Garden Centers Research Articles

Decorative properties of cultivars of Liquidambar styraciflua L.

Purpose. To determine the structure, and color of the leaf, the bark of the branches, the habit of the crown, the linear characteristics of the plants, the features of flowering and fruiting of Liquidambar styraciflua L. and its cultivars. Provide recommendations for their use in landscaping. Methods. The subjects of the research were cultivars of L. styraciflua, which were found in arboretums, parks, squares, garden centers, nurseries and in green areas throughout Ukraine. The plants were evaluated according to a complex scale of ornamental value of woody plants, which includes four levels of ornamental value of trees and shrubs: very high, high, medium and low. The methods of observation, analysis, comparison, data summarization, photo­fixation and descriptive­taxation method were used. Results. A comprehensive assessment of the decorative effect of L. styraciflua cultivars (‘Worplesdon’, ‘Gum Ball’, ‘Rotundiloba’, ‘Albomarginata Manon’, ‘Oakville Highlight’, ‘Slender Silhouette’, ‘Fastigiatа’, ‘Pasquali’, ‘Stared’, ‘Thea’, ‘Aurea’, ‘Golden Treasure’, ‘Variegata’, ‘Golden Sun’, ‘Stella’, ‘Stella Rossa’) against species plants was carried out. Based on the results of the research, a table was compiled to help landscape architects, nursery and garden center workers, botanists and ecologists, students and staff of forestry and botanical institutions in the selection of plants. Recommendations are given for the use of L. styraciflua cultivars in landscaping. Conclusions. According to the degree of ornamentality, the vast majo­rity of L. styraciflua cultivars (13) belong to group I (very high, 65–90 points). They are recommended for use in urban and domestic landscaping and for the creation of various landscape objects. Group II (high ornamental value, 51–64 points) contains two cultivars, and group III (moderate ornamental value, 41–50 points) contains only one cultivar.

Community-Engaged Learning: Centering Public Health in Undergraduate Education by Examining Food Insecurity in the Tampa Bay Area

Community-engaged learning (CEL) is a “hands-on” approach to introducing undergraduate students to public health methods and theory in local contexts. CEL bridges academic theory and real-world practice by civic development and learning while addressing real-world problems, community needs, and interests. By applying public health theory and methods, students examined food insecurity and inequity in the Tampa Bay area by working in a community food garden and food distribution center to examine the social, economic, and environmental conditions that influence food insecurity. There were several learning outcomes for the students’ CEL experience, such as increasing the understanding of social issues through participation in the community, understanding the importance of offering culturally appropriate food, and examining how food insecurity is perpetuated by structural, social, and racial barriers within their community. This paper will discuss the process of creating community partnerships for CEL, student assignments, students feedback and reflection about their CEL experiences, and future recommendations for integrating CEL into undergraduate courses.

First Detection of Pseudocerradoa paullula Causing Aroid Leaf Rust on Swiss Cheese Plant (Monstera deliciosa) in Virginia.

Monstera deliciosa Liebm. (Araceae) is a monocotyledonous plant that is native to tropical forests of southern Mexico to Panama. It is widely grown as an ornamental in the United States because of its easy maintenance and attractive, fenestrate leaves. On May 10th, 2024, at a nursery and garden center in Henrico County, Virginia, four M. deliciosa plants in 3.8 L containers were observed with necrotic spots surrounded by a yellow halo on the leaves (Fig. 1A). Uredinia were present in the center of the lesions with dense, reddish-brown sporulation mostly on the abaxial surface of the leaves (Fig. 1B). Urediniospores with pedicels were golden brown in color, globose, echinulate, with two opposite germ pores, averaging (28) 25.2 x 25 (23) µm (n = 40) in size and a wall thickness of 1.5 to 2 µm (n = 40) (Fig. 1F - K). Telia were not present. The host, symptoms, and urediniospore size was comparable to reports of Pseudocerradoa paullula (Syd. & P. Syd.) M. Ebinghaus & Dianese from South Carolina (22.9 to 27.9 μm), Florida (24 to 31 μm), and Japan (24.8 to 29.3 μm) (Ebinghaus et al. 2022; Sakamoto et al. 2023; Urbina et al. 2023; Yang et al. 2023). Urediniospores from the infected plants were collected with a sterile needle and DNA was extracted using a Qiagen DNeasy PowerLyzer Microbial Kit (Germantown, MD) according to the manufacturer's instructions. PCR and sequencing of the small ribosomal subunit (SSU) and large ribosomal subunit (LSU) gene regions was performed with primer sets NS1/Rust18SR and LRust1R/LR3 (Beenken et al. 2012; Vilgalys and Hester 1990). The resulting 1,630bp and 638 bp sequence fragments of the SSU and LSU loci from strain GS24-AE50 were deposited into the NCBI Genbank database under accessions PQ059898 and PQ059897, respectively. A pairwise alignment of the SSU gene shared 1,363/1,366 (99%) nucleotides with the P. paullula voucher (ON887197) from Florida. A Genbank nBLAST analysis of the LSU gene shared 636/638 (99%), 636/638 (99%), and 592/600 (99%) nucleotides with vouchers from M. deliciosa from South Carolina (OQ746460), Florida (ON887197) and Japan (OK509070) (Sakamoto et al. 20222; Urbina et al. 2023; Yang et al. 2023). Koch's postulates were fulfilled by spraying four, healthy, non-wounded M. deliciosa plants to run-off with a urediniospore suspension (1 x 106 spores/ml distilled water, 20 ml per plant) that was collected from the original infected plants. An additional four, healthy control plants were sprayed with distilled water only. After 6 weeks in a greenhouse at 22 ± 2°C with ≥85% relative humidity under an 8-h photoperiod, uredinia in the center of lesions identical to those on the original symptomatic plants developed on 12 out of 20 leaves from the inoculated plants, while all the leaves from the control plants remained asymptomatic (Fig.1C - E). Urediniospores collected from the inoculated plants were morphologically identical to the urediniospores from the original infected plants with 100% LSU sequence homology to accession PQ059897. Globally, P. paullula has been reported from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United States, where the pathogen was detected at the port of Los Angeles in 2014, Florida in 2019, and South Carolina in 2023 (Sakamoto et al. 2023; Shaw et al. 1991; Urbina et al. 2023; Yang et al. 2023). Although the pathogen is not known to be established in Virginia, the recent surge of reports suggests that the pathogen's distribution is expanding. The impact of aroid leaf rust on M. deliciosa production is unclear, but it has the potential to reduce the aesthetic and commercial value of plants under favorable conditions.

Progress or burden? Formal description of every apparently new species available in collections is neither necessary nor useful.

A new species of the Sub-Saharan spider genus Quamtana Huber, 2003 is described that has been collected in garden centers in Poland and the UK. Its closest known relative is probably Q.lotzi Huber, 2003, known from Free State Province in South Africa. Working on the premise that placing species in time and space is the fundamental task of taxonomy, and acknowledging that we cannot provide biologically meaningful spatial information for this species, we prefer open nomenclature to make this species known to science without formally describing it, using the unique provisional name Quamtana sp. ZFMK Ar 24490 aff.lotzi. We argue that the judicious use of open nomenclature can serve to improve the quality of species lists, reducing the noise in large-scale analyses of biodiversity data. We expand this argument to 'fragmentary' species descriptions in general, such as single-sex descriptions in large genera with many male-only and female-only descriptions. Not every taxonomic act allowed by the Code is necessarily beneficial. Under certain conditions, the informal description of a putatively new species may serve science better than a formal description based on inadequate material or data.

Modeling human activity-related spread of the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) in the US.

The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) has recently spread from its native range to several other countries and forecasts predict that it may become a global invasive pest. In particular, since its confirmed presence in the United States in 2014 it has established itself as a major invasive pest in the Mid-Atlantic region where it is damaging both naturally occurring and commercially important farmed plants. Quarantine zones have been introduced to contain the infestation, but the spread to new areas continues. At present the pathways and drivers of spread are not well-understood. In particular, several human activity related factors have been proposed to contribute to the spread; however, which features of the current spread can be attributed to these factors remains unclear. Here we collect county level data on infestation status and four specific human activity related factors and use statistical methods to determine whether there is evidence for an association between the factors and infestation. Then we construct a network model based on the factors found to be associated with infestation and use it to simulate local spread. We find that the model reproduces key features of the spread 2014 to 2021. In particular, the growth of the main infestation region and the opening of spread corridors in the westward and southwestern directions is consistent with data and the model accurately forecasts the correct infestation status at the county level in 2021 with 81% accuracy. We then use the model to forecast the spread up to 2025 in a larger region. Given that this model is based on a few human activity related factors that can be targeted, it may prove useful to incorporate it into more elaborate predictive forecasting models and in informing management efforts focused on interstate highway transport and garden centers in the US and potentially for current and future invasions elsewhere globally.

