered to the shop by the nurseryman and I would ask questions about certain plants I would   read books about plants. When I left School I continued to work there as I enjoyed the challenges from Customers but I would always go and find an answer to their questions.

[Aunt Sally]

You must be of a similar vintage to me digger.

I had a Saturday job in Woolworths in the early 60s and we has a bedding plant counter in the spring time, which I loverd to work on.

The bedding plants were in standard seed trays, planted 8 by 4 (I think) .  If someone wanted a few plants we had to divide them off with a trowel  and carefully wrap them in newspaper.

Seems so old fashioned now