A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall You Really do Get What You Pay For

I was up at a WalMart yesterday and bought (mistake #1) two amaryllis bulbs/kits on sale at $5.99 each (warning sign #1) apple blossom and red lion. They were tons of kits piled along the wall (warning sign #2) in a far corner inside the garden center. I did NOT open the boxes to check the bulbs (mistake #2) and when I got home, I opened them: one had no white roots, just dried up black ones. The other had a few (really only three or four). Both of them had some red patches on them (researched and its because of tissue damage to the bulb) and I though ok, maybe they were bruised in transit. One site I went to showed the difference between imported bulbs (like mine from Israel) and local bulbs. Guess when I read on the box 'Product of Israel' I should've though twice.

So today, I went to a 'better sort of' supermarket with a really nice flower department (I really just went because they had amaryllis on sale as well). They were $7.99, with two more varieties (Sydney, and Vera). I wanted to buy another two (I want to give them as gifts to my teachers for Christmas) and this time, I was smart (-er lol) I opened the boxes and looked at the bulbs. The clerk just smiled...I guess she understands, or is a plant lover herself. I ended buying two Vera's (from the picture on the box they look like semi-double reds). I have to say, the bulbs were at least one and half time bigger, with lots of white roots at the end.

I'm not trying to give Walmart a bad rep (as if they don't alreayd have one...) but in all honesty, I don't think I'll ever be buying bulbs from them every again (the double tulips I bought from them turned out to be mostly singles).

So, for an extra $2, I was able to get much better bulbs. I'm not even sure if the one I got from walmart will grow, but hopefully they do. I planted the one with no roots yesterday, and I'll be planting the other bulbs today. I guess you really do get what you pay for. I won't be buying the cheaper from now on just because I don't want to spend a few extra dollars, but with the econ like it is, it's going to be hard. Guess I'll just have to save from other things to make up for the price difference for better quality plants!

I am so sorry you got some bad bulbs from WalMart, Kenny!
As you now know... you should always check the bulbs before buying them, especially if they are on sale AND in a corner!!! I would be taking them back to WalMart - my store takes EVERYTHING back!

I do have to tell you though... I take great offense to what you wrote about the bulbs being from Israel! Just because bulbs are imported, it does not mean that they will be bad. The best tulip bulbs come from Holland do they not? But I also read that as a slam against Israel, and for that I have to stand up because I felt that it was very unnecessary for you to post that. And while you did not try "to give WalMart a bad rap", I did feel that you were trying to "give Israel a bad rap". Sorry, but that is my take on your post.

Again... I do hope you take your rotten bulbs back to WalMart and that they give you your hard earned money back. And please remember that in this world we live in... "buyer beware"!

Lynne, I don't think Kenny meant anything by that other than when you think of bulbs you don't think of Israel as being the bulb capital of the world. Not saying that they are all bad bulbs--I'm sure they are not, but just that it's not somewhere you'd think of your bulbs coming from.

If he would've said that but interchanged England for Israel I wouldn't have found it offensive, but that's just me perhaps. It's just an odd place for bulbs to come from. I don't think I've ever heard of bulbs coming from Israel.

Not trying to speak for Kenny though, I just read it differently.....

I didn't see that as a slam at Israel in particular, Kenny but on imported bulbs. In that Lynne is right, imported bulbs are often some of the best to be had. Were your more expensive bulbs locally grown in Canada? It really is all in the price in the end. Not the locale. I do like to buy bulbs I can see and feel if I can. I have ordered bulbs from overseas. Even then the quality had more to do with the price you were willing to pay than the place of origin.
Don't let the origin of these sour you on any other purchases you'd like to make. You do know how frustrating it can be if someone ate some terrible chop suey (<-not an oriental food) somewhere and says forever after that they can't stand oriental cooking.

I understand what you are saying, Loz, but the same point could have been made by simply saying that they came from a foreign country. But again... I don't even think that is the point - I do think it is more of the same junk that comes out of WalMart really - because of the poor care they give things in the stores.

The thing is... for a small country that is always in the news for controversy with others, and fighting, and all sorts of negative points, if they try to do something for themselves or other countries such as export products, they shouldn't be shot down for it, know what I mean? That is why I don't think the specific name of the country was necessary in the original post here.

It would be the same if a person's nationality or race was mentioned - we would not accept a slam like that either. I'm sorry, but this is my take on the wording in the original post, and yes I am more sensitive about it because I am probably the only (or one of a very few) Jewish member here. THAT is something I've never hidden, and don't want to turn this thread into a discussion about that really.