Ornamental plants as vectors of pesticide exposure and potential threat to biodiversity and human health

The production of conventional ornamental plants is pesticide-intensive. We investigated whether pesticide active ingredients (AIs) are still present in ornamentals at the time of purchase and assessed their potential ecotoxicity to non-target organisms. We purchased 1000 pot plants and 237 cut flowers of different species from garden centers in Austria and Germany between 2011 and 2021 and analyzed them for up to 646 AIs. Ecotoxicological risks of AIs were assessed by calculating toxic loads for honeybees (Apis mellifera), earthworms (Eisenia fetida), birds (Passer domesticus), and mammals (Rattus norvegicus) based on the LD50 values of the detected AIs. Human health risks of AIs were assessed on the basis of the hazard statements of the Globally Harmonized System. Over the years, a total of 202 AIs were detected in pot plants and 128 AIs in cut flowers. Pesticide residues were found in 94% of pot plants and 97% of cut flowers, with cut flowers containing about twice as many AIs (11.0 ± 6.2 AIs) as pot plants (5.8 ± 4.0 AIs). Fungicides and insecticides were found most frequently. The ecotoxicity assessment showed that 47% of the AIs in pot plants and 63% of the AIs in cut flowers were moderately toxic to the considered non-target organisms. AIs found were mainly toxic to honeybees; their toxicity to earthworms, birds, and mammals was about 105 times lower. Remarkably, 39% of the plants labeled as “bee-friendly” contained AIs that were toxic to bees. More than 40% of pot plants and 72% of cut flowers contained AIs classified as harmful to human health. These results suggest that ornamental plants are vectors for potential pesticide exposure of consumers and non-target organisms in home gardens.

Market Potential for Specialty Compost Produced from Wool Waste

In several regions of the United States, waste and “tag” wool are readily available, inexpensive, and considered low-quality because of weed seed contamination and stains from defecation. Because of an overabundance of waste and tag wool, some are landfilled. Previous research has indicated that wool or hair incorporated in potted plants can improve the water-holding capacity of the soil and act as a slow-release fertilizer. Furthermore, compost trials have demonstrated that wool produces a high-quality compost product. This study aimed to evaluate the market potential of wool-based compost to determine its commercial viability. To address this, we conducted in-depth interviews with lead user gardeners (n = 10) who used 1 yard of wool-based compost in their gardens over the course of 10 weeks and distributed a quantitative survey instrument to both lead users and general gardeners recruited from garden centers, nurseries, and horticulture classes (n = 256). Lead users responded positively to the wool-based compost and reported they would be willing to pay $6 to $7 per ft3. General gardeners who were less familiar with the product reported they were willing to pay at least a similar amount as that for typical market composts, but they suggested that they would pay more if characteristics such as “increases drought tolerance” were used in advertising. Our analysis indicated that the target audience for the wool-based compost is male gardeners older than 25 years who are concerned about the environment.

Evaluation of the most popular annual flowers sold in the United States and Europe indicates low visitation rates by pollinators and large variation among cultivars.

To better understand how frequently pollinators visit the most popular annuals and the variation among cultivars, we evaluated 3-6 cultivars, each of petunia, impatiens, begonia, geranium, pansy, and New Guinea impatiens. These 6 annuals account for 46.6% of all garden center annual flower sales in the United States. Flower visits by honey bees, bumble bees, syrphids, other Diptera and other Hymenoptera, combined, varied 3 to 10-fold among cultivars within each of the 6 popular annuals. Begonia and impatiens were visited more frequently by pollinators than pansy, petunia, NG impatiens, and geranium. The 4 most visited cultivars, begonia 'Cocktail Brandy', begonia 'Ambassador Rose Blush', impatiens 'Accent Coral', and impatiens 'Super Elfin XP White' attracted as many pollinators as a benchmark annual, marigold 'Alumia Vanilla Cream', considered as moderately attractive to pollinators. Some conclusions from this research may be helpful for homeowners, landscapers, growers, and breeders. First, the most popular annual flowers are not a good choice for the purpose of attracting and supporting pollinators. However, the large variation among cultivars provides an opportunity to select cultivars that are more attractive to pollinators, particularly for begonia and impatiens. If the most pollinator-visited cultivars of begonia and impatiens are labeled and promoted as such, it would be beneficial to pollinators in urban and suburban landscapes in the USA and Europe, where they comprise 10%-20% of all annual flowers purchased from garden centers.

