Convincing evidence of what many of us have suspected for some time now.

What gets me is their pics of roses growing up a trellis or around a pillar. I swear it sometimes is just one rose image repeated at regular intervals all the way to the top.

And then add in that the color of all the rose pics is overly saturated.

It's a wonder any of us know what we are really getting!

Kate

Good grief. I have to agree with those above who don't quite understand the cries of indignation. The question begged here is, 'So, what else is new?'

Retailers learned long ago to dispense with reality and to market solely to our dream of the ideal. My roses aren't as 'bloomiferous' as J&P's; my culinary creations never actually look like the pictures in Gourmet Magazine; and you know how spectacular that lovely frock looked on the model in the Talbot's catalog? Well, you outta see it on me . . .

These deceptions help to keep the dream alive, and -- perversely or not -- by selling the dream, they're a boon to the economy. We all want to help the economy these days, right?

Uh-oh . . . Thought I was posting the above to the identical thread on the Antique Roses Forum.

Jax the difference is that you are not buying the model in fashion magazine you're buying the ouotfit. JP is SELLING the item that they are photo shopping. The difference is that it is false advertising of a product for sale.

I understand the indignation. J and P has a huge marketing program..it's nothing new

I can make recipes that look as good as the magazines, and if you give me Pendleton wool yardage, I can sew a copy of almost any Pendleton suit.

Roses...I can grow them well. I can't make roses put out buds that grow downward. And I can't cause sunlight to go though solids and make illogical shadows.
Why this makes me sad is that I've seen spectacular tree roses. At the San Jose Rose Garden, several years ago there was a tree rose of the mini rose Cinderella. It was a sphere of bloom, a real sphere. A week later, the blooms were beginning to fade, but the presence was still there. That one was made by someone brilliant who understood the rootstock AND the character of Cinderella.

There are some magnificent tree roses made from ramblers that have been wintered in greenhouses and trotted out every spring in eastern Canada to be appreciated by garden visitors.

What tickled me about this was that they didn't just use good blooms, but there's an almost totally dropped bloom with three paled out petals left and it appears at least twice.

At least they ought to find someone who loves roses and makes them look realistically better.

Or they should grow their roses better.

J&P is just a shadow of what it once was. In fact the name Jackson and Perkins itself is just a misnomer now. The orginal J&P company no longer exists. I remember once upon a time their rose growing gardens were in Geneva, NY, and then they moved to Oregon and the operations grew exponentially into a huge layout. More recently J&P has fallen on sad or bad times and I understand they have now been bought out by Parks Nurseries of Greenwood, SC, the parent of Wayside Gardens of Hodges, SC. Wayside may put out a catalog, but there are no roses growing in Hodges, SC. It's just a mailing address. I keep up with what goes on over there, because of friends, but haven't bought anything from J&P in many a year. If, in fact, J&P are a division of Parks, customer service will be less then stellar, and you can take that to the bank. BUT they do have a great PR machine, the catalogs are nice as well as pretty. Nothing you purchase from them will ever match the pictures, but then, photo retouching is an art of itself. Many people stiil swear by them, and that's their choice, but it is not mine.

The photographer can't always get out to take a photo on the optimum bloom day. They are human! And there is only so much budget. But a note on the catalog saying something like: "photos may be enhanced" might be reasonable.

But I guarantee you that this one is 100% real, no Photoshop!. It can be done!

{{gwi:224830}}

I'm awestruck--such beauty!

Kate

Now Ann, if you had any talent as a rosarian you could make a bloom grow upside down. :/

Kandm, I remember discussing their faked photos before, warning new folks about them. The one you show takes the cake, doesn't it?

Wow, hoovb. Very nice! (Virtual applause from york_rose!)

Back in the mid-1970's, when I was first bitten by the rose bug as a teenager I regularly looked forwards to receiving my J&P catalog (where I first saw Double Delight, America, and others). Back then the J&P catalog was exclusively a catalog of roses. Back then that was all J&P sold.

