Is it just

Is it just me getting old or is Christmas getting earlier evey year.

And are Garden Centres now just retail outlets for seasonal goodies?

Every year shops display their Christmas wears for all to see earlier and earlier. They put up their decorations, it seems like just after Easter.

Go to a Garden Center for something to do with gardening and what do you find. Millions of Christmas trees, no roots so you can't plant them, rows of shelves full of Christmas decorations, stacks of tacky so called Christmas presents.

But not a seed tray, pot or compost in sight.

And to top it all, piped Christmas carols and hymns, you know the ones you really hate but are humming to youeself days after. Aggggggghhhh!!!

Yup, I think its just me - getting old and sad.

All the best Gardenjunkie

Reply to
Gardenjunkie
Loading thread data ...

One good thing, IMO, is that one can get some plants that can be hard to find. I just found some cranberry bushes in 1-qt containers. Since they were on the list of plants I want, I got them all.

Also, little hollies. The problem with them is that there are only females for the obvious reason.

I was kid-of hacked off when I was told that the little trees (junipers--for that matter, most of these things need labels) could not be planted outside. So what is the point of getting a living tree if that is the case?

But yeah. I have been prowling the nurseries looking for normal things, and there is almost nothing right now.

Reply to
Jean B.

I think it's people in sales. I don't know what it is with them, but they compulsively push their products beyond all reason.

My pet peeve is TV. They now run commericails for their other shows almost non-stop, right on the screen as another show is in progress. The commerical breaks weren't enough.

This year we had Christmas stuff on the shelves in our supermarket before Halloween.

Reply to
despen

On Nov 28, 11:27=A0am, snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net wrote:

I agree with all of you as I peek over the fence. It's the higher folks up in sales who have learned through all the time that has passed in the last few decades, that pushing things earlier might mean more sales for them. (for example, where I grew up, in Nashville, we had a few smart department stores who decided to have a small "Christmas in July" sale downtown where all the department stores used to be, for that small amount of people who actually did their Christmas shopping that early to get it out of the way. And then they had what they used to advertise city wide as NEVD (Nashville Extra Value Days) when ALL of the stores had HUGE savings because kids USED to return to school the day after Labor day, so the week or two before that, the whole city had that sale going on. it was as crazy with frenzied mom's as Black Friday was yesterday. I remember my own mom getting out the layaway clothes she'd been putting back during summer for my newer school attire. Shoes were purchased strictly during NEVD because of the huge savings mom could get. (and some department stores like Harvey's and J.C. Penny's and Little Sisters knocked off additional percentage of the layaway amount left to get mom's to get their stuff out sooner) Mom usually got my shoes at a place called the Family Bootery.LOL But me English husband noticed this year in one of the box stores that we frequented too often for home repair things needed, that they had really neat Halloween displays, around AUGUST!!! I remember he asked me if it was October already, why was it so bloody HOT?? I also noticed Christmas decorations going up and onto the shelves here in some places the second week of September.......it saddened me tremendously. Takes all the enjoyment of the season out for me personally let alone this long warm weather we've been having that has caused a lot of the local trees to not turn their leaves as quickly as others have here where we are now. And your pet peeve is MY pet peeve as well. I not only hate the CONTINUAL advertisements on up and coming programs, next month's programs, next weeks update on whatever, or even a sister channel's programming, but it's now all lumped into the whole visual thing so that I'm trying to see the actual program while trying to ignore the station's icon, the ad's running to the left of the screen, and the minuscule amount of actual program that they run before 10 minutes later it's another bloody commercial, but not one or two or even three commercials, but as many mini commercials and ads as they can! William Shatner did a brilliant song about that....I can't get behind that" off his album he did with Ben Folds. Awesome CD.

It's not as bad on just regular T.V. it seems worse on cable and satellite programming. I counted nine commercials at the half hour mark on an "hour" program one night. sigh..........

back behind the bushes with me! Hope everyone had a very nice roast beast day for those who celebrate it. Garden note for those waiting for a gardening subject to pop out.....my holly bush has red berries on it.....there are still mum's blooming and my Black and Blue salvia still has flowers as well. Some glazed pots of sedums are blooming all over themselves but no bumblies to pollinate and enjoy the late bounty. All the California poppy seeds I sowed have germinated and have their fourth set of ferny leaves. Hens and chicks haven't hunkered down for winter, and as of now, November 28th, I still haven't brought inside the few cacti and succulents and tender African plants I have remaining for winter. They're sitting in their holding area sulking after the unexpected frost we got night before last (they were covered in several sheets......but cold concrete is still cold concrete regardless of sheltering by a roof and part of a house from just being totally exposed. (a covered car porch of sorts next to the actual house).

madgardener gardening in zone 7 Sunset zone unknown yet ducking behind a crape myrtle

Reply to
madgardener

Madgarnener, I love you. That's all I want to say...I love you and your wonderful rant.

