As the late marketeer of fake entertainment, David Hannum, once said, when referring to a P.T. Barnum knockoff of his own fake “Cardiff Man”, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” That saying is never more true with the countless fake plant images popping up on Internet sales sites. Although they’re not the only site, the largest amount of fakes I’ve seen are from Ebay, who seemingly cares nothing about it’s customers, by allowing so many blatant fakes to be posted in order to separate customers from their money. Even the Consumer Protection Division of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whose job is to stop commercial fraud, appears to have done nothing to curb this obvious con. Perhaps they were all laid off in the DOGE purge. If I was the owner of one of the mostly overseas shops that produce these fraudulent images, I’d certainly be donating money to have the Consumer Protection Bureau dismantled. The saddest part are the glowing customer comments posted on-line from people who have ordered “seed” of these plants, and await their progeny to look like the faked photographs.
Here’s how the con works, and why it’s so successful. The key is to not charge too much for “seed” of these beauties, so that when the customer realizes they have have been conned (if that actually happens), that the amount of money lost by each is so small, that the difficulty and time required to contest the claim makes it not economically worthwhile. I expect most folks also don’t want their friends or family to realize they were scammed by such an obvious fraud. It’s a shame that sites like Ebay think so little of their customers, that they continue to allow this to happen, and it’s amazing that customers continue to buy from a vendor like Ebay, that makes it so easy for con artists to thrive.
While I loathe what is happening, I admire their artistic creativity. Below are some of my favorite over-the-top images, all advertised on Ebay. The most faked plant group are aroids, which are passed off as caladiums, although most are actually A-I versions of Alocasia or Leucocasia. We refer to these as the new genus, Fakeocasia.
I’m particularly fond of these oversized giants, because as we all know, size sells.
The second most faked genus is Hosta, which is obviously both popular with gardeners and easy to fake using A-I. In somne cases, flowers from a entirely different plant genus are used when the fake color alone isn’t enough.
Based on my completely unscientific study, Hibiscus flowers have now moved into third place of the most faked plant genera.
I’m actually surprised how few roses have been faked, since they are such a popular genus. A few of our favorites are below.
I’ve only seen a few fake iris images, although these could obviously be expanded.
I found the orange hydrangea of lesser artistic quality and immagination than the others, but it’s obviously works as a con.
It also didn’t take nearly the skill to make this row of Ranenella (traveler’s palm) look like they glow at night.
Less we leave out the edibles, this non-existant multicolor tomato is sure to extract money from the vegetable grow who is always trying to one up their neighbors.
Of course, how can you resist flowers made to look like animal faces. Sorry to burst your bubble, but these also only exist in the mind of the A-I operator. I can only imagine how many people have been conned by these. I hope you will join me to spread the word far and wide about these fakes, and if your schedule permits, please be vocal to the vendors who make this possible, and the government authorities that allow this to continue. The botanical/horticultural world is fascinating enough without the need for fakes.
Is PD getting complaints from customers who are upset and being told that these are fake plants?
https://gardenrant.com/2025/06/the-impact-of-ai-generated-gardens-on-garden-centers-and-us.html:
My friend Stephanie Fleming, the former owner of the Behnkes Nursery that closed in 2019 and is MUCH missed, recently told me about a new problem that garden centers are facing: “You know, the industry is having a fit with all the AI generated plants. I hear from other owners all the time how upset people get when they bring in a photo of a plant and are told it is a fake plant.”
My my! Con artists have always been amongst us, stealing money from the unwary. And you’re quite right the pictures are fantastic, but come on; flowers with animal faces?! 🤦♀️
Caveat emptor!!
Takes all types to make the world go round!
The second rose is almost real as the photo is slightly augmented. The rose is Simsalabim which I grow here in South Florida. It is a cut rose variety that’s not particularly great in the garden but it flowers a bit before the black spot ravages it no matter what precautions we take.
Yes. You have to know a little to recognize the more subtle fakes. I am afraid to buy ordinary looking correct plants from sellers that I also know have many of the colorized fake scam plants for sale. I also look for correct Latin names because that implies they don’t mind going on the record and is at least good faith.
I got used to some older sellers being sloppy but basically correct, but these days I can’t even tolerate that. I remember when I was intimidated by Latin names and thought common names were easier. I have learned it’s the other way around.
Etsy and eBay want reviews quickly. Plants and seeds don’t work that way. I will review when I know months later, otherwise there is little value in the review beyond knowing if something came in a timely manner.
I also find these pretty funny and have seen some of these advertised for sale, BUT that first rose is actually possible in a slightly toned down version, but created, not grown. Florists do it by taking a rose, probably a white one, slitting the stem into three or four sections, and sticking each section into a different color dye. It’s pretty tricky and they are expensive but I have actually seen some done, way before AI was a thing.
They are all so ugly, and look so fake, why would anyone want to buy their (non existent) seed?
It is sad that people believe the pictures of these plants. I will admit the photos are of beautiful art.
I hope I never fall for one of these fakes.
These are great, lol. And this doesn’t even cover the rose seed videos I see advertised. Apparently you can just sprinkle a handful of rose seeds in the cracks of your sidewalks and pavers, and then *voila* you can have waves of beatiful climbing roses before long….!
Ah, but they are so pretty. Pinterest, as of late, has taken up the banner and is showing lots of colours, for which seeds are offered by unknown companies/people.