Re: Where have all the house plants gone?

**H*@aol.com**

The tropical foliage industry comes and goes just like other  trends in the 
hort trade.  If you go back to the hay days of the 1970's  there were a half 
dozen plant shops in the town I lived in and now there are  none.  In NYC there 
was a plant shop on every block...now they are  rare.  I made it through 
college going to wholesale growers and buying  plants to fill my Toyota Corona with 
then sold them in the student union. I  remember paying $2.50 for 6in pots of 
pothos and $5 for philos on bark in 8"  pots.  None of those growers are left 
and the majority of growing is now  done in Canada and down south.  It's a 
combination of issues including  hurricane damage to Florida nurseries that 
virtually wiped out the large  growers, high energy costs which impacts growing 
and shipping, labor shortages  and high real estate values that forced many 
growers to sell out for better  profits.  It is cyclical though and I'd bet that 
within ten years we'll be  seeing a new foliage and tropical boom.  I suspect 
that there's also some  consumer resistance as madam learned that plants get 
bugs and can't be watered  on Tuesdays and Thursdays to say nothing of the fact 
that they need  repotting.

As an aside...my son's Bar Mitzvah was last weekend.   It's traditional to 
have flowers on the bema (podiums) but they usually get  trashed the next day.  
I couldn't see spending the money on something that  wasn't going to last so I 
worked with a local florist and we used all tropical  foliage that will stay 
in the buildings for years.  I had no problem  getting any of the material I 
wanted from pathos to dieffenbachias, dracaenas,  ficus, philos and more in 6" 
pots and up.  But if I go to the local  supermarket or garden center the 
pickings are thin...but still there.  

Andrew Messinger
The Hampton Gardener

The Hampton Gardener is a Registered Trade  Mark
(Published every Thursday in the Southampton Press, The Press and the  
Easthampton Press)

In a message dated 12/26/2008 8:41:26 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
loisdan@juno.com writes:

Hope  everyone had a great holiday!

I've noticed a discouraging trend over  the past two winters --- the lack
of availability of house plants in retail  outlets. I'm wondering whether
this is a nationwide trend, or just  happening around here. Recently, it
took me over six months to find two  six-inch pots of ivy for my mantle.
Even with that, I had to take one  variegated and one regular because they
didn't have two of the  same.

When Frank's and other small chains still existed, you could  spend a
pleasant hour choosing just the right African violet, Gloxinia, or  other
flowering plant in mid-winter, inhaling the smells of the greenhouse  and
dreaming of spring. Just a few years ago, Lowes had loads of  African
violets (regular and miniature), Gloxinias, Kalanchoes, and  Bromeliads in
bloom, as well as a wide variety of foliage  plants.

For the past two winters, neither my local small nurseries, nor  any of
the box stores has had anything other than 10-inch palms,  Poinsettias,
Cyclamen, and a couple of obligatory orchids. Home Depot had  three
African violets, only one of which was in bloom, which I purchased  out of
desperation.

Our local ShopRite (supermarket) recently made a  big to-do about
enlarging and renovating its floral section. When it was  done, I saw only
cut flowers and asked when they would be setting up the  house plants. The
reply was that they will no longer be selling ANY house  plants. This
store, too, had been a reliable place to find a wide selection  of African
violets and other common house plants, such as ferns, ivy,  hanging
baskets,  etc.

Regards,
Lois

____________________________________________________________
Save  $15 on Flowers and Gifts from FTD!
Shop now at  http://offers.juno.com/TGL1141/?u=http://www.ftd.com/17007
_______________________________________________
gardenwriters  mailing  list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL  has searchable archives  at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to  gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at:  http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads  to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot;  &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go  to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters

**************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, 
Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. 
(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)
_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters