Thursday, March 22, 2012

All spruced-up for their photo shoot, or not…

This advertisement in a recent Garden Design magazine stopped me.

Those are not “super model” Agaves air brushed to perfection. Could they have found a worse looking Agave attenuata to place this chair next to for a full page advertisement?

And what about that Agave desmettiana with its unceremoniously hacked leaves?

Something is very wrong with this picture! How difficult would it have been to find happy healthy beautiful Agaves? I just don’t get it…

28 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more. If these plants were in my own garden, I'd want to hide them under a tarp or something :-).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, I almost considered tossing an A. attenuatta that looked better than that one.

      Delete
  2. . . . and why would you put a chair so close to them that anybody who sat in it would be stabbed? I mean, I understand it's about the look of the thing, not the function, but photographers could concede a little bit to reality. One could at least light it so the leaf's shadow didn't fall on the chair's cushion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course I didn't even think about the stabbing thing, that's just part of life for me. But yes....good point about the lighting, I missed that one.

      Delete
  3. For many people, plants just become "wallpaper". And with that all discernment goes out the window.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ugh! Those hacked-off leaves were the first thing I noticed. The photographer didn't have a clue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But I wonder how much the photographer made???

      Delete
  5. Good news though: this means almost all parts of my garden are magazine-worthy now! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations! Let me know which magazine comes calling first...

      Delete
  6. That attenuata looks so bad I thought it was a yucca. Not that there's anything wrong with yuccas.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is why people without at least a basic understanding of plants shouldn't be allowed to use them as props for photo shoots. Even worse I have seen similar bad plant choices in books or articles about plants!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't you wish we could make all the rules!? The world would be a better place, really.

      Delete
  8. That's really a strange thing to do for a photo shoot promoting an upscale outdoor look to the Garden Design reader.

    It does happen around here, agave too close to the sidewalk or street gets cut back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I completely understand why cutting back is sometimes needed, but I'd like to think people would try to plant my Agave friends where they would be allowed to stretch their beautiful arms. And it just isn't cool in this situation!

      Delete
  9. But darling, its outdoor living, who's looking at the plants?!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yikes...of course you're right....so sad!

      Delete
  10. LOL! The one who did the set for this photoshoot is definitely not a plantsman/gardener! And it looks an ad during the 70's too...

    ReplyDelete
  11. I bet it was the photographer, because a stylist would have caught those unhappy agaves in a heartbeat. Or maybe it's just a vain attempt to connect with the little people, (i.e us!) Either way, for the cost of advertising these days, it seems a poor choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps they decided to save the bucks for the stylist....bad choice!

      Delete
  12. loooooooooooool

    That's so terrible. If you look on DeviantArt (Photography->Nature->Plants), you will see A LOT of misinformation and general ignorance: http://browse.deviantart.com/photography/nature/flora/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link! Can't wait to explore it....

      Delete
  13. That's too funny. I wouldn't even have noticed, since that ad didn't grab my attention anyway. But maybe with nicer plants it would have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was so enthralled with the plants I didn't even see the chair.....

      Delete
  14. It's a UK company, I think. Perhaps those xeric plants in a UK climate are something like Hostas in Phoenix--you are so amazed to see one, you overlook their somewhat unhealthy appearance... I must admit, I have some Barlowe Tyrie furniture. It's nice stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ha. The first thing I noticed was the poor chopped up Agave in front. I didn't even notice the chair until I was done looking at the plants... If you're selling garden furniture wouldn't you at least think that maybe some of your customers are gardeners and would notice?!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!