Hello everybody, It has been quite a long time since I've posted on GardenWeb as my schedule has been exhausting and perhaps some of the regular posters remember me from the guru garden (Patrick Studio retail). As a former exhibitor at Canada Blooms, I find that since Loblaws stopped sponsoring the show, it has been going downhill. For individuals who've attended the show several times, the content is no longer original and often, the same speakers are back with the same topic from previous years. The last year we attended the show in 2006, we were within earshot of a booth that was selling absorbent sponges/cloths to wipe counters and wash floors. The salespeople at the booth talked non-stop and were really loud and I found it tacky and inappropriate to have this company exhibit at a garden show. Although some of the gardens are spectacular, there is less interesting plant material on display or available for sale. The seed that is offered (except perhaps for Florabunda seeds) is commercially packaged seed like McKenzie, Sutton Seed, and Thompson and Morgan. So if you are main goal in visiting Canada Blooms is to shop for seeds and plants, you might be disappointed. I don't feel it's necessary to pay an entrance fee of $ 18.00 (which to me is highway robbery) plus another $ 20.00 to park your car to buy products that are available at the most of the box stores. Occasionally, Home Depot has some interesting and inexpensive packaged plants (like Brugmansias and Passifloras) but so many of the more interesting vendors will not be displaying in 2008. Mason Hogue, Wild Flower Farm, Fiesta Gardens, Terra, and many others are gone. I feel that the main reason for this is that it is very expensive to grow plant material in early March given the enormous increase in energy costs. There are very few Canadian growers (in either Quebec or Ontario) that are willing to provide plants for Canada Blooms. The show is just too early. It is too bad that the show cannot be scheduled in April because I feel that it would be better for the public and the exhibitors. Given the changes in the horticulture world - two major growers, Janet Anderson and Epic Plants are both out of business and the little support horticulture is receiving from the media - just take a look at the few gardening shows (most are really about renovation) on HGTV I have the feeling that if the Canada Blooms management team does not change their approach - innovation and creativity are required here - this show will go the way of the Successful Gardening Show in Mississauga which is totally commercial and pretty awful. On the other hand, if you are interested in attending a show with interesting speakers and great plant material, there is a show in Peterborough - For the Love of Gardening in mid April that is a treat. I've supplied the link to the show. Marilena

Received my Cedar Hollow order of three roses on Friday. They were polestar, Dr. Merckley and what was supposed to be lambert Closse but instead was polareis. I must say that the customer service at Cedar Hollow is wonderful because I was not going to worry about it but was contacted by Cedar Hollow and asked if the right rose was sent out and if not they would send it out at no charge. Now I have to find a spot for lambert closse as I put the polareis in the spot that I had for it.

Here in Montreal, over the last year, there has been a seachange from disposable to reusable bags in grocery stores. One store started providing high quality cloth (or plastic-impregnated strong paper) reusable bags for a dollar. The bags were so gosh-darned useful that people started buying them and using them not just for groceries, but for carrying stuff all over the place, advertising the name of the store as they went. The other stores quickly got involved, and started competing to make more and more attractive ones, so it was their bag that was being carried, not the competition. The plastic bags are still available for people that want them, but carrying one makes you a pariah on the street. This time last year, you would see hundreds of those bags stuck in trees and streetlights, breaking down in alleys and filling trash cans. Not any more - the combination of real utility (the bags are actually very good - I use them to carry things to work, for luggage, in the garden, lugging tools in my workshop, and for storage when homebrewing), low cost (the bags are printed with the store's name, so it's free advertising) and social stigma seems to have corrected this problem in a very big way. One unexpected problem that has arisen is that I used to use those plastic bags as trash bags. Now, I find myself buying real plastic trash bags, which is a habit I have to break.

The only time I bought from an Amazon seller I wasn't happy and have never attempted to buy from them again. I ordered a camera and an external charger and battery. None of them worked with the other. I've been ordering from Overstock for several years with great results. And yes, they are one company. Anything you order from them will be taken care of by them. Though some items are sent directly from the manufacturer that's not uncommon with other retailers, even JCP does that. Once a small package was lost and they resent a new one right away. Another time a CD came with the package damaged. Again they shipped the new one right away along with a return label. Just recently I ordered a stacking thing for my hubby's desk. We weren't happy with it. They emailed me a return label and I dropped it off at UPS and a refund was in my account. Those were all very small things so I hesitated to mention them, but it does show how well they handle things when they do go wrong. I've order four chairs for the ladies parlor and numerous area rugs, baby clothing, accessories for our phones and other electronics among other items. All came within the time frame, often early, and I've been happy with everything. They have excellent customer service and I know for fact they have a group of consumers they work with to make their site better.