I know exactly how you feel Brenda :((.

Sometimes I wonder where the old fashioned courtesy and good managers went.
I also hate to see plants and flowers abused and neglected in stores...and I have asked to speak to the manager one time because a whole crate of unpacked beautiful and healthy rooses were left to wither away in the hot sun for days ...while the staff stood around and did little except fool around.
I understand they were just kids and probably made minimum wage...but they should still take a little interest in their duties and at least unpack and water the poor plants !! Plus that...the manager should have been doing his job and saw that they did !
Boy...when I went back to the store 4 days later and saw that they were still in that condition and left in the blazing sun...I saw RED!!! The manager got a blast from me and he passed it on to his lazy staff. It didn't help the roses much...but I felt better :))
I see things that bother me at times as well and I used to just let things fester inside until I forgot about it...now...if I feel really strongly about something.... I send off a complaint...via e-mail.

These days with the internet...the manager of your Loblaws has a BOSS...and you have a direct link to him...or to her.

Try sending an e-mail to the address where it says Customer service.

Maybe nothing will happen...but you'll feel better :))

Maybe next year the flower department will have a new manager... :))

Here is a link that might be useful: Loblaws

Brenda, I hate to tell you but I've been there and have finally come to terms with this practise. By the way, this practise is not exclusively Loblaws. It includes in fact all the grocery stores, box stores that carry seasonal garden centres. It's far too much money to maintain plants that don't sell or are dying and paying & keeping seasonal staff to maintain them. Bottomline they get more money from some form of insurance on plants that don't sell, than from customers wanting to pay them rock bottom prices. For certain there is an arrangement out there with the producers that plants will have to be destroyed at the end of the season. Llke you, I feel horrible to think that this occurs but it's been the practise. I suppose it helps the industry. So, getting upset with the managers don't do any good. They are front line folks and don't make the policy.

I wouldn't imagine there is much demand for annuals at this point in the season, though personally I probably could fit a few here and there for some late season color. Then again, stressed out plants that have dried out numerous times and are stunted from growing in little cell packs, probably wouldn't perform very well in the garden.

It would be nice, however, if the store would just give them to the customers instead of dumping them. Maybe have them at the checkout and ask each customer who comes through if they want a complimentally pack of annuals.

Glen

A group of us worked on a church garden and since the budget is limited and the garden is huge, we have received lots of half dead plants from Loblaws free of charge. Because of the rain, most of them are thriving. The managers are sometimes overworked and may have to deal with more urgent issues. Most of the stores have also a Master Gardener on duty at least once a week and I would suggest that the issues of plants left in sun without watering should be addresses with that person

For gardeners, it is so sad to see plants chucked into dumpsters. Don't we all grieve when we finally give in and compost a beloved, but dying plant.

It is heartening to hear about Cybersunday's success in receiving half-dead plants from Loblaws, free of charge. Seems that the difference is one of personal relationships, which is not always possible when staff are part-time minimum wage, taking direction from non-gardener management. Most staff in garden centres at big stores know nothing about the plants.

Keep trying, though. :-(

It would be nice if they could see fit to go and give them to families in low income areas of their municipality. Sometimes, such a simple gesture is the beginning of a greater good.
My daughter goes to an 'inner-city' school. It is our choice. This school is wonderful in many ways, and this year, we (a group of parents) decided to plant gardens in as many spaces as we could. Since the school did not have the rescources, I gave a lot of winter sown plants, and some parents gave 'overflows' from their gardens.
But we also approached the Atlantic Superstore (which is your Loblaws) and they donated some evergreens, schrubs, flowers, and such. I'm sure if we were there at the end of the season, they would have dished everything destined for the dumpster in our direction.

As much as it pains me to see plants go in the dumpster, we have to realize that they have a business to manage. Also, they may not be thinking of creative ways to unload the over abundance of plants at the end of the season. They simply want to get on with business.
Perhaps making suggestions would be the better alternative, and letting them know it would be a win/win situation. In other words, making a suggestion that maybe these plants could be offered to local churches, or low income families, or senior's homes, etc., would look quite good in regards to public relations!! I know I did make some decent purchases at the store which helped us out in our attempt to beautify the school grounds!

Ohhh that would have upset me too. (Btw for years I have refused to buy dairy products from Loblaws. I'm sure they get older stuff for less money)

But you know, in general, this year more than any other I noticed that the grocery stores really kept up with their plants and not only that, the people working there seemed to be passionate about their "babies."

So - A & P and Sobeys in Whitby, THANK YOU!

In the past, I have complained to the store manager before and have sent a complaint in regards to head office about this particular store. It doesn't seem to do any good so I just don't shop there anymore (went to the garden center but won't even do that now) and know several other people who won't shop there.

The plante weren't in that bad of shape. We bought some at a different loblaws in identical shape and they are thriving. I think what angered me the most is the comments from the garden centre manager and staff that they were tired of dealing with the plants and just wanted it closed. Well, isn't it you JOB to deal with the plants? There were many customers in the place that would of paid 25 cents for a plant. The Loblaws that did that, the plants were rapidly disappearing. They just wanted the plants gone so they could close it and throwing them out was her way of doing it.

