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flower_frenzy

Scary.....

flower_frenzy
10 years ago

It's alarming to me that almost every time I go into a "Big Box" store this is what I see. I had to take a picture of this plant I saw at the Home Depot tonight because it is ridiculously bad. "Gold Standard", of course. It makes me sad. :(

Comments (19)

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    10 years ago

    Yup. Scary it is. Keep posting photos and give locations, please.

    -Babka

  • flower_frenzy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    This is Home Depot in Vancouver, WA. I've also seen it at Fred Meyer. It's the same in Oregon...at least the Portland stores.

  • don_in_colorado
    10 years ago

    That's just ridiculous, isn't it??

    Don B.

  • flower_frenzy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Don-it is ridiculous! I know a bit of HVX is actually attractive to some people, but come on! One look at this poor thing is enough to tell you there's something really wrong with it. I've seen dozens just like it, too. Yet, they keep on selling it.

  • leafwatcher
    10 years ago

    I would be afraid to actually touch that plant...I would worry I would take the bad karma home with me.

  • idiothe
    10 years ago

    First of all - flowerfrenzy... thanks for that... I have certainly identified my share for the managers of local big box stores and so have lots of other folks... so usually we only see some fairly subtle symptomes now. I've never seen a hosta on a shelf that is that bad. Makes my skin crawl!

    've been away from GW for a while... so I don't know if any of the old timers are still around who will take me to the woodshed for a second round...

    but in kind of an Independence Day theme...

    Some years back, when we were just starting to get a handle on HVX, and to understand why it was coming in such a massive wave with the cheap hostas from Europe (the powerwashing for bareroot and reuse of water spreading it through thousands of plants)

    we were still talking about the ethics of HVX... buying, selling, trading. I argued that it was a moral obligation to isolate and/or destroy any HVX hosta we found.

    I was attacked by more than one member for my storm-trooper tactics. The gist of the argument was "I like the way these plants look and I have every right to grow as many of them as I like."

    I said that it was wrong to sell HVX hostas if you knew they were infected.

    The response was that I was un-American... that we can sell anything we like to a willing buyer.

    I tried to compromise... we should never sell an HVX plant without identifying it as such and taking some responsibility for informing the purchaser of what they were buying.

    At least one regular suggested I go back to Russia.

    Seems times have changed... are we all pretty down with the idea that HVX is a bad thing?!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    track down the appropriate county and state Ag dept for infected plants.. and send them the pic.. and a link to an hvx discourse ...

    ken

  • flower_frenzy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Idiothe- That's interesting that people said those things. I'm surprised, but this is America and we should respect the opinions of others, even if they don't coincide with our own.

    To me, I think the question would be "Is it ethical for these stores to be selling diseased plants?" My feeling is that when I go into a store to buy something for that store's full asking price, it shouldn't be defective in any way. Otherwise, it should be in the clearance area marked as such.

    Buying a sick plant, IMHO, is like buying a shovel with the point snapped off or a hose with a hole in it. It's a defective product that shouldn't be sold and should be returned to the manufacturer or I should be made aware of the defect so I can purchase the item at a discounted price and try to repair it myself at home.

    The problem with HVX is that there is no way to fix it and it can easily be spread throughout a person's garden. So not only are they being charged full price for a defective hosta, but worse, they've now got an entire garden of hostas to worry about. To me, it's deceptive and wrong for these stores to be selling these plants.

    Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now....

  • dg
    10 years ago

    That is one sad looking hosta.

    Ditto what Ken said:

    "track down the appropriate county and state Ag dept for infected plants.. and send them the pic.. and a link to an hvx discourse ...

    ken"

    The only positive about seeing all these HVX plants lately, is reinforcement not to buy from BB stores. I'm not even interested in going in there and looking anymore.

    Unfortunately, even if we all formed a boycott against purchasing from such places, folks who have the mindset like those who attacked idothe will defeat the cause.

    Even so, I'll only be supporting businesses like Hallson Garden, Made in the Shade, Naylors, etc growers who are aware and care. Saving a couple of bucks isn't worth real potential for contaminating the whole group of hosta.

    Kudos to those who take action and notify the powers that be in the manner that Ken, Steve and others have suggested here and in other posts.

