Just realized half my customers can't tell eucalyptus from silver dollar gum

I had a woman last week at my shop in Portland argue with me for a solid 5 minutes that her bouquet had the wrong greenery. She kept pointing at the seeded eucalyptus and insisting it was supposed to look like round silver dollar leaves. I finally pulled out a stem of each from the cooler and laid them side by side on the counter. She just stared at them and said 'well they're both green.' It happens at least once a month honestly. Has anyone else noticed people mixing up common foliage types more lately or is it just my neck of the woods?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery8792mo ago

Best I've found is labeling the bins clearly with names and pictures, stops half the arguments before they start.

piperr582mo ago

they're both green" - I swear that line haunts my dreams now. Had a similar thing at my local nursery last month, but it was with lavender vs. Russian sage. Guy kept telling me I was wrong that it wasn't true lavender. Sniffed both and said they smelled close enough. People just see a grey-green leaf and their brain shuts off.

michael_bennett1115d ago

Tbh this whole thing runs deeper than just plant names, I've noticed people stopping their brain from processing details once something fits a vague category. @piperr58's lavender thing is a perfect example - once their mind locks onto 'smells like herb' or 'green leaves', the actual differences just disappear. Honestly feels like most folks are running on autopilot these days, skimming past the specifics that actually matter.