Inadequate and Misleading Information

Granny Smith · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 10:58 am

Does anyone else get as annoyed as I do when choosing plants to find that 'tolerates full sun' on the label means no such thing and 'drought tolerant' is a joke? :anger:

I also get fed up with reading that a plant will tolerate temperatures 'down to X degrees' but nothing about the maximum temperature it can take. :dunno:

dufflight · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:03 am

I've had some that say part shade to full sun. With full sun turning the plant into a dead stick. Sometimes its better to google the plant if you have time. It can also go the other way. I've got plants that are not suited to my area but are going great.

pistolknight · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:22 am

Some of our better plants are nopt suited to my area :confused:

Tristrin · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 4:13 pm

'tolerates full sun' actually means 'tolerates full sun in Melbourne or Sydney' cause that's where everyone lives....isn't it? :umm:

Better to find a good local nursery where staff know what grows well in the area, than rely on the label.

earthbound · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:03 pm

Reminds me of the days when I worked for a nursery here in Perth many years ago. And I will name them, though I don't know if it's still the same couple that owns them. Trees a green nursery used to be very dodgy and I have many bad stories after working there for 12 months, but the one that's apt to this thread was what they told their staff about customer questions.

"Get a feel for what a customer wants for their location, like tall tree or short tree, small shrub or big shrub. If a customer takes a liking to a particular tree, tell them that it will grow to whatever size they want to hear. If they only want a small tree and you tell them the tree that they like the look of will only grow to 5 metres, they will buy. In 10-15 years time when the tree is 20 metres tall they won't even remember where they bought it."

Same the other way round, if they want a large shrub, but really love the look of the miniature peppermint tree, sell it to them, years later if they wonder whats gone wrong, why it hasn't grown very big, they probably won't remember where they got it from and if they do, you can blame other reasons for poor growth like bad soils, no enough fertilizer or not enough water.

Those where the days when it never said much on tags, if there were any tags...

dufflight · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:58 pm

Explains why I have a 2 story tree in the back yard that was ment to be a shrub.

Granny Smith · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:59 pm

Yes, it's the same mentality as the gyms that sign people up for a year or more and then give them such a difficult program that they pull out after a few sessions.

Tristrin · **Posted:** Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:15 pm

I would like to think that there are no longer people working in the nursery industry like EB described, but truth is you will still get dodgy operators in all industries. At least people are far more educated about plants these days with all the information about, and that should make it harder for the dodgy operators.
Plant labels have improved considerably over the years, but are still only a guide, so if you want to find out more ask at a 'reputable nursery', check out books & magazines, or the internet, or a forum like this.

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