Garden

[mousiegirl]

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@rustynail1 wrote:

I just turned on the TV and Phillip Watson is presenting Razzle Dazzle Hibiscus. I have NEVER EVER seen more fake Silk/paper blooms attached to a plant to encourage customers to purchase. The same with the daylilies. It happens a lot on Roberta's segments too. And there is no disclaimer. While they do show photos of the actual flowers in a real summertime garden setting ever so briefly, the QVC presentations with the artificial blooms in NO way resemble anything natural. I can't believe anyone would be convinced these blooms on the QVC set are actually real. And the use of Florist purchased rose blooms stuck in bushes is over the top.

I have been there and done that several years ago with Cottage Farms. Puny plants and poor performance. Buy from your local nursery or Big Box store where you can see a real bloom and health of the plant.

@rustynail1  This is cottage Farms Candy Kisses Hydrangea, one of the first to bloom this year, and all other plants/trees I have received are goind great.

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[stets]

Although that may be so, it is plain to me that some of the presentations are done with fake blooms made of paper or something.

[stets]

You know...I have some CF reblooming irises that are JUST SPECTACULAR this year...their third year in my garden. You may be on to something.

[ashleypipkin]

If you've ever tried to lift up a pot full of dirt as big as they show on these presentations, you would know that no one (not even Phillip!) could throw them around like they do in the studio unless they were fake. :-)

[LibbyLib]

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@GingerPeach wrote:

Those of you who stated that the flower vendors are displaying the plants on air with fake blooms but claiming the are real, are likely leaving yourselves open to suit for libel by both QVC and the vendors.

The plants are grown in greenhouses, which means the growers can manipulate the growth by means of lighting, fertilizing, and so on. 

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lol I think I'll take my chances, as everyone else has. 

I spent a little time in show biz and know that these are fake flowers. It's not just a matter of greenhouses, @GingerPeach, it's about the feasibility of shipping or bringing the plants to the studio and storing them there without the ability to give them necessary care. Sets also need to be prepped ahead of time, which is difficult to do with heavy pots full of dirt, falling leaves, flowers wilting, etc.

There was a storm in the Northeast a few days back and the Roberta's guys came in to help out for an unscheduled show. The giant hibiscus type plants that are big as your head were in the demo and are completely artificial. They haven't changed a drop today, several days after they presented them during the storm. Same buds have not bloomed, and no flower has wilted or drooped. They are in exactly the same pattern; the light pink ones in the pot on the right are in the same arch of 4 flowers and haven't changed. That just isn't possible.

One tip off is that the hosts will never go so far as to lie that the fake ones smell good. At least, I've never seen that. You hear them talk about the smell a lot when the flowers are real. They also handle the flowers (brush them with their hands, etc) if they're real. 

As others have said, there should at least be a disclaimer like Phillip says when he shows fake flowers. Don't like it though. IMHO, if no actual adult plant is available they should all just show what we can expect to receive and the photos of adult plants with the number of years shown on them. 

[DresdenFiles2022]

I've been a QVC customer for 20+ years. I was with them when Q stood for quality, as in quality control. I've purchased items from Robertas and Cottage Gardens: fifty-fifty success with the live plants. HOWEVER, I cannot believe how blatantly obvious the pretend flowers and plants are in recent years. I rarely hear them claim the plants are representative of the real plants. I usually hear we will get EXACTLY what they're presenting. I take risks knowing it's 50-50, but newbies don't know any better.

[katiescarlett]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Those Roberta's guys are worse than snake oil salesmen the way they exaggerate and stretch the truth.  I don't trust a thing they say.  Much of what they sell are exotic species from South Africa or Tanzania that the average grower would never be able to or have the conditions to keep it alive.

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I bought something from Roberta's line years ago and had to call customer service for replacement, per their guarantee.  Their staff was so rude and accusatory, that I vowed never to buy from them again.  Buy local, if you can!  Or at least from a reputable catalog company.  Daylilies can be purchased from hundreds of backyard growers around the country for less money for better plants and they always throw in a bonus plant or two.

[fourpaws56]

[Kachina624]

I have a Cottage Farms 3-color butterfly bush planted at one end of my patio.  I noticed that another has come up at the other end 13-14 feet away.   A seed must have blown over there.  The new plant is about 3ft high.   I also have a volunteer in the same area that came from my rear neighbor on the other side of a 7ft cinder block wall.  It's an evergreen that now has yellow flowers.  Don't know the name but it's gotten no water.