I too have seen the waste and mishandling of plants at Loblaws, I work (too close for my budget) to the Loblows at College Square and plants that are totally dried out or have not been protected from frost at the earliest opening of their garden centres - and still charge full price. My husband and I have complained to the Store Manager about products with expired dates on the shelves, even hot dogs but what really irks me is one Thursday the store was actually out of butter - out of PC mac & cheese and 1/2 & 1/2 cream. The garden centre however at the Loblaws Superstore at Baseline & Clyde must be managed by a gardener because I really notice a difference - the plants there all seem to be much better than any where else.

I always thought that Loblaws was the place where plants went to die.

Why not try buying direct from the grower?
There will be so many small, medium and large-scale growers near where any one of you live. They are open to the public. Unlike Loblaw's, they need your business. As growers, they care about the health of their plants. After all, it's their livelihood.
So, it will take a little effort on your part to seek out a real grower, to drive a little further to support a small business. Heck, don't support just one - go to several. They all have their weaknesses and their strengths.
I dare you. Look for good plants at a quality nursery. Don't just complain about the quality of plants at a big box store. Do something! Help build a small business.
Your garden will thank you.

With Loblaws it very much depends on the location. Do not forget that this is not a true garden centre, they just sell seasonally. It just does not pay for them to feed the plants, they do get generaly good quality plants from Epic and the prices are very reasonable. Perhaps if you talk to the manager, they do not mind if you remove the plants designed for garbage. I noticed that the College Square Loblaws neglects the plants, therefore I do not go there. On the other hand, the one at Merivale has a Master gardener at least two times a week assisting people with their selection and I assume that they also provide the staff with some instructions how to provide proper care for the merchandise. The best part are the bargains. I also go to the small nurseries and have to say that in many instance they have the same stuff at a higher price.

This practice has angered me too, not just the annuals, but the indoor stuff, all year around. I have seen people in grocery stores throwing out african violets and fancy begonias. When I asked if they would sell them at a discounted price, I was told no, it's not their policy - they don't do that. I complained to the manager and was told they don't do it because people will bring them back and complain about the quality and want their money back. Can't they just have a policy not to take back plants without a receipt? I don't understand what their problem is! It's frustrating knowing that I could revive all of those plants and even take off the broken leaves and grow more. I reasoned with them and argued until I was blue in the face, but they wouldn't budge! Then I sent a complaining email to their head office. I don't know if it get any results or not.

move to Winnipeg! there are no problems with Loblaws here that I'm aware of. joe

HMM, gee that's the big box store attitude for you! Waste and more waste.. buy direct!

I'm a horticulturist and work in Loblaws Garden Center for about 7 weeks in the spring. All I know is even when we bring to attention of Garden Manager condition of some plants, or some practices used in maintaining the plants, they are rarely implemented. I recall. after a heavy rain. geraniums were soaked, and turning yellow, and Loblaws' employees in the garden centre were watering them twice a day. I brought it up once with someone from the head office and was told garden centres had such tremendous waste and it was not preventable. However, I agree with you plants that are not selling or are past their prime could be either given away or sold for a nominal sum, instead of being discarded. In 2005 we had people coming to tell us Canadian Tire had lower prices and asking if we are going to lower ours.

I agree completely with NinaMarie: support a local nursery, especially if you find one that grows its own material. They often have a greater variety, some really "different" stuff, and yes!! they generally take care of their plants. Plus any plants that die are composted. True, you may pay a bit more than you would at a big grocery store but it is worth it. If you truly want the Loblaws plants, buy them when they are fresh. To a big store like that, a dying plant is no different that a rotting potato. We are barking up the wrong tree if we expect them to "care".

The two Canadian Tire stores, here in Barrie, have been great! They begin to mark stuff down halfway through the summer. I bought miniroses for .50 and perennials for .25, many, many times in July/Aug. Even the big shrubs; bought a large weigelia for $5 once. When they close the garden center, they just stick what's left out front for free. I got flats of dried out herbs for free once. They came back with some watering and care. Canadian Tire has become my favorite place to buy plants and they have a LOT of variety in the perennials early in the spring.