So I guess my real objection is that Kenny could have said they were from a small country that is not known for producing bulbs, and I would not have thought twice about it.

This should probably be removed, but I had to say my peace. Thanks.

I agree Tina, imported isn't a bad thing. Maybe like me, Kenny had just never heard of bulbs imported from Israel....I know most of my bulbs seem to be imported from Holland.....

If Kenny had said English bulbs it wouldn't have bothered me at all even though I am English and was born there....but like I said, that's just me....we're all different Lynne. I just don't think that he meant anything racial by it.

I agree, Loz, in that I don't think that Kenny meant anything "racial" by it.
But by the same token, the way it was written could be misconstrued to mean that, and while I do know that Kenny is still young, he can learn that they way one writes can/does have impact on the readers.

For instance... when I was responding in Sheri's thread about the male capris and Diane's post about metro sexual, it was tempting to write the nationality of the person I know who is metro... but what point would that serve? None.

And yes... I may be a bit more sensitive about it because of the history of "my people"... but that is a fact that will never go away. I guess you have to be a part of that "group" to truly understand. Truthfully... it just was not the same in England...


The fact is... those bulbs were small and from a place not known for exporting them - that was really all the information that was necessary to get the point across.

I can't speak for Kenny but by reading his post I don't think he meant anything bad against Israel as a country. Lynne, you say that he shouldn't have said Israel and should have said a foreign country. Well, then when we complain about Wal-Mart we shouldn't say Wal-Mart but every one of us has done it here one time or another. To me it is absolutely no different. Others have made comments about how things were made in China or wherever and they weren't of very good quality. I don't remember Kenny taking offense to that and again...to me that is no different. This is just my opinion and I guess we are all entitled to our own.

Lynne, I am part Jewish by blood....on my moms side. I'm just not Jewish in religion. I may have easily said what he said myself---only because I've never heard of Israeli bulbs, that's all. I didn't know that they even exported bulbs there. Since you are very sensitive to it I do apologize.

Anyway.......getting back to the topic---Kenny I'm sorry that you got some bad bulbs--no matter where they came from. I do hope that they grow for you. I'm wary of anything I buy from Walmart anymore....most of it is just junk it seems. The sad thing is around here there really isn't anywhere else to shop....so you get stuck with Wamart whether you like it or not.

Wal-mart buys huge lots of things for the least amount it can for the largest amount of turnover. They don't always buy 'grade A' of something. That is often why the things you buy there are sometimes inferior. Like Kenny's title of this thread.
I bet 'the country in question' has a higher grade amaryllis bulb that they also sold to businesses willing to pay their worth. It is all just something to watch for where ever you shop.

No apology needed, Loz.
I was just trying to make a point, and it seems to be going over most people's heads.

The point was that in this wonderful wide world that we are exposed to on the internet, we need to be careful how we word things so as to try and not hurt other's feelings. I would not say that I didn't like something because it was Asian, nor I would say that I hate red and green together without explaining, because some might take that to mean that I was against Christmas. See? It's all in the way one interprets things, and again I was just trying to point that out to young Kenny.

Truth is that I do not like red and green together because of a coloring mistake I did in a coloring book when I was very young - it has stuck with me all this time. Has nothing to do with Christmas, but does make it hard for me during that season. But I do LOVE all the other colors and decorations, and cute items, and ornaments.

This is getting so far off Kenny's point - and that is once again - buyer beware, and check things out - especially in a store like WalMart that does not care about the condition of the items they sell. And I'm sorry Jessica, but that is the truth about the WalMart here... they sold water lilies this past summer that had nothing in them - that's right!!! The bulbs were so old by summertime that they had withered away to dust! And they keep bringing them in for sale here in March - when we are still under ice and snow and no one can plant them in any outdoor pond here - why do they continue to do stupid things like that?!?!?!?

