Buying bedding plants online

 I have in the past used Jersey plants direct. Would any of you suggest a
better supplier as I am about to place an order.

Mike

 On Sat, 14 May 2011 12:24:53 +0100, "MuddyMike"


I've used JP for years without problems but this year I've had 3
"quality control" type problem deliveries out of 12 and have found
that their usual speedy customer service people have slowed down a
lot. I'll probably be going elsewhere next year myself.

Otherwise I regularly use Dobies, Thomson and Morgan and Hayloft and
have never had any problems or quality issues with them apart from the
odd damage in transit which is always sorted quickly.

In the past I've used Fothergills and Parkers but for bedding have had
very mixed results so I avoid the former completely and stick to just
bulbs from Parkers.

Garden Bargains (gardenbargains.com) sell some decent stuff usually
very cheaply but delivery is a nightmare - you never know when stuff
will arrive and customer service isn't if you get my drift.

Jake

 

We always avoid all the risk of being sent 'second best and what we can't
get rid of to our personal customers', by being a personal customer
ourselves, visiting our local garden centres/nurseries seeing the quality
and choosing our own :-))

and in one case, keeps/helps local employment :-))


Mike


--

...................................
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
...................................

 

There seem to be masses of 'deals' in the papers today, so you could
look there.  I can't vouch for them because obviously, we don't buy
them!  We buy bedding plants in as plugs and pot them on into 9cm or
10cm pots, so it's certainly worth checking the size of the pots.  What
sounds like a huge bargain might turn out not to be if you get much
smaller plants than you expect.   We have noticed this year that fewer
bedding plants are going out and apparently, we're not alone in that.
Perhaps styles of gardening are shifting towards perennials and shrub
planting. Things like Surfinias and Pelargoniums are still in high
demand, sweet peas, too but other types aren't moving at their usual
rate. Otoh, we have a higher number of customers, spending more than
previously but on things that are permanent planting. All that said,
the nursery is very busy today and quite a lot of the 9cm pots are
going out, so we'll see what's gone by tomorrow evening!  Curiously but
rather touchingly, we have one customer in London who buys 6 Lotus
berthelottii from us every year and just cannot get it to flower.  
She's described its situation and conditions, we've suggested others,
she's adopted them and *still* they don't flower for her, while they're
going gangbusters here.  I must email her and find out how they're
doing this year because she has no problem with anything else!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

 Sacha:


What is the advantage of potting them on? I normally buy plugs & plant
them straight out into the ground, is that a mistake?

Kate xx