sorry to bring this back up, but as an employee at college square in the garden centre, i'm a touch angry. you have to keep in mind that although the management (manager who works in floral and the garden centre + ONE full time person they have) & the horticulturist should by all rights know what they're doing, the rest of us are part-time staff dragged out from various departments inside the store and generally have no idea what we're doing. blame the training, blame the lack of initiative on SOME of the employees, but at least cut the people that deserve it some slack.
we can't please everybody all the time, and when you only have 2 people on the lot (one of whom is working cash and one who's doing the seemingly never-ending task of moving everything around/watering/carrying out soil/answering questions that he or she has no idea about) there's not too much we can do about making sure every plant is fine. i'm sorry, as serious gardeners that may offend you, but every year we're short on labour and there's NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

and that's the end of me defending myself and my company. now for examples of some of the things i HAVE done for people this year that would get me shot by my manager:
-filling up 4 cartfuls of 601 petunia flats, and spending 3 hours trying to find more annuals that looked bad enough for me to justify "throwing them out" (cover story) to give to someone who just wanted to make a public space look better
-giving people sale prices a week before the sale started
-calling every loblaw's in ottawa (not an understatement) because a girl who cuts grass as a summer job accidently killed one particular Epic perennial that we didn't have in stock, and the person she was working for wouldn't pay her until it was replaced
-signing up for classes at algonquin to actually learn more about gardening for next year when i come back to the garden centre
it's not that Loblaw's as a whole is so bad and disgusting. but one person has a good experience, they share it with 1 person, if that. someone has a bad experience, they share it on a messageboard with anyone with a computer.

...sorry for the rant, but this just gets my goat.

The whole point of my posr last year was that this manager would rather through the plants out than either discount them more or give them away. That's great that your store gave them away but this one WILL NOT. That is why I try not to shop at the Bridlewood loblaws anymore. Witnessed the same thing again this year. Stopped in to get my sister a bag of soil and low and behold there were 5 shopping carts full of plants lined up to go in the dumpster. This included perennials, david austin roses, annuals, shrubs etc. The faster they got rid of it, the faster they could close.

I never said it was all Loblaws. I also specified that the problem was the MANAGEMENT not the part time staff stuck dealing with most of the problems. I also mentioned in my post the problems inside the store as well. That's great that you were willing to go above and beyond for your customers. It's too bad that more don't seem to be willing to do it. The Loblaws in Kanata Lakes has fantastic people working in the garden center. The whole point of the post was the fact the plants were being thrown in the garbage, that the manager was not willing to donate them to ANY community group/ discount them further etc. It also doesn't surprise me to see the process was repeated again this year.

Brenda

Loblaws always have seasonal staff to handle the garden centres as with several box stores like Home Depot or Rona. It's just sad but not even the managers can be blamed for this policy.

However I have to admit a poor system leaves a lot of unsatisfied customers and what's more it creates some uneasiness with it's staff. Given that it has been years of having the same treatment, the same clashes, the same rants - isn't it time the stores address the issues? If they want to hire seasonal staff to man the areas, then why not post flyers or guidelines on the materials they are selling. Have these handy near the stalls and not by the cashier's location which is so the last stop before leaving the centre. Surely the centres would get the same FAQs year to year? Why not act on it? So managers, employees of boxstores, perhaps you can get your higher ups to listen to your potential customer. It's not that hard to train your seasonal employees. And it's not hard to produce a list of plants, and some short guideline on them. Like difference between annuals and perennials. What's good in Shade and what's not. How to begin even planting the stuff?

Ianna

If you want cheap, poorly watered plants, shop at supermarkets. If you want good service, good choice, well-cared for plants and knowledgeable employees, give your business to places that specialize in plants, year round. It will pay you back in a healthy, good-looking garden.

An inexpensive option is the sales that local garden groups have. There you can get good plants, knowledgeable people to talk to and good prices. But you need to be organized for that day.

BTW, did you know that Canadian Tire gives a 3 month guarantee (with plant and receipt) on their end of season sale perenials. This means that they are much more likely to keep watering them.

Here we have The Real Cdn Superstore instead of Loblaws (same company) and I have to give them a failing grade for plant care. It started as early as mid-May. They received shrubs and trees in stock in Mid May, but for whatever reason didn't set up their "watering system" until a week after (translation, hook up a garden hose and actually assign a staff member to water them).

The result was that several newly arrived conifers were severely drooping only a few days after arrival, and shortly thereafter (even when watered) had brown foliage and permanent damage.

It just amazes me at the stupidity, you would think they would want to water newly arrived plants to protect their investment until they sell it. It's sort of like getting a box of dishes in and breaking one dish in every box, then trying to sell them at regular price.

Glen

just found this old posting.
i love getting into the loblaws stores now as the garden stuff comes in. for that matter, i enjoy getting into as many big box places as i can before the quality of the plants fades. some places are better than others but i have scored a few nice plants. granted- nothing rare but things that sell out in a week or two. happy hunting - the most glorious time of the year!
D

The best time to shop at Zehrs/Loblaws is just before they close the spring garden centre for the year. Prices are often fantastic if they still have the plant variety you want. I have found that stores within the same city may have different sale prices at different times so check them out before buying.

Loblaws take their customers for fools. Produce overpriced and rotting. Specials Never available!

I've had some excellent experiences with Loblaw's: it may depend which store you shop at (I shop at the one on Pretoria). Very nice spring bulbs and shrubs, perennials etc. The only warning I would give is that they sell David Austin roses, not all of which are hardy for Ottawa (zone 5a/b).