Relationship between health behavior compliance and prospect theory-based risk preferences during a pandemic of COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 forced people to change their lifestyles. In this study, a questionnaire was administered to 1000 Chinese residents to investigate the effects of risk preferences based on prospect theory from behavioral economics, trust in a trust game, other people's expectations, and personal attributes on the adherence to quarantine measures during a pandemic.Factor analysis divided the preventive behaviors into (1) compliance for self-health care, (2) compliance for going outside, and (3) compliance for staying home alone. In Category 1, those who were more sensitive to gains than losses were more likely to have a health code, wash their hands longer, report instances of COVID-19, and disinfect often. In Category 2, they avoided volunteering at large hospitals, avoided trips to see acquaintances, avoided public walks, avoided meeting strangers, avoided going to garden centers, and wore masks when out and about. On the other hand, those more sensitive to 'losses' than 'gains' were found to work from home and socialize with non-family members in Category 3.Based on prospect theory, it was found that whether one values gains or losses has a strong influence on preventative behavior. In particular, the fact that those who place greater value on gains than on losses tend to be more proactive in preventative behavior is expected to shed new light on future government guidance for citizens and subtle nudges or prompts to influence behavior.

US Consumers’ Awareness and Opinion of Boxwood Shrubs and Boxwood Blight

Boxwood blight is a significant threat to nurseries, garden centers, landscaping businesses, and homeowners, causing both financial and ecological damage. This fungal disease is primarily caused by two species, with Calonectria pseudonaviculata being the only reported casual species in the United States. The pathogen is spread by wind-driven rain, water splash, and contaminated plants, emphasizing the need for exclusion, sanitation protocols, cultural practices, and fungicides to manage its spread. Recently, efforts have shifted from containment to disease management, focusing on fungicide efficacy, diagnostic assays, and boxwood production analysis. Agricultural extension programs promote best practices to prevent disease introduction into nursery and landscape environments. Understanding consumer awareness and perceived risk regarding infestations is crucial as control measures evolve. In our Jul 2020 survey, which had 2795 completed responses from across the United States, we assessed consumer knowledge and opinions regarding boxwood shrubs and Boxwood light. The findings revealed demographic variations in awareness and opinions. Suburban residents were more aware of boxwood blight, whereas urban residents had a higher opinion of boxwood shrubs. From the tobit model, men were more likely to purchase boxwood compared with women despite knowing about blight, and Caucasians compared with non-Caucasians exhibited decreased liking for boxwood after seeing pictures of blight-infected plants. These insights can inform targeted communication strategies and assist consumers, vendors, and related industries in addressing the challenges posed by Boxwood blight. Further research into alternative plant preferences among consumers is also warranted for better development of boxwood blight management strategies.

Phyllosphere to Ferment: Site Conditions Structure Cacao Pod and Fermentation Microbiomes in Hawaiʻi

Microbial fermentation is crucial to the development of flavors in cacao-based products, but how the abiotic environment and pod surface microbiomes can contribute to these different sensory profiles is underdeveloped. To better understand the connections between environment, plant variety, associated pod phyllosphere microbiomes, and the fermentation microbiome, we characterized the fungi and bacteria on pod surfaces and early fermentations of two cacao varieties across wet and dry sites on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. We showed that site (and the environmental conditions linked to those sites) significantly influenced the microbiomes of both the pod phyllosphere and fermentations but did not significantly explain the differences between cacao varieties. Certain taxa of bacteria and fungi seemingly prefer the wet Kualoa Ranch site compared with the drier Urban Garden Center Site. Rare members of the pod phyllosphere communities became highly enriched during fermentation, where basidiomycetous yeasts ( Filobasidium sp., Hannaella zeae, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, R. paludigena, and Sporobolomyces carnicolor) became dominant at the wet site, and both ascomycetous and basidiomycetous yeasts ( Hyphopichia burtonii, Meyerozyma sp., Yamadazyma phyllophila, Filobasidium sp., Kwoniella heveanensis, R. mucilaginosa, Sporobolomyces sp., and S. carnicolor) became dominant at the dry site. The agricultural production site where cacao plants are grown should be considered carefully because it is likely important in structuring microbes that are present on pod surfaces and the microbes (mostly yeasts) that will be carried forward into fermentation. These yeasts may contribute to the development of the unique fruity or floral flavors in chocolates produced in Hawai‘i. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

Comparison of the Spreading History of Two Introduced Cepaea Species (Gastropoda, Helicidae) in Ukraine with Remarks on Their Phenotypic Variability

