I recently visited a small independent garden center in Atlanta hoping to find some cool and unusual plants, but what I found instead was a bunch of mass-produced plants I could have easily found at Lowes or Pikes. I don't like to be the person who complains or is overly critical, but I feel it is important to encourage us all to be better gardeners and consumers.
To get to the root of this problem, we must understand a little about where the vast majority of our retail plants originate. There has been a lot of consolidation in the plant world, and most propagation is now controlled by just a handful of monopolies (I won't name names, but just look at all your white containers). These large national producers have a financial incentive to produce the same species/cultivars for Minnesota as they do for Georgia. Can you see the problem??
The uniformity in plant material we see throughout the US not only makes for boring gardens but can lead many first-time gardeners to inevitable disappointment. A recent visit to Lowes illustrates this: they were selling fancy Delphiniums as perennials. While this plant is great in northern cooler climates, come July, it will melt here!
I see this kind of thing all the time! And when nurseries can't be trusted to provide adaptable long-lasting plants, we see more and more people becoming disillusioned with gardening and picking other hobbies.
To counter this we must support local producers! But it's not enough that they be local, they must also do their own propagation. Sometimes "local" is just an illusion. One give-away is the container, does it have a brand-name label on it? If so, pick something else.
Of course not every nursery is capable of its own production, in that case, make sure they buy from a regional wholesaler that doesn't just do the mass-produced stuff. When I visit a nursery I always ask to see the propagation area- does that make me a "Karen"?
Good nurseries don't have to be "local". My favorite nursery is located near Raleigh, NC, but it produces unique material that is suited to humid zone 7 and 8 conditions.
And almost every state has at least 2 or 3 unique small nurseries that do most of their own propagation. Off the top of my head, I can name a few. Petals from the Past in Alabama is great, and so are Beech Hollow Farms and Nearly Native in Georgia. There are many others, and some can only be found on online on sites like Etsy and eBay.
We all need to be doing a better job inspire others to garden, and one key way to "infect" others is to show them what's possible by filling our front yards with a wide array of plants. Whether it be the routine dog walker or a motorist speeding down the highway, you never know when seeing something in bloom may "trigger" a life-long passion!
It's equally important for us to share our plants and passions with friends! Enthusiasm is infectious! When you divide or root something and give it to others, they will likely feel a stronger sense of attachment and pride. A plant with a story makes a lasting impression.
So I urge you to reject the conformity of the big box store. Reject the impulse to buy the latest mass-marketed fad. Seek out places that do their own propagation. And please disperse your love of plants to others!