Sometimes nice guys are morons too

Everybody screws up, right? Some things are unforgivable, such as intentionally selling plants that aren’t true to name.

“You need 50 ‘Dynamite’ crape myrtles 14 feet tall? Let’s see, it’s the middle of December … SURE I have them.”

If you do this, you deserve a scarlet letter. Make it an S for “sleazeball.”

But honest mistakes are more common. And sometimes pure acts of kindness can make you look like a moron.

About a year ago I was looking for some ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ hollies for a contractor installing a commercial job. He didn’t care what they looked like, but the inspector was a stickler. If they came in an inch under spec, they would be rejected.

I found a grower a few states over that had the numbers and the heights I needed. Only when they arrived, they were all 6 inches to a foot short.

I picked up the phone and asked, “What’s the deal?”

Todd Davis
tdavis@gie.net