Did you keep them in the warm for a start. It was quite cold in April, I haven’t got Canna anymore but when I did, they didn’t go out until June. My Callas lived in the GH until only just recently.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I ve been buying long time from Jparkers and found following: 1. Mostly good value for money and a reasonable freebie included. 2. Bulbs are generally good and if not, promptly replaced. 3. Plants not so good (but cheap). I once ordered a batch of roses, which came as tiny ‘apparently 2 yr old’ plants. Many had no label and some were of wrong variety. Though cust Services provided the replacement 4. Bedding and plug plants are of poor quality and in my experience less than half survived. Also they start bombarding you with catalogues and offers early in the season, when the conditions arent right for these plants. ‘This’ in my opinion is bit of a dishonest practice esp with Novice gardeners.
All in all, i think they are acceptable and probably the cheapest online plant retailer out there..
I don’t buy a lot but this year I bought 1” high posti plugs of begonias and petunias, they were in those tiny 33 plug letterbox packaging, both were fantastic little plants, I pricked them out potted them on and they’re out now, didn't lose a single plant, I do agree that they are not for the novice gardener, you can’t just buy and plant out. Perennials need to be potted up and kept inside until the weather is good, then you need to protect from slugs, but as I did in a previous post, if you take care of them they’re good. It was all I could afford at the time, having inherited a big garden and digging borders from scratch, I’ve since transplanted clumps here there and everywhere, sent bits off to friends, I’ve haven't lost a thing. Usually the ‘batches’ of roses they sell are labelled as ‘lost labels’ so you take your choice.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Lyn, it's possible that I planted them too soon. But we have mild winters and I would expect these to be able to overwinter here outside (if planted deep or mulched). Maybe the nights were too cold for young bulbs, I don't know.
Wish I had done my due diligence properly. 20x young plants arrive dead, shrivelled with roots all dried up. Called J Parkers twice; fobbed off. Emailed - they claimed not to have received the email. Emailed again - fobbed off. It seems the plants took four days to reach me and I assume that the condition was a combination of poor quality dispatch exacerbated by poor courier conditions. However, this is no excuse for them not to honour their legal obligations under the Sale of Good Act. Just ignoring my complaint, which was accompanied with a full set of photos of the plants, is not good enough
I think that this sort of thing needs to be kept in context. The internet is full of companies who seem to have a bad service but if you think about how many sales they make per year and how few people as a percentage seem to have issues then on the whole they do pretty well considering it's live, often very delicate stick they are selling. Most customers who get a decent service are unlikely to draw attention to this online so you get false weighting towards bad aspects. These bulk companies are great and cheap when things go right but should have systems In place for when they don't. For the individuals affected it is annoying though and they should expect and receive good backup service. If they don't get good support then I do understand the frustration as it's happened to me. I have learned though that getting worked up only affects me. So enjoy your gardening and just order what you know a company can deliver on. I've never had an issue with Parkers but have with others.
I'm waiting on a delivery from here, first time and read some bad reviews but also some good posts on here too so decided to give it a go. Also had a look through Twitter and good posts on there too so fingers crossed. I'd always say to anyone who has a bad experience, try and make it known on Twitter as most companies don't like the bad publicity on there so usually it's a fairly good way to get the problem sorted
Are you sure those plants in recent photo are dead? What are they? Just that the bits of brown leaves I can see look a bit like last year's dead foliage on my Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris)* - I've just been putting them in larger pots, and the new green growth (and flower buds on a few) is just appearing.
* Why have I got 57 seed-raised Pasque flowers in pots? Wish I knew. I know they're 'desirable', so can't help myself and sow any seed they produce, but I haven't got suitable positions for them in open ground, and they don't make a good pot-plant.
I've had no real problems with J Parkers (either the retail or the wholesale side which I've used when I want larger amounts of bulbs). Sure they've sent the wrong things sometimes, but they've replaced them or given a refund.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Haven't ordered anything with them in the last year but have been very swift in replacing or refunding in the past. As consumers we have to learn to be a bit patient especially when expecting perfect customer service from companies that are extremely cheap. Places like Parker depend on volume sales and as such customer service will suffer at some point.
If you want great customer service pay for it, by shopping from a specialist nursery, there are thousands all around the country and they will give a damn.
Posts
1. Mostly good value for money and a reasonable freebie included.
2. Bulbs are generally good and if not, promptly replaced.
3. Plants not so good (but cheap). I once ordered a batch of roses, which came as tiny ‘apparently 2 yr old’ plants. Many had no label and some were of wrong variety. Though cust Services provided the replacement
4. Bedding and plug plants are of poor quality and in my experience less than half survived. Also they start bombarding you with catalogues and offers early in the season, when the conditions arent right for these plants. ‘This’ in my opinion is bit of a dishonest practice esp with Novice gardeners.
All in all, i think they are acceptable and probably the cheapest online plant retailer out there..
Perennials need to be potted up and kept inside until the weather is good, then you need to protect from slugs, but as I did in a previous post, if you take care of them they’re good.
It was all I could afford at the time, having inherited a big garden and digging borders from scratch, I’ve since transplanted clumps here there and everywhere, sent bits off to friends, I’ve haven't lost a thing.
Usually the ‘batches’ of roses they sell are labelled as ‘lost labels’ so you take your choice.
Most customers who get a decent service are unlikely to draw attention to this online so you get false weighting towards bad aspects. These bulk companies are great and cheap when things go right but should have systems In place for when they don't.
For the individuals affected it is annoying though and they should expect and receive good backup service.
If they don't get good support then I do understand the frustration as it's happened to me. I have learned though that getting worked up only affects me.
So enjoy your gardening and just order what you know a company can deliver on.
I've never had an issue with Parkers but have with others.
If you want great customer service pay for it, by shopping from a specialist nursery, there are thousands all around the country and they will give a damn.