The growers who produce the flats are driven by the specifications of the stores to whom they sell. If they grow for the big boxes..they pander to them. Generic labels are cost effective to use and make the product cheaper and that's appealing to the boxes who research every means to cut their price and max their own profits. Even if you did not purchase from a box.......the store from whom you did buy them may have bought their plants from a wholesale nursery whose major customers are boxes.

I grow plants commercially and my label costs are substantial with the price of plastic rising. The product mix changes every year and I can't tell you how many thousands upon thousand of labels I had stored I'll never use again for a variety I probably won't grow again. I have switched to some generic labels myself although I understand why they're not desirable.

I agree with calliope that cost is the primary factor but so is accuracy of the info on the tags - most of the info on them is generic and unreliable at best.

I too grow for some commercial sales and since all the info needed on how to grow the specific plants is readily available from far more accurate sources they are a waste of money for most growers.

That lack of valid info on those so-called "informative" tags and the complaints received by the sellers when the plants don't perform as the tag says is one reason why many vendors have quit using them. The name, variety, and color is all most buyers are interested in.

Dave

This is a good question. I love talking about things that can ease frustrations. LONG ago, I asked the owner of a mom & pop garden center, who had a few minutes to spend with me, this same question. My uproar at the time stemmed from realizing many of the annuals I bought were just perennials that freeze to death every year. Some of them could be saved!

In addition to the reasons mentioned above, this is what she said. The tags are put in by the suppliers, replacing them at garden center level would make the plants financially unattractive, passing this cost on to the customer every time. Once you know how different plants behave in your yard, do you want to pay for that each time? Although I rarely pass by an opportunity to bash big boxes, I don't think any criticism is warranted in this instance, just bland explanation. Unless a discussion about narrow selection/same selection everywhere starts up...

The less info they put on the tag, the wider the scope of suitability. Specific info varies by climate. A generic tag is as good in FL as in ME, for example, where conditions are going to be very different, in timing and beviour. Specific advice is regional.

As far as lack of culinary info, I don't think it's any different than buying ripe tomatoes. There's no label on those of how to cook them or how they taste. There are probably flavors you don't like, so if a tag said "delicious on chicken" you might totally disagree.

She also said frustrated novice gardeners can get disheartened, as alluded to by digdirt/Dave, and give up. If they have no expectations, they're excited to get 5 cucumbers instead of being disappointed about not getting tons of them. These are the folks who she would see the next year, buying more.

Good points, purple. My biggest gripe is the tags on houseplants. A great majority of them at box stores simply say "tropical plant". I've even seen some with no scientific names, leaving me completely baffled as to what to do with them or what to expect. And since household temperatures don't fluctuate wildly, I'm not sure why it's the case.

Kim

I just got a couple "Red Relleno" peppers from a local garden warehouse. No scientific name, no spacing suggestion, no fruit size or sun requirements. Just "Red Relleno!"

Maybe they should include a link to a Web site with growing information? Seriously, I appreciate these tags on perennials so that I can decide whether I have the space and environment for a plant I might not be familiar with. But I don't deduct points for a nursery not telling me how to grow lettuce or broccoli.

Carol you are such a victim. Everyone is victimizing you. Terrible.

A local garden center is selling my plants this year. I made a point of giving them a dozen or so seed catalogs so they could show what to expect from specific varieties. I used tape to tab the relevant pages and circled the varieties. They say that the catalogs generated more interest than the plants!

DarJones

As long as it has the correct plant name and variety on it, I see no problems. I do wish they always included species, but for vegetables that's usually not a problem. Do NOT rely on what someone decided to print on a tag. Or decided it was the right time to sell -- most stores just sell seedlings in the spring regardless of regional suitability. If you are going to grow food, you must arm yourself with information applicable to you and your climate if you wish to be successful.

Now if you are NOT getting the correct variety info about the plant, there are solutions:
Grow your own from seed.
Buy seedlings at the farmer's market or farm stand.
Buy Bonnie Plants or another brand which does provide accurate variety info on the tags.

Gardendawgie, If I personally had a label it would read "Shade-loving sprawler, heavy feeder, prefers cool weather and seaside location. Matures in 40 years. Unique hybrid specimen. Plant deep in acid soil (New England). Space 2 acres apart."

THanks for all the opinions, gardeners. Veg. labels when I first started gardening (1950 when 11) were more instructive. Nowadays, due to bottom-line needs, they are simple and I agree, might do well to point to an informational website.

Carol