Re: IDM

**"* P* <r*@comcast.net>**

Is it just me...or has anyone else noticed that Impatiens have been selling
extremely "cheap" at many garden centers the last few years? At least this
is true in Michigan.

Where have the garden centers obtained these at low enough prices to provide
them at a very low price to the public or as a loss leader?

Now we have this horrendous problem. Is there some connection?

I don't believe in coincidence...

Sandie Parrott
Writer/Blogger/Photographer

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John, I wrote about IDM last summer. English Gardens, one of the largest
IGCs in the country (7 stores) sold infected plants and when the complaints
came in they gave the customers their money back. By summer the  disease was
rampant in Southeastern Michigan. The four largest IGCs in the Metro Detroit
Area have agreed not to sell impatiens walleriana this season.
 A random sampling of small garden centers indicates many plan to cut back
on production,  but will sell them without a guarantee. Impatiens were the
number one annual crop in Michigan and Michigan is third in the nation in
flower production.
Michigan State University is doing research in hopes of finding a magic
bullet homeowners can use, but so far none has been found. I will be
speaking at half a dozen garden centers this spring and several other
venues. Most garden centers are promo ting coleus and begonias as a
replacement. The big problem is price. A flat of impatiens sold for $9 to
$12 in SE Michigan. 

Columnist for Detroit News
szerlag@earthlink.net

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