Thanks for the information. I just sent an email to "matt" at Mahoneys. Hopefully, that will work. You are so lucky to live in Winchester near the main store. If I'm in the area now (I used to work in Woburn), sometimes I'll drop in just to walk around. I've brought a couple of people there and they are amazed at the place. I don't buy that much for myself at Mahoney's (I like, I think it's McCue's down the street) but definetly use them for gifts (flower arrangements, plant gardens, orchids, exotic plants, etc.) Thanks again, I'll let you know if the coupon comes through.

I find Mahoney's a real mixed bag. Much of their merchandise is WAY overpriced, but sometimes you can get great deals, it really pays to look closely. I bought a variegated Solomon's Seal this spring, for instance, that was fairly expensive ($17, IIRC) but which had something like 10 separate stems in it. I divided them up and planted in three separate groups. Last year they had some brand name annuals at 4 for $10, and included some perennials at the same price: black scallop ajuga and some fancy heuchera. A few weeks ago I saw the new Twist and Shout hydrangea, which is a lacecap supposedly hardy to zone 4 and which blooms on old and new wood. I didn't buy it at the time, stupidly, and with my luck they'll be out of stock now that I have that coupon! It's definitely worth getting on their e-mail list for the coupons and the notice of their seminars.

you should call and ask them to put one aside for you. BTW, ALWAYS when you ask inventory questions of them, MAKE THEM go out and actually LOOK at their stock to see if they have the plant. They gat so many shipments that even the 'knowledgable' staffers don't know what they have for inventory. Ex- I called yestday for a conifer that someone had tipped me off about, and said he'd seen there.
The 'knowledgable' staffer said," No, we only had four in and we sold out of them."
Me: "Are you sure?; i was told you had them a few days ago." She: "Let me go check.........Oh we DO have them in; there must have been a new shipment".....

best,
mindy

I saw H. Twist and Shout today at Cataldo's in Littleton. It REALLY caught my eye! I had not heard of it yet. Nice foliage too. But I restrained myself (for a change!) and thought I would wait and see how it performs for real gardeners. I'm sick of the hype of new plants that fizzle in reality. This at a time when only 3 of my 8 Endless Summer's have blooms.

Thanks for the info on the coupon.

I like Mahoney's overall and hope they survive the slump.

I was in the Winchester Mahoney's today, and it was miserable.

I went there to get ladybugs to get rid of some aphids. I'd called in advance, and was told by the surly woman on the phone that they do have them, at a price of $12 per 100 ladybugs. This sounded unlikely, since ladybugs usually come in amounts of more like 1000. As it turns out, the packages they sell contain 1500, not 100. If I'd believed them about the amounts, I would have considered the price entirely too steep.

I was also told that the place to go to pick them up was the "Garden Center." I pointed out that their whole store was, in fact, a "Garden Center," and the surly woman said...oh, I don't remember, but something surly. I figured I would figure it out when I got there, and that I could always ask someone.

That was a huge mistake. When I first arrived, I saw a couple of employees who quite deftly avoided my gaze. I meandered my way to the area marked "vegetables and herbs," since I wanted to see what might be left, and I thought I'd pick up some bamboo stakes while I was at it.

What I found were a whole bunch of dead or dying plants, which weren't so much as marked down. Some hanging baskets of miniature tomatoes looked like they might have still had some hope, if only anyone had bothered to water them. Most of the herbs were very sad, and looked like they'd been neglected for some time.

What I didn't find were any employees. As it turns out, I'm 8+ months pregnant, and the walk from the entrance to that section wore me out...so I sat down, and waited for an employee to come by. And I waited. And waited. And waited. A lost-looking little old lady approached me, and asked if I knew if anyone actually worked at the store, because she'd been trying to find an employee for quite some time. I told her I didn't know. She tried to ask me her questions, but I didn't have any answers for her.

So I waited some more, getting hotter and hotter, and watching more lost-looking customers congregate in the area, asking each other their questions. The little old lady wandered through again, looking like she still hadn't found anyone to help her.