    Deb

  • flower_frenzy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Youre right, Deb. I'll look into that right away. Someone has to start reporting it or nothing's ever going to change. The vast majority of gardeners probably don't even know what HVX looks like, and are therefore buying the plants completely unaware.

  • bkay2000
    10 years ago

    It's not just the big box stores, at least here. I purchased a large Royal Standard last summer from one of the most expensive nurseries in town, Jackson's Home and Garden, on Lemmon Ave. in Dallas and it had HVX. It was grown by Green Lake Nurseries here in the area. They also sell to another high end nursery here, Northhaven Gardens.

    On the other hand, I had a "fit" at a Lowe's about them selling HVX infected plants. They removed all the plants and sent them back to the grower. Turns out Gold Standard (labeled as Forbidden Fruit) looks like that when it's stressed. It tested negative for HVX.

    So, this year, that Lowe's only has the hosta that corporate makes them take, mostly Wide Brim, Frances Williams and u. albomarginata. So, my uninformed "fit" not only cost the nursery, but my choices in hosta this year.

    bk

    This is one of the hosta I threw a fit about.

  • esther_b
    10 years ago

    After seeing an obviously infected Gold Standard at the "best" nursery in Queens, taking my laptop out of my car, going to the HVX page and SHOWING them a picture of a GOLD STANDARD with the disease which looked exactly like theirs did, I saw an employee just put their infected plant right back on the shelf. This is why I will ONLY buy hostas online from reputable dealers like we all could name.

  • bragu_DSM 5
    10 years ago

    tis why I buy from Q & Z in Illinois (Zilis).

    By the time I buy 20 hosta at a big box store, I can get a ton more with Q&Z, and have some to swap or farmers market.

    BTW, FMs are NOT a big money maker, it is more of a time "to fellowship" with fellow hostaholics, or wanna be's

  • bkay2000
    10 years ago

    After getting a $25.00 hosta that was in 2" pot from a grower that says on the website he sends gallon sized plants. And buying hosta that turned out to be mislabeled and then being told that I should be happy that it's a more expensive plant. And then, getting expensive hosta fried in the mail truck when you tell them not to ship for another week, I gave up on mail order/website growers (except Chris, of course).

    Mail order is fraught with problems, too. There are other diseases and pests besides HVX that the mail order people have. Buying from a dedicated hosta grower doesn't guarantee a properly labeled hosta or a healthy hosta anymore than buying from the nursery closest to you. At least you get to see what you are getting when you buy locally. Plus, it helps the local economy.

    bk

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    10 years ago

    Bkay, I don't see any ink bleeding from the veins in your photo. Am I missing something?

    -Babka

  • in ny zone5
    10 years ago

    For me it is SCARY, to have HVX in some plants which show no effects yet. SCARY is also that I have 2 plants which show spots like HVX, but test shows up negative for HVX. I buy only from good growers we all know and a good local nursery, but also had a few plants from HD, which never showed any HVX over years.
    My plan is to be very careful, treat each plant toolwise separately, and hope to weed out the bad ones in years, that is live with it.
    Bernd

  • bkay2000
    10 years ago

    No, Babka, you aren't missing anything. It didn't have HVX. I just thought it did. At the time, it looked like all the pictures I had seen on the web, so I "assumed" it had HVX. There was a whole shelf of streaked, ugly hosta. Now, I know the difference, but then, I didn't.

    That's my point.

    bk

  • User
    10 years ago

    I get your point too, BK. I understand that you might change your approach NEXT time. Make the "fit" somewhere else. Not in the nursery.

    One of my favorite sayings is, "Oh Lord let my words be sweet, for I may have to eat them."

    That is what you had to do, and oh boy do I know how that feels. So instead of taking that approach next time, I suggest you and I consider taking pictures and calling the county extension agent or inspector and if there is outrage in your voice, it might serve to get him/her moving to action quicker.

    Let them play the bad guy, they have the power to command action be taken. I'm sure that they are pleased that some part of the public cares about the need for the job they do. They sure want to keep their jobs and keep them relevant.

  • flower_frenzy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I looked up the Clark County Agriculture website and found an email address and phone number for the person in charge of diseased plants. I emailed the pic and will also give a call on Monday or Tuesday next week.