Plants and Pots, I certainly did not mean anything offensive towards any country. What I meant was, in general, any bulb that comes from another country has much stricter 'codes' for photosanitary in order for them to be imported, whereas bulbs from another part of the country are less strict if they have to cross provincial boarders. And because of these codes, export growers end up having to cut off lots of roots. This was what I read earlier from the site (http://www.amaryllisbulbs.org/2007/12/how-to-pot-amaryllis-bulbs.html):
"If you bought your Amaryllis bulb in a kit you may notice that your bulb has no roots or your bulb may have a few dried and shriveled rootsThe reason many bulbs in kits look like this when you first buy them is because they were grown outside of the country. This Amaryllis bulb was grown in Israel and in order for it to be imported to America the grower had to remove all the soil from around the roots. During the cleaning, packing and shipping of this Amaryllis bulb most of the roots have been lost." I really did not mean to be bias or be discriminating of anything. I should've thought before I typed, please accept my sincere apologizes. Yes, the local bulbs were more expensive, and would've been twice or three times the cost of imported bulbs had they not been on sale. I should've said, as you pointed out, "those bulbs were small and from a place not known for exporting them" instead of placing a country of origin; reading the box and reading the site, it just stuck to my head. I seriously have nothing against anyone, and from taking world religions and going to lectures (on past and present happenings) I know I'll never know how you feel, but I can assure you I do know the general story (if not the details), and I understand why you're upset. Hope I don't sound too superficial' or insulting in this post. I know we all have different standards as to what is acceptable to say...I certainly would be offended if someone goes around saying chinese people are c***** (I've been called before) but not if someone said something about china trying to dominate the econ market by flooding them with cheap stuff. It really wasn't meant to be a blow again anyone one, ethnically, racially, really not meant to be insulting. Again, I'm really sorry Plants and Pots.

And if you read all of the posts, Kenny, you would know that not all of us read what you said as an insult of any kind. I feel you have nothing for which you need to apologize. We all agreed with you that you often do get what you pay for.

Thanks so much for that post, Kenny - I do really appreciate it! And I really didn't think you were meaning to slam that country, but it's hard to really know what one means from a post over the internet. As your studies have taught you... it was an awful time for many, but some people today do not believe that it even happened. So yes... my back gets up a bit sometimes, and for that I apologize to you!

I also appreciate the info you typed about the bulbs - that is very interesting to know. But I still believe that the reason for the poor conditions of the bulbs is WalMart's doing, and I also think that Tina was right when she said that they were willing to pay for the lower priced, poorer bulbs from there.

So, now we all have learned a bit, and I hope your other bulbs grow very nicely for you! Can't wait to see pictures of the flowers!

uhhhhhhhhhhh - you mean that rabbits are like your goldfish then??? Huh huh huh?

Lynne, I do agree that Wal-Mart sells items that are not of very good quality but my point in saying that was I didn't think that saying that about Wal-Mart is any different than what Kenny said. Some people might take offense to that too. I know that you are sensitive to that subject but with 13238 members there is always going to be something said that one of us might take offense to. I guess it is just the way of the world. I just blow it off.

ah, the coolest bulb of amaryllis i ever got was from walmart. it was a shriveled down, already bloomed, leaves crammed against the inside of the box kind of "its too late, clearance, take me home for a dollar" kind of a thing. it turned out to be one of the most fabulous amaryllis i have ever owned. its mostly white, with a faint pink blush, and a striking red edge around a true double blossom. its a wowser!
now that i think about it, i gotta remember to go dig it out of the garden before the ground freezes!

Sounds beautiful Patunia!!

I have also gotten some wonderful bulbs from WM. I just check them out first. The same as i do for most items bought there and most places I shop.

This fall I bought a ton of them from Walmart, all really good looking ones....Daffs, Tulips, Crocuses, Irises.....

Jess, did you ever get the Irises I sent you planted?

I did plant the irises. Thanks you again! I bought some tulips there too and they looked good. I suppose it just depends on how long they have been there and what have you.

No need to thank me again! They weren't normal Irises...they were some type that looked smaller....I can't remember the full name now and I wish I'd have kept the bag.

I might have the bag yet. I will look and let you know.

I had every bag, seed packet and packing list from every plant I have gotten, mail order or in person in the last 19 years. But the older ones are faded and unreadable. I tossed them out recently.

That would be terrific!

Wow! I wish I was that organized. I always misplace them or they get thrown out and then I forget what I have.

I throw them out, if I didn't I don't know where I'd keep them all I have so many packets and tags and things.....good for you Tina! I wish I could do that!

Someone gave me a four drawer filing cabinet that I have tucked into a dry corner of my shade house. I just tossed them all in there. When Jonni was about two some one gave me a lot of brightly colored enamel paint. I let her go to town painting dots and dabs all over it. Cleaning her up was the hard part. And I treasure it now.