Donna in WA

"madgardener" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@z41g2000yqz.googlegroups.com... On Nov 28, 11:27 am, snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net wrote:

I agree with all of you as I peek over the fence. It's the higher folks up in sales who have learned through all the time that has passed in the last few decades, that pushing things earlier might mean more sales for them. (for example, where I grew up, in Nashville, we had a few smart department stores who decided to have a small "Christmas in July" sale downtown where all the department stores used to be, for that small amount of people who actually did their Christmas shopping that early to get it out of the way. And then they had what they used to advertise city wide as NEVD (Nashville Extra Value Days) when ALL of the stores had HUGE savings because kids USED to return to school the day after Labor day, so the week or two before that, the whole city had that sale going on. it was as crazy with frenzied mom's as Black Friday was yesterday. I remember my own mom getting out the layaway clothes she'd been putting back during summer for my newer school attire. Shoes were purchased strictly during NEVD because of the huge savings mom could get. (and some department stores like Harvey's and J.C. Penny's and Little Sisters knocked off additional percentage of the layaway amount left to get mom's to get their stuff out sooner) Mom usually got my shoes at a place called the Family Bootery.LOL But me English husband noticed this year in one of the box stores that we frequented too often for home repair things needed, that they had really neat Halloween displays, around AUGUST!!! I remember he asked me if it was October already, why was it so bloody HOT?? I also noticed Christmas decorations going up and onto the shelves here in some places the second week of September.......it saddened me tremendously. Takes all the enjoyment of the season out for me personally let alone this long warm weather we've been having that has caused a lot of the local trees to not turn their leaves as quickly as others have here where we are now. And your pet peeve is MY pet peeve as well. I not only hate the CONTINUAL advertisements on up and coming programs, next month's programs, next weeks update on whatever, or even a sister channel's programming, but it's now all lumped into the whole visual thing so that I'm trying to see the actual program while trying to ignore the station's icon, the ad's running to the left of the screen, and the minuscule amount of actual program that they run before 10 minutes later it's another bloody commercial, but not one or two or even three commercials, but as many mini commercials and ads as they can! William Shatner did a brilliant song about that....I can't get behind that" off his album he did with Ben Folds. Awesome CD.

It's not as bad on just regular T.V. it seems worse on cable and satellite programming. I counted nine commercials at the half hour mark on an "hour" program one night. sigh..........

back behind the bushes with me! Hope everyone had a very nice roast beast day for those who celebrate it. Garden note for those waiting for a gardening subject to pop out.....my holly bush has red berries on it.....there are still mum's blooming and my Black and Blue salvia still has flowers as well. Some glazed pots of sedums are blooming all over themselves but no bumblies to pollinate and enjoy the late bounty. All the California poppy seeds I sowed have germinated and have their fourth set of ferny leaves. Hens and chicks haven't hunkered down for winter, and as of now, November 28th, I still haven't brought inside the few cacti and succulents and tender African plants I have remaining for winter. They're sitting in their holding area sulking after the unexpected frost we got night before last (they were covered in several sheets......but cold concrete is still cold concrete regardless of sheltering by a roof and part of a house from just being totally exposed. (a covered car porch of sorts next to the actual house).

madgardener gardening in zone 7 Sunset zone unknown yet ducking behind a crape myrtle

Reply to
Lelandite

Here in NJ, the hollys have red berries but all the other leaves are on the ground.

1 day before Thanksgiving we had open flowers on the Christmas Cactus.

See, even the Christmas Cactus is rushing the season.

This fall, I found 4 holly tree volunteers all in one spot. I dug them up and moved them to a more protected spot.

I've been putting Holly seeds in the ground over the last few years with no success so far. Still wondering why I found 4 at once, they were growing under a Dog Wood where I had some cedar mulch.

Reply to
despen

My local garden centre looks nothing like that. No decorations, no trees no sign of Christmas.

All those things are exactly where they should be in the ones I've been to. Perhaps you just live in the wrong hemisphere?

