Buyer Beware!

Those poor plants :-(((
Not too good for the recipients either really because the plants'll be dead before they know what's happened :-(

Oh how disappointing for you, but you are probably glad now that you couldn't take it. It wouldn't have lasted long for your ex-neighbour. That is such bad practice. Do you think you will take it up with the Store where you bought it?

Thanks for this useful warning.
Yes, in hindsight, a good thing you didn't give the flower basket to your friend !
Are you both feeling better now ?

Hi Mad have to say that I am glad that due to being ill we did not take the basket of plants to Florrie - will I say anything to the store... probably not the staff there had nothing to do with the way the basket had been made up, it was done at some central point. Mind you they just might give me my money back!

Hi Terra much better than we were both not fit and well yet. I've had to turn down 3 gardening programmes wanting me to talk about growing by the moon as still coughing and sneezing. Hopefully they will come back to me in a week or so.

'Should' have had my hair cut on 30 December, cancelled for obvious reasons and am still holding off on making a new appointment until I know coughing has stopped. Guess I could book for a weeks time and cross my fingers.

i have had similar plants in the past....
glad u r both feeling better..xx

Get well soon Mr and Mrs. MB.
Good luck with the gardening programmes.. :o)

I must say I'm not surprised to hear of this deception.
Sadly it is becoming more common.
We always make up any container displays ourselves, and we know exactly what they contain and how they have been planted......and they are much cheaper than the commercial displays. As you so rightly state 'Buyer beware!'

Hope you make a speedy recovery.

What a nasty thing to do ~surely the person who arranged the basket must have known that it would not survive~ at the very least there should have been instructions on how to look after it~ hope you get well soon !

the worse i had...was a present from a friend who was delighted she had got me a red flowered hebe...only to find the flowers were glued on...

Arlene this is one of those 'name' stores... doubtless the person who was putting the baskets together was being paid peanuts and trying to do as many as possible to make a shilling. I can't and don't condone what was done but I can understand why... And if it was a non-gardener perhaps they did not even realise. This chain has hundreds of stores and the baskets would have been in all of them - a lot of disappointed customers... which is not a good idea in this financial climate!

Glued on flowers - that says it all Sandra.

We ARE getting better... better enough to realise just how sick we have both been. Brain is still awol (excuse me... no it isn't normally lol).

Just had to cancel the Highland Rock Garden Club meeting for next Wednesday - weather forecast for more of same and can't expect folk to drive on rural roads to listen to a talk. That said speakers were friends of ours and when I called to let them know we were canceling they were very happy as they would have had a 400 mile trip to get to us.

A good dram at night kills most germs, if it doesn't at least it helps you sleep!

we had to cancel our hps yesterday too. Our speaker decided [sensibly] not to come from Nottingham to Beverley.

Hope the wee dram does its thing.

I understand what you say about underpaid, overworked staff making these baskets up but I would still take it to the manager of the store and shove it under his nose to ask him if he thought it was good enough! Perhaps, if you do get invited back onto those programs, you could mention it (or at least threaten the store manager that you will mention it!) Have another 'dram' and get better soon.

what a shame about the basket mrs MB, and sorry you have not been well either, i must say ive sometimes looked at them baskets and wondered how they cram so many in so close, no room to breath let alone drink water, would be better to plant one up ourselves knowing it would live , take care ;o)

Thanks Sandra, Ian I'm invited onto the gardening programmes specifically to talk about growing by the moon so will not try sidelines into badly put together plant baskets - definitely wouldn't go down well with the producer!

More snow overnight so at least it is milder this morning, only -2!

I doubt that the baskets are made up by the store. My guess would be that they come from eastern Europe and made by 'slave' labour.

Your must certainly right BA but my point is that if the store doesn't know or doesn't care where they come from they should take notice of complaining customers, especially those who can say they talk about gardening on the radio or TV. Perhaps it would make them sit up and take notice of what's going on under their noses and demand better quality in future?

The store manager hs no control of this. Any complaint I make will be to H.O.