The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

A Brief Rant!!!

7 comments


This is just to let off steam…today was the May Fair of the Village Primary School, and being a nice kind helpful person I had potted up a selection of plants for their Plant Stall. I stuck labels into every pot with name and colour and size as well as each plant’s needs. However, when I popped up there this afternoon to look at the stall, I was NOT impressed by what other people had done. Some plants had obviously only just been dug up and were wilted and quite possibly without roots! Then there were the anonymous ones. That was what REALLY annoyed me! How can you buy plants when you have no idea what they are and what they need? I was eager to buy plants to help the school – it is very small and needs every penny – so I did buy some, but only the ones I recognised or that HAD been identified. The poor lady running the plant stall was a helper roped in and put on the stall – she had no idea what was what and why should she? I hope that if you have any connection to a school as a parent, governor or teacher, you could pass on the message to plant donors. Please, please, take five minutes to mark your gifts! Thanks for reading my rant – I’ve got it off my chest now.

More blog posts by spritzhenry

Previous post: Never enough room!

Next post: Coping with my wayward Tropaeolum shoots!



Comments

 

Your not alone Spritz a good rant is what we Brits do best esp when combined with gardening.Today was very warm and trying sell unlabelled wilting plants couldn t be easy.Trouble is often donated by those who dont know what they are giving.With your school experience and gardening knowledge couldnt you give some guidelines to local fund raisers? Suggest they grow plants in trays esp for summer bedding when such fairs popular etc.

10 May, 2008

 

Oooh Spritz look what you started sat here minding my own business then the words rant and Chelsea got me going ....

11 May, 2008

 

Sometimes in a garden centre I've found plants with no label, or even bought a plant, not realising it had the wrong label. This has hapened several times in a Fuchsia nursery near here. With Fuchsias you can't really tell which variety it is without seeing the flower. It is very annoying. People who go to garden centres and nurseries are probably interested, to some degree at least, in gardening. I can't understand why they are not more careful to put the label back in the right pot, if they have to take it out atall.
Yesterday in our local town I happened to be passing a well-known store and there was a stall outside with lots of plants. Not being able to resist having a look, I only found that most of them were dead and the others were dying through lack of water. What's wrong with these people ? That's another annoying thing.

11 May, 2008

 

this weekend there is a plant sale at one of our local schools, i wont be going as last yr it was awful, no labels on any of the plants and most were dying , to be honest some looked like weeds lol, also our local supermarket got a delivery of beautiful plants during the week, i went in the day after they had been delivered and omg they looked bad, no one had thought to water them.
at the local garden centre here you run the risk of a soaking when the sprinklers come on but believe me i would rather risk getting drenched knowing that the plants are being looked after.

11 May, 2008

 

Too true, Irish! So would I! As far as advising the local school, the Head is retiring this term and NOBODY has applied for her post... so it will probably be 'federated' with other schools miles away. I shall have to have a chat with one of the governors who lives quite close to us and see if he can influence things. I am sure that they would make more money by selling LIVE plants with labels and information. I may even offer to help!!!!!! (I swore that after over 35 years in the profession I would not get involved again) I also feel aggrieved at Supermarkets which kill plants off. WHY??

11 May, 2008

Sid
Sid
 

Could the kids not grow the plants as a school project? I remember growing a broad bean at primary school - It produced 1 pod, which contained 1 bean, which contained 1 worm!!!!! No wonder I wouldn't touch broad beans as a kid!

12 May, 2008

 

Not being involved with the school, I don't even know if there's a gardening club - it's very small, only about 70 pupils. Could probably find out. Difficult, though with a retiring Head and lots of changes going on for them - not really the right time to try!

12 May, 2008

Add a comment

Featured on

Recent posts by spritzhenry