Trends of the current dispersal of Cepaea nemoralis and C. hortensis in Ukraine are analysed, which are closely related to the activities of several garden centres, which export a part of the sold seedlings of ornamental and garden plants from other European countries. Using Lviv and its environs as an example, we compared the qualitative and quantitative phenotypic composition of C. nemoralis at sites where both Cepaea species or only C. nemoralis were recently introduced. On average, the former were characterised by a greater phenotypic diversity of C. nemoralis, which may be due to a greater number of founding individuals of such colonies. At the sites of the second group, hereditary traits (brown ground colour, shell with three lower bands) or phenotypes (yellow unbanded), which are less common in the study area, were more often absent. Also, a clearly pronounced predominance of any one variant of the shell colouration was more often noted there, most often pink unbanded or yellow mid-banded.

Aleurocanthus camelliae Kanmiya & Kasai, 2011 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), a newly intercepted whitefly species in Croatia

The Camellia spiny whitefly Aleurocanthus camelliae Kanmiya & Kasai, 2011 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was intercepted for the first time during 2022 in consignments with ornamental Camellia spp. seedlings originating from Italy, in seven plant nurseries and garden centres in Croatia. This Eastern Palearctic whitefly species is an important pest, especially in tea cultivation of East Asia. However, in Croatia the species has been detected at very low population densities without any significant damage to the infested ornamental plants of the genus Camellia L. From the infested leaves collected on each location, whitefly puparia and pupal cases were slide-mounted and morphologically identified in laboratory as the species A. camelliae. It is assumed that in the case of spreading and domestication in Croatia, A. camelliae could potentially present a phytosanitary risk for the camellias planted in gardens and parks in the Kvarner area.

New data on the distribution of anthropochorous species of land molluscs in western regions of Ukraine and possible approaches to their classification

On the basis of own data, materials transferred to the laboratory of malacology or the malacological collection of the State Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Lviv, as well as a critical analysis of observations in two citizen science databases (iNaturalist, UkrBIN), new records of some anthropochorous land mollusc species in Western Ukraine, and in particular, in Lviv and its immediate surroundings, are described. In tabular form, the temporal and spatial presence in the western part of Ukraine of 23 species that could appear here only due to anthropochory is analyzed. Maps of the findings of Cepaea nemoralis, Deroceras caucasicum, Oxychilus draparnaudi, and O. translucidus in and near Lviv are given. Known reliable localities of C. nemoralis in Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi regions are listed. Similar information is presented for the related species Cepaea hortensis from all administrative regions of Western Ukraine, except for Lviv region, where this species is widespread in settlements. According to the time of penetration into Western Ukraine, among the anthropochorous species of land molluscs, relatively recent invaders prevail, which were first reliably discovered not earlier than in the 1990s. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, optimal conditions for the introduction and subsequent acclimatization in urbanized biotopes of many adventitious species of land molluscs, in particular thermophilic species of Mediterranean or Crimean origin, emerged in Western Ukraine. In addition to global warming, this was facilitated by the intensification of trade and transport links with other regions of Ukraine and other European countries, as well as the activities of garden centres. Besides the time of entry into the analyzed area, anthropochorous species of land molluscs can be classified according to the ways of this penetration (from other regions of Ukraine or from other European countries located to the west of it), the nature of their present distribution in Western Ukraine, as well as the ability or inability to enter natural biotopes outside settlements.

Genetic analysis of invasive spread of wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei), a popular ornamental groundcover

AbstractAn important route of introduction of some nonnative species that subsequently become invasive in the United States is through horticulture. One such plant is Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Maz., commonly known as wintercreeper, an evergreen groundcover with more than 52 different horticultural varieties, which is still sold at many plant nurseries and garden centers in the midwestern United States. Although several states have recognized E. fortunei as an invasive species, it is unknown how its escape from cultivation has occurred and even the identity of spreading populations, including whether hybrids or cultivars are involved. Using codominant microsatellite markers, we sampled multiple invasive populations in Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, and Minnesota and compared their genotypes with commercially available cultivars to determine how spread has occurred. All samples collected from invasive populations were genetically identical to one another and matched perfectly with the ‘Coloratus’ cultivar, the only cultivar to exhibit polyploidy. The data also suggest that E. fortunei may potentially reproduce via apomixis and/or clonally through propagule fragments, which can quickly fix favorable genotypes within a population. To curb continued invasive spread, we suggest that Coloratus be removed from commercial sale and distribution. We also propose that land managers, horticultural and landscaping businesses, and governmental agencies carefully monitor other Euonymus cultivars for invasive potential and spread.

