Quote:
Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6
The other problem with Bunning's is the inappropriate plants they would stock. As in tropical plants that look lovely in a magazine or sitting on the shelf that immediately turn to black in our frosty winters. We wouldn't stock those plants, and of the ones we did, a staff member would clearly outline the risk and where best to locate such a plant. Palms, bromeliads and the like just don't work here, and yet I could go out and buy them right now if I wanted and kill them all within seconds this coming winter. And all that does is set customers up for failure, not set them up for success. So, those customers then return to Bunnings, or come to us, disgruntled with gardening instead of returning to fuel a new passion.
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Case in point................
At the green shed today in the irrigation isle, I noticed a guy with a plant I have never seen in person before, Sturt's Desert Pea. Actually, it was the lady next to me who noticed the plant and remarked how beautiful it was, and I chimed in as well.
Sturt's Desert Pea, a notoriously difficult to grow flowering annual "native to all continental states and the Northern Territory of Australia,
with the exception of Victoria. Now, just because a plant isn't native to Victoria doesn't necessarily mean it won't grow here. But in this case, these plants require total drainage and only need water once a month, meaning you need to make sure the plant won't be subjected to rain. In my area, the soils are mostly deep, thick, heavy clay. This means growing in a pot, but even then, you still need the right blend of soil (50% sand, 25% stone, 25% potting mix free from any fertilizer). And when you do water, it must be from the bottom, and you must avoid getting the foliage wet.
The average Bunning's customer won't know any of that, or even that the plant is an annual, so it's going to die anyway. I didn't take note of the price, being a specialty line it would have been something like $15 for a 140mm pot.
I'll admit, the plant looked stunning. I didn't go into detail, but my advice to the guy was to make sure it has very good drainage.