Re: Selection

**j* e* m* s* <h*@sbcglobal.net>**

One of my big problems w/the big boxes (Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Home 
Depot), is that they are southern- based corporations and send us 
northern gardeners tons of out-of-zone plants. I can't tell you how 
many times customers at the independent garden center where I work 
come in to ask about a plant (yesterday, it as pampas grass) and why 
it didn't make it through winter.

There are as many plants rated Zone 6, even 7, in the big boxes here 
as there are Zone 5, mixed in with climate appropriate stock without 
any signage about their horticulture requirements. Usually, the clerk 
are not much help in this area, either, since many don't know a 
petunia from a ninebark. (I had one tell me about the "new 
ninetrunks" once.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know about the pending USDA map and the AHS map 
that place me in Zone 6, but I don't believe it.

At the least, plants rated Zone 6 may push the envelope and many 
gardeners don't want that. They want the plant to do well. And, we 
can complain about the hardiness zones all we want, but it is the 
first quide most of us use in selecting plants. It dictates placement 
in the landscape (microclimate) and gives us an idea of what to 
expect. To the inexperienced gardener, pushing them into out-of-zone 
plants only sets them up to fail. We want them to succeed.

jems
-- 
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Garden writer, speaker, author, photographer
Region III Director Garden Writers Association
Phone: (317) 251.3261
Fax: (317) 251.8545
E-mail: hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net
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