Effects of Benefits Messaging on Consumer Purchasing of Plants

An online survey of plant purchasers was conducted to ascertain the influence of plant benefits messaging on consumer behavior. Three plant attributes, including type of plant, price, and plant availability, were used to distinguish purchasing preferences. To assess plant purchasing behavior, participants viewed a list of 12 different plant types and selected those they had purchased in the past year. The 12 plant types included annuals, vegetables, herbs, perennials, flowering shrubs, evergreen shrubs, fruit trees, evergreen trees, shade trees, flowering plants, foliage plants, and succulents. The most common retail locations patronized for plant purchases were home improvement stores, closely followed by independent garden centers. Consumers were grouped according to eight different plant benefit messages that they were exposed to, including physical, emotional, cognitive, social, educational, environmental, financial, and aesthetic benefits. Although some of the groups (clusters) exhibited similar purchasing behaviors in terms of plant types purchased, price levels preferred, and their preference for rare, common, or moderately available plants, there were just enough differences among groups to be able to distinguish them from other groups. The plant benefits were obviously affecting purchasing behavior, but further study is needed to understand the underlying reasons more fully.

First Report of the Gastropod-Killing Nematode, Phasmarhabditis californica, in Washington State, U.S.A.

Phasmarhabditis californica, a commercially available biological control agent in England, Scotland, and Wales (Nemaslug 2.0 ®), was discovered for the first time in Washington State during 2022. Nematodes were recovered from the invasive gastropods Arion hortensis, Deroceras reticulatum, and Oxychilus sp. in garden centers in both Vancouver and Spokane. The 18S ribosomal RNA gene was used to identify the nematodes. This discovery builds upon previous reports of P. californica in California and Oregon and suggests that the species is widespread throughout the west coast of the U.S. Future research directions with P. californica are proposed.

Phenotypic markers and history of the introduction of white-lipped snail Cepaea hortensis (Gastropoda, Helicidae) in western regions of Ukraine

The dependence of the introduction history of Cepaea hortensis in the western regions of Ukraine and the phenotypic variability of this species, concerning the shell and body colouration, is analysed. In areas inhabited by descendants of the primary introduction (most likely, the second half of the 20th century, but not later than the 1970s) no more than three main variants of shell colouration are observed: yellow or white unbanded, white banded. There is also no variability in the body colouration; all snails have a light body, without gray or reddish pigment. The most characteristic feature of such colonies, which can serve as a phenotypic marker, is the presence of dark spiral bands only on white shells. An analysis of photographs from different parts of the present range of C. hortensis, significantly expanded due to anthropochory, made it possible to find out that shells with a white ground colour and especially white banded shells are found in different countries of Europe and North America. However, white is not the only colouration variant of the banded shells there. Conversely, yellow banded shells are one of the typical colouration variants in different parts of the range of C. hortensis. Recently, at some sites of Western Ukraine, colonies of C. hortensis with a different phenotypic composition have begun to be found, formed as a result of repeated introductions of this species, which pass through various garden centres. Such colonies are characterized by the presence of yellow banded and sometimes also pink shells as well as by a more or less pronounced variability in body colouration. The most interesting is the presence at some sites of Lviv and its environs of a rare hereditary trait that is only locally found in the natural range of C. hortensis, namely, the dark lip in some adults. At sites with the presence of such a feature, all pink and single yellow shells have a dark lip. We found out that the spreading of carriers of this trait occurs through the garden centre "Club of Plants", located near Lviv (Pidbirtsi). At the same time, at some sites of Lviv and its environs, where pink shells were also found, all of them had a light lip, characteristic of C. hortensis. This indicates that repeated introductions of C. hortensis, even within the same Lviv, not only pass-through different garden centres, but also have different origins.

Greener green is better - the importance of sustainability in garden centre purchasing. An empirical study focusing on the purchase of plants and flowers based on a customer survey at garden centres in South Germany

Greener green is better - the importance of sustainability in garden centre purchasing. An empirical study focusing on the purchase of plants and flowers based on a customer survey at garden centres in South Germany

Greener Green is better the importance of sustainability in garden centre purchasing. An empirical study focusing on the purchase of plants and flowers based on a customer survey at garden centres in South Germany

Greener Green is better the importance of sustainability in garden centre purchasing. An empirical study focusing on the purchase of plants and flowers based on a customer survey at garden centres in South Germany