Eventually I pulled out my mobile phone, dialed 411, and got them to connect me to the store. Again, a surly woman (perhaps the same one from yesterday?) answered the phone, and I explained that I was in the "herbs and vegetables" section, along with many other customers in need of assistance, and that we'd been trying to find someone to help us for a very long time. She wanted to know if I was in the "South Greenhouse," or something like that, but I couldn't find any signs that said anything of the sort. I repeated that I was in the "herbs and vegetables" section, according to both the signs and the things on the shelves. She hung up on me.

Eventually an employee came down to help. He seemed to take pity on my extremely-pregnant self, and was kind enough to go get the ladybugs for me, and also a cold cup of water. I asked him about soft plant ties (the sort that look like cut-up nylons, only green), but they had none. I don't know if he ever caught up with the little old lady.

I eventually made my way back to the cash registers, paid for my acquisitions, and left. I was extremely disappointed. I used to think of Mahoney's as one of the best places to go for high-quality plants and supplies, but today's experience has completely disabused me of that notion.

Then I got home, and when I went out to release the ladybugs in the evening, I could no longer find the massive colonies of aphids which were present (along with their ant farmers/guardians) just a few days ago. I wondered if my whole trip had been wasted...but at least that part isn't actually Mahoney's fault.

Mindy,

Thanks for the coupon! I'm also emailing it my friend, Kim.

Marlene

Liera - thanks for the laugh - your story brought back memories of being pregnant - a *very* long time ago! You have my sympathy, especially the part about the heat (one of my sons was born on September 1, which made July and August pretty uncomfortable).

I have established a relationship of sorts with one or two employees at the local Mahoney's - the kind of people who will actually mark things down for you on the spot when you're the only one all season who's recognized a rare plant and called it by its latin name. These people don't get paid very well, and they just must love plants enough to keep at it, surrounded by slouches who are trying to do the least work possible.

I agree that Mahoney's is a mixed bag - I've bought shrubs there in fairly large pots that turned out to be barely rooted cuttings. I try to patronize the smaller, local nurseries, which are surely suffering in this economy more than Mahoney's is. On the other hand... they do sometimes carry things that you don't see elsewhere, and when you NEED a specific plant, well ...

Liera, your experience has been my experience at the Mahoney's in Winchester nine of the last ten times I've gone there for anything. The tenth time I hit their 50% off sale on perennials and was happy with my bargains. I have to be desperate now, to even make the attempt. Exceptions are when they mark their perennials or shrubs down to 50% off late in the season. I would never go there for an annual or anything in their greenhouse. I hate the layout, it is so spread out. No one ever helps you there. Once they gave me a hard time about a legitimate return. It actually amazes me how consistently I leave there unhappy. I really do try not to use them at all, but once in awhile I get stuck.

PM2, do you have insomnia, or is the clock in your computer wrong? LOL, I had to check back here when I saw someone had posted at 3:39 AM.

But seriously, if you can recognize any employees who are there year after year, you may find that they're the helpful ones (and willing to go out of their normal areas to work with a repeat customer). Otherwise, I'd try to contact Mahoney's head office and complain about the staffing at the Winchester store. Maybe if you both complain they'll listen, and do something about it.

Hi Dtd :-) The clock is correct, unfortunately. I am normally up before 5am but last night was a little earlier than usual. We did have some thunderstorms with more rain in the night that woke me up.

I think your suggestion is a good one in many instances. I have had experience talking to management about an issue I had there and found that I came away with the impression that management might have been the problem. [g] I should notice the next time I am there if I recognize any of the employees. That might be helpful. But for the most part, I have moved on and am finding other local nurseries that I prefer.

The Mahoney's here in Concord is a nice store, the staff has always been around and pretty helpful. But maybe that's because it's a smaller store? I purchased many of my perennial mainstays there. Now I start a lot of plants from seed, so I don't buy plants as much.

The best score there was hitting their end-of-season November sale on perennials and grasses over Veteran's weekend one year. Everything was $3-5 each, even 2 gallon pots! I bought a LOT of great stuff that weekend.