Here it's peak planting time so there are seeds and seedlings in abundance, bags of fertilser of all varieties to be chosen from, pots and potting mixes ans plants, plants and more plants. All gardeners are busy planting and gardening and by doing that we keep the garden centres focussed on what they should be doing which is garden related stuff.

Reply to
FarmI

s (me Englishman's word for hand pruners ) tearing out the excess wordage >>>>>>>>>>>

Thanks Donna......(dragging toe in dirt) it's nice to comment on something that I feel about here after such a long absence. by the way, for garden junkie down below........it might be peak season over there in the UK where you're gardening, and your nurseries aren't overstocked with the seasonal schlock like we are here in the "colonies" but honey, over here, we're saturated with excesses of commercialism to the point of it sometimes feeling like it defeats the reason for the gathering and celebrations. And I'm not saying the religious aspect of it either. It's a time when we have a good reason to just be better than we have been to each other. not like we NEED a reason......personally? I'm a gardener, so I do just fine by my little corner of the world in the things that I do daily. I compost, I don't mindlessly kill insects unless it's absolutely necessary, I don't use hardly any pesticide, (sometimes you HAVE to use something for those damn ticks that drop outa the trees onto you! and we won't start on the skeeters that eat me poor Englishman like prime sirloin) I'm sure if some of the better stocked nurseries in some area's were to be scoured, you'd find garden things. I know there is an absolutely incredible nursery over in Knoxville, Tennessee that has anything a gardener would love to give someone else who gardens as really cool gifts, but I can't quite get there at this time and I tend to agree with the above comment. The local box stores aren't stocked with much for us gardeners. Oh SURE there's the usual poinsettia's, non-hardy evergreen trees and rosemary topiaries, and amaryllis by the pots full, all waiting for some amateur gardener to get for Christmas to try and get to live past the first week when they get it. I am curious when they went ape over those puffed up electric displays? I've seen houses around here that you can't see the house for the inflated displays...........and one neighbor's window had their Christmas tree up, lights on and shining like a beacon since three weeks before turkey day.....I mean, sheesh!! we're just kvetching about the general over kill of the season. now before I get flamed for talking further, I will slip back behind my holly and boxwood's. (the crape myrtle has lost all it's leaves and I'm very conspicuous! At least the boxwoods and Holly have foliage.....LOL) thanks Donna for the endearment. I love you too honey. I will holler every now and then when I see something worth spouting about, and I'm sure there will be rambles as house plants and such meander through my life where I am now. Good to be back after such a long absence. maddie gardening in zone 7 (maybe even warmer?) and unknown Sunset zone (gotta find my Sunset book first)

Reply to
madgardener

Yes to all of the above.

Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

I could not have put it better myself madgardener.

I scoured my local garden center in Homebase today. Guess what they had? Half a dozen skimmia and a couple of sad looking cyclaman.

And oh yes, about 500 hundred Christmas trees.

Oh and another thing. What about all these blasted phone calls. The lastest one was 7 this evening (Sunday). "Do I want to consolidate all my debts" - No I ******* well don't! (Sorry for the language)

But come on, phone calls all hours of the day and night, insurance, kitchens, phones, savings, borrowing. Aggggggghhhhhh.

I'm really winding myself up now. Need a cuppa and a slice of fruit cake.

All the best Gardenjunkie SE England

Reply to
Gardenjunkie

The garden centers keep perpetuating this myth that junipers can be grown indoors. Bonsai wannabes purchase them by the thousands, then when the tree dies, they think they can't grow bonsai. Meanwhile, the wholesalers are raking in the money & the garden center employees don't know the difference. I assure you, junipers cannot be grown indoors, except under very specialized conditions for a limited amount of time. Iris

Reply to
csd

On Nov 29, 3:04=A0pm, Gardenjunkie wrote:

well before you wind yerself up (and I'm about to make myself a cuppa......love it hot with half and half and a tiny bit of sugar, and since being with my sweet Englishman, I love lap sang shu song (spelling is outrageous sorry). I need to get a care package from his family for Euthymol toothpaste, Lap Sang (a good half pound would be nice) and that marmalade package that makes four pounds of marmalade when you add the sugar and cook it and jar it yourself! (LOL) over here we have what the phone company describes as "do not call lists" when you first get new service you ask them to unlist your number and put you on the do not call list. But it takes thirty days before it completely takes effect. My hubby was documenting the phone calls of solicitors for everything which started literally the same night our service was turned on! We hadn't given out our number to family let alone given it out to someone who would have passed it around or sold it.........but over here, when you answer a call and see that it's someone asking for donations or contributions or looking for someone else who owes money (not us) we can by law say "thank you no, and please take this phone number off your call list or I will report it to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and believe me, if they have the bollocks to call back, they will be FINED $500 per call! Awesome isn't it? we had someone to call back after saying the sentence that means business. most of these people are recording for training purposes anyway, so they can't just say "oh I didn't hear what you said about not calling" and it gave him great satisfaction to see them return the call and he reported them to the FCC and to the phone company. You can actually find certain numbers listed as nuisance numbers on the internet and report them.

