There is a guest post at Garden Rant by James Roush titled, “Japanese Beetles for Sale? Really?" James relates a story about his day at “a large regional nursery about 60 miles east of Manhattan, Kansas.” He says, “This nursery sells each spring, among other plants, the largest variety of potted roses in a 100-mile radius. I could not help but stop to view the few remaining potted roses on sale, hoping particularly to find a ‘St. Swithun’ marked down to a price that even a curmudgeonly rosarian would accept. And there, I saw them. Japanese beetles!”
The nursery is at fault for not letting its customers know about this up-front. Rather than educate, they sell the plants infested so you can deal with it at home. This is what can happen with large nurseries and growers that ship all across the country. You get diseases and insect pests being spread faster than they would on their own. I am sure they will have some pesticides you can buy later to get rid of them. See, everything will be better.
Where you choose to do business does make a difference. Not all nurseries, or nursery people are as uncaring. I work with nursery people from all over, and they would never allow this to happen in their businesses. They watch as these large regional stores, their suppliers, and customers continue the long slow march to the bottom. See if you can find a garden center in your area that cares, and then show you care by supporting them. If you can't find one, it could indicate a need (business opportunity) for the community. It appears the local regulatory agency has done a poor job of alerting the public, and the “large regional nursery” could care less, so who are you going to call next time a pest or disease threatens your garden? It's kind of scary when no one cares.
