Monty Don
Good morning to all.
Have you read today's Daily Telegraph. Poor Monty is getting the blame for the GROWERS loss of £50 million because of this weekly advice on the Gardeners world programme Friday at 8.30 BB2.
Surely it is common sense that we fellows gardens do not plant in the cold and wet.
I suppose they have to blame someone, but not our MON TY.
CARRY ON MONTY
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Monty is absolutely right. Why should the gardening public waste its time and money on plants and sowings doomed to failure while the soil and weather are still to cold for the majority. The commercial growers just have to accept it's been a bad spring so far, take their losses and find ways to turn it round. Over here in Belgium the nurseries and garden centres aren't selling much either because it's just been too cold to garden.
What they are doing though is organising a national "Open Doors" event this weekend with extra opening hours, demos and special offers to attract punters and an advertising campaign in the press and on local and national radio and TV. Sharing the costs and spreading the benefits instead of apportioning blame.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9986963/Garden-centres-blame-Monty-Don-for-mass-dumping-of-spring-flowers.html
Feel sorry for the growers but lets be honest here they have raised prices this year and the weather has been shocking, the answer isn't to throw them out but to clear them, put them out cheap now and people will buy them ok not going to make much if anything in profit but better than just throwing them out.
Can't blame Monty for the weather and it's quite insulting to Gardeners for growers to expect us to be gullible enough to buy plants just to have them die in the poor conditions.
Usual story isn't it? They chuck the toys out the pram and blame someone. He's the easy target. Ludicrous.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
And that folks is why I like Monty, he tells it as it is being there to advise new and old gardeners he told them it was no good planting out yet.
In my neck of the woods visiting the local Nursery the shelves were bare, a gardener said they had held back on seed sowing this year and would not put stuff out to frost.
I will sow seed, it will come when the frosts are finished and be there late into Autumn, meanwhile we have established plants bushes and trees so stick some pots into the bare patches with flowers in them and change when the flowers finish. Old gardeners know all the tricks so let us tell the young ones how.
Frank.
It is madness, I assume that they wouldn't consider giving Monty a cut of the proffits when he encourages people to go out and buy plants etc. So why should he be to blame if he says what everyone is thinking which is that it has been excessively cold for this time of year.
How can one garden programme be held responsible for what everyone can see. It has been a protracted winter.
Even novice gardeners can see not to plant things in the cold.
I don't suppose the recession has helped, not buyng if unsure of success because of the weather and in tight gardening budgets the gardeners need to know they will have success and not end up throwing money away on frosted plants.
GC's are not the only businesses to suffer as a result of the lack of footfall.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I disagree MD has for a long time dismissed garden centres as beneath him. He is the face of gardening but rarely acknowledges that many people need to buy stuff for their garden, not all of us have room for 3 compost bins and 3 heated greehouses and a potting shed.
Well said Joslow I totally agree.