Gardener, Beware!

It's a nice spring Saturday. You decide to do a little shopping, perhaps picking something up for the garden. Off you go to the big box store, the local nursery or (gulp!) the local drugstore or supermarket (which, you may have noticed lately, has that alluring display of colorful annuals and vegetables outside the front door).

You got everything together so you can get out of the driveway...keys, credit, cash, a coffee. Um, wait a minute, before you leave the house...

Do you have any frickin' idea what you are going to buy? No?

You, then, will be crowned "Garden Customer of the Day" wherever you shop. That's because you'll be impulse buying, spending more money on plants that may or may not be right for you and your yard.

But this rant isn't about your shopaholic ways. Another day for that (hint: survey the yard for your needs; make a list or garden plan; stick to it).

No, this rant is about something every gardener should carry in their car and grab it when they walk into a nursery section: a good plant reference book.

Here in California, it's hard to beat the Sunset Western Garden Book for that purpose.

Updating your old Sunset Western Garden Book? Fine. Put the old one in the car trunk.

Elsewhere in the country, good references include the Southern Living Garden Book.

Also, look for the Northeastern Garden Book or the National Garden Book (if you can still find them!)

Why approach a place of business that's selling plants with such a reference book?

 Here are three, early spring shopping scenarios that, unfortunately, are too common that may fool unsuspecting gardeners:

Summer vs. Winter: Marigolds next to Violas

1) an eye-catching rack of annuals and vegetables outside the front door of supermarkets and drugstores. Those plants may be there either a) too late in the season; b) too early in the season; or, c) mixed together so that you can't tell whether they are cool season or warm season annuals.

2) mismarked signs.

Azaleas? How about...an invasive Scotch Broom!

Thanks to eagle-eye Trey Pitzenberger for spotting this!

3) mismarked pots.

Forsythia (6' tall) in a can marked...

Iberis (6" tall)

In all of these instances, a good reference book while plant shopping can help you answer such questions as:

• Is the plant I am looking at REALLY that plant? (compare it to the plant description in the book).

• When is the best growing season for this plant?

• Do I really want this particular variety of plant? (For example, a Beefmaster tomato can offer up large slicing tomatoes all summer; a Roma tomato, though, tends to set smaller fruit all at once which makes it ideal for canning purposes)

• Do I have the right spot in my yard for this plant: Does it require sun or shade? Quick draining soil? Lots of water or little water? Acid soil? Are any of its parts poisonous?

I realize that "sticking to a garden plan" is, well...challenging, especially when you meet up with a comely beauty at a nursery. Still, arming yourself with a good reference book while nursery shopping might give you more incentive to drive home, alone. 

Too bad Sunset doesn't publish such a book for "Singles Bars" hobbyists.

Do you have a favorite plant reference book? Leave a comment!