thanks. it's a common factor with a lot of us serious gardeners with some things .and something else I noticed after having been on this newsgroup now for well over 15 years.......there is always a time when the kids are home and nothing to do...or bored or want to stir the pot........I can always tell if there's a troll now or even someone just wanting to get responses by one or two questions.....and I saw one of them listed the other day. granted, it was worded differently, but it was the same nevertheless........it's the dog shit question in someone's garden or yard. the other one is about cats........if you want to get people on a rant, start talking about dog crap in the gardens or yards, or cats and their feces or getting birds.............now since I know that I WILL get flamed if I keep this conversational thread up, I will duck behind the cold soaking wet boxwoods and lurk again. stay warm! madgardener in zone 7b who is only NOW starting to bring in a few cactus and succulents and tender African bulbs and plants inside before we really get a hard freeze!! (heck it's almost DECEMBER for crying out loud! I've NEVER let it go this long before!) and I agree Iris about the "juniper bonsai" people don't realize that juniper's trimmed to be bonsai need to be outside, not inside........if they had them in little bonsai pots and sitting on their deck or picnic table, it'd be fine, but it's the same with my first mistake of bringing in a pot of hens and chicks (sempervivums) they were beautiful for a week and then turned up their noses, shot me the finger and croaked.....now tender echiveria's that look like sempervivums are a different story. if you can leave them alone and barely water them and keep them at 45=B0 until spring and freezy frosty weather is past, you've done well. whole different animal

Reply to
madgardener

Your absolutely right. Christmas is getting eralier every year. I am based in the UK and at this very moment it has just begun to snow. I have so much gardening I need to do this week and I wont be able to get any of it done if this snow lies. Your right though. Its the 1st of December tomorrow but everywhere I go now all I see is Christmas decorations and all I hear is Christmas music. Im starting to get into the Christmas spirit now.

Reply to
traveler123

Sorry if I upset you, or anyone else for that matter, that was not my intention.

Its just the way I see things and I have to say most of my friends are in agreement.

I guess you have a vested interest in Garden Centers and possibly a biased view, which I do not have a problem with. You have the same rights as I have to say it as you see it.

My defination of a Gareden Center is in the title "Garden Center".

Now gardening to me doe's not include Christmas decorations, gifts, cards, Christmas trees, etc., etc.

The worst point about the gifts Garden Centers display is they have absolutely nothing to do with gardening.

So I rest my case and stick to my guns.

I hope this has not upset you.

All the best Gardenjunkie S. E. England

Reply to
Gardenjunkie

I don't know what to tell you :-) Here, where one can garden all winter if they desire to do so (as I imagine can be done in much of the UK), "real" garden centers (I'd not consider Homebase a "real" garden center/retail nursery) offer lots of plants - trees, all manner of broadleaf evergreen shrubs, groundcovers, hardy evergreen grasses and perennials........hellebores are starting to appear by the dozens. As well as all necessary gardening accoutrements. Sure, there are both live and cut xmas trees as well as wreaths, greens and all the other Christmas features but they are a seasonal offering just the same as any other seasonal plant......like petunias and tomatoes.

Having been in retail sales for years, both in the plant world and with regular mechandising, I don't think Christmas is getting any earlier. In the US the trigger is our Thanksgiving holiday - that is the official kick-off of the Christmas holiday season and any retail shop that isn't dressed and ready for Christmas by that date will simply lose out on sales. The box stores and mass discounters - like Homebase - always tend to start the season earlier as it accounts for a huge percentage of their winter sales. Not very much home improvement OR gardening going on in December with them and gardening/ the sale of plants is a loss leader in their world anyway. If you want to find plants now or gardening-related items, look in a real nursery...someplace that is dedicated to gardening.

ps. Hi Maddie!! Good to hear from you! Send me an email :-)

Reply to
gardengal

Interestingly I saw another such thing and this one had more of a label on it--still no scientific name, but stating they were hardy down to -10F. I had a few things I am going to try to look into online. Thanks for the reminder.

Reply to
Jean B.

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.