Now?

I throw it out without ever looking at it at all (I just did so this evening).

I have to admit, I was a little bit crushed to find out that the pictures of food in cookbooks and food magazines usually don't follow the recipes at all. The Food Stylists just cook the outside. They use glue to adhere the elements. They use airbrushed paint to get a golden color. They use a chemical spray to get a shiny look. That TV episode of "Challenge" featuring battling Food Stylists really opened my eyes.

I'm a veteran of rose catalogs and I know that the celebrities in photoshoots are airbrushed. But I had no idea about the food magazines.

my favorites are the fast food commercials. When is the last time you got a sandwich or burger or ( fill in the blank ) that looked like what the company was promoting?

There is a small place run by a sweet old gentleman- he makes everything himself. He toasts the bread and runs the grill and really listens when you say extra this or no that. The lettuce is always crisp and the tomatoes are nice and red. He's always got a line at lunchtime and the food looks and tastes great.

I bought a baby blanket tree years ago from that catalog and it never even came close to the phony pictures they print.

When is the last time you got a sandwich or burger or ( fill in the blank ) that looked like what the company was promoting?

**** Not once, in the last 30-40 years.
Well, In-'n-Out . . . But other than that, no.

They not only LOOK bad (squashed, dry, often cold) but they TASTE bad (cardboard).

Jeri

Several years back a couple of food photographers put out a gorgeous coffee table book called "Critter Cuisine" Stunningly beautiful photos, sumptuous layouts--of things Granny Moses (from the Beverly Hillbillies) might serve for a fancy Sunday dinner. (The mouse kabobs are my very favorite!) The authors said they produced the book after too many experiences of "ten people reviewing a Polaroid of french fries." (You can tell it's an older book when they're still using Polaroids.) Just goes to show you can make just about anything look good with photography & editing.

Things have only gotten worse across the board with advertising--how many times have you watched a commercial and said "What on EARTH are they trying to sell?!?!" Seems like they'll do or say anything as long as we Buy! Buy! BUY!!!!

Guess it boils down to doing your research (where would we be without HelpMeFind!) and caveat emptor.

Beautiful photo Hoovb. I wish I lived in your climate and could have tree roses like that. I do have a Henry Hudson tree rose that I have created from Bonsai like pruning, but nothing that would quite match your picture.

As for J&P, nothing new there. They have been photoshopping away for years now.

As far as non-rose advertisers go, could there be a reason that they aim their marketing to the 18-33 year olds? It used to be a top age of 49 year olds, then 39 year olds, now I hear the top age is going down to the mid 30's. Pretty soon all the TV shows will be aimed at 8-18 years because everyone else will have caught on......Hoov, that photo made my eyes water. Not only is the tree rose gorgeous, all of your surrounding plants make it look like something I'd see in an English garden movie. Superb. Did you say what the tree rose was? Is it a J&P rose?

Ha! It's one of our favorite pastimes when we get the JP catalog, to go through and find the doctored roses. Oh, I've been fooled by them plenty. Got Social Climber and it didn't even resemble the photo. I now make sure I go to the nursery or to someone's garden and view the rose plant in person. Otherwise, it's a roll of the dice. Be careful though. I made the mistake once of saying that one of my roses did not resemble the picture that I saw on a rose distributer's website and the breeder wrote on my thread saying that he took the picture himself and that it was real. He took great offense!!! Still feel bad about that one. CJ

Wow, hoovb, your photo of that rose is just stunning. Its lucky for you I'm not your neighbour or I would probably be gazing over your fence all day!

As for J&P, I'm not surprised about the photo-editing since the nurseries in Aus do it all the time, I dont even think they bother to flip photos.I'm not very observant and I've noticed it. I've been burnt in the last 3 years (since I started growing roses) and now take their photos and their descriptions with a pinch of salt. I prefer to check with you experienced rosarians this year before buying anything.
Cheers,
Sanju