http://articles.mercola.com/si...

One advantage of living a long time, is that you notice things that may not be obvious to others without that experience. I remember the day when you could buy apples at the store and eat them without washing off the insecticides first. And Ive noticed plants I buy at big box stores just don't have the longevity of plants I grow myself from seed. For one thing, all the plants are in the same medium, whether they need water retentive soil or dry soil. Often its just buying a dead plant. Now we find that these plants may be introducing into our yards even more that we do not want.

I also think that "lawns" instead of flowers is a large contributor to the loss of bees.
And very few people sow wildflowers anymore.

And general lack of biodiversity in agricultural crops also contributes.

Smokers also spread nicotine related chemicals which harm plants and bees.

We often forget that we are connected to our environment--it influences us and we influence it for better or for worse. Awareness is the key to doing less damage to ourselves and to the earth.

There's a bit about permaculture and bees here. The boxes they are making look interesting.

http://permaculturenews.org/20...

hazelnut said: Ive noticed plants I buy at big box stores just don't have the longevity of plants I grow myself from seed.

Unfortunately, convincing people that are used to purchasing those uniform big box plants... not easy... There even seem to be people that prefer the whole bedding plant experience!

I have a hard time seeing [as gardening]... plugging a buncha plants into a bed for a few months... and then ripping them out... and putting in different ones for a few months... might be more accurate to call it 'flower arranging' ...

Gets old... nothing ever does anything...

stone: growing your own plants from seed may be a little more challenging, but its really not that much trouble once you learn the routine. And imagine the savings! 3$ or more for a flat of 6 seedings. For $1.50 you can grow a whole pack of seeds-- and you can grow interesting ones from the whole range of seed sources, not just the less than 10 varieties you are likely to find at box stores.

And to me when those seeds sprout its one of the most exciting events in my year
Im remodeling my kitchen, to make a "greenhouse window" where I can keep some seeds coming on all year round.

yr preachin' to da choir...

Personally... I prefer to allow the plants to naturalize... no saving of seed, no sowing in containerz, just me walking around with a camera...

even better. And, now we are learning that those are the plants that have the nutrients WE need to thrive. The plants grown industrially don't.