I have often been tempted by some of the beautifully photographed plants in the rhs catalogues, but they always seem very expensive. Are they any better than the ones you can get cheaper elsewhere?
There's a lot of satisfaction in plant rescue jo. I always have a look in the sin bin when I'm at the GC even though it's a bit embarrassing going to the checkout with a dead-looking specimen!
Definitely not good to deal with on the basis of my experience.
Indeed I very first came to this site to see if anyone else was having the same problems as I was when I placed an order for £286 worth of plants.
I only received a part order and to copy from my email complaint to them....
I’ve tried to phone but can’t get through.
The number on the delivery note is not the correct number for queries
I was given another number and phoned that and just went back to the number I started at “because you’re busy”
I received only a part order earlier . It clearly stated on the delivery note that it’s 1 box of 2 but only 1 was received
The plants in the box I received are all snapped except for the Thalictrum. (I suspect that’s just because it’s only about 3inches high!) The rest are all snapped!
I then had to take photographs of the damaged plants and email those to them before they'd do anything. Then I had to wait a while until they decided what they were going to do and only then did they tell me I could keep the plants I'd got and they'd refund me for the broken ones and they'd refund me for the ones I'd not received but they wouldn't send any more to replace them. They also acted as though they'd done me a favour and more or less said it wasn't a problem that they were all snapped as they'd probably still grow and be o.k.
Definitely NOT impressed and I've never used them again and won't.
Wow NL2 That certainly answered my question! That would've been a lot of money to lose. I'm glad you got a refund. at least with Chilterns there's no danger of being seduced by pretty pictures!
All of the above. For fancy pants you'll have to go the extra mile (penny) but having said that I take great delight in purchasing from the "dead trolley" and watching a slow and steady return to life! My local gc chap gave me three plants laughing as he did so and saying "if you can bring those back to life you can have them!!!!" They're nothing special....a geranium, a helianthemum and a meadow rue but they're alive and thriving!
Of course I'd love some weird and wonderfuls and maybe I will start adding them eventually. I have only recently taken over this garden and it has serious problems ie natural springs coming up all over it, so I'm still getting to grips with the conditions. I've never googled the words "bog and water" so much in my puff. The first year is just over and the previous owner has obviuosly gone with the "bog" theme as well because when I wandered down "tother end" all sorts of strange things popped up throughout the season. I have a natural pond/sump as well so even the bog standard |(pun intened) are new to me! it's a steep old learning curve.
I think sometimes growing the common plants found at the GC can lead you to want try the more exotic versions or non hybridised versions of the species once you know they have a chance in your garden.
Posts
There's a lot of satisfaction in plant rescue jo. I always have a look in the sin bin when I'm at the GC even though it's a bit embarrassing going to the checkout with a dead-looking specimen!
Definitely not good to deal with on the basis of my experience.
Indeed I very first came to this site to see if anyone else was having the same problems as I was when I placed an order for £286 worth of plants.
I only received a part order and to copy from my email complaint to them....
I then had to take photographs of the damaged plants and email those to them before they'd do anything. Then I had to wait a while until they decided what they were going to do and only then did they tell me I could keep the plants I'd got and they'd refund me for the broken ones and they'd refund me for the ones I'd not received but they wouldn't send any more to replace them. They also acted as though they'd done me a favour and more or less said it wasn't a problem that they were all snapped as they'd probably still grow and be o.k.
Definitely NOT impressed and I've never used them again and won't.
I'll stick to my local garden centre.
Wow NL2 That certainly answered my question! That would've been a lot of money to lose. I'm glad you got a refund. at least with Chilterns there's no danger of being seduced by pretty pictures!
All of the above. For fancy pants you'll have to go the extra mile (penny) but having said that I take great delight in purchasing from the "dead trolley" and watching a slow and steady return to life! My local gc chap gave me three plants laughing as he did so and saying "if you can bring those back to life you can have them!!!!" They're nothing special....a geranium, a helianthemum and a meadow rue but they're alive and thriving!
If I want something unusual, I go to the GCs with the plants in alphabetical order
Garden centres tend to stock a very limited range of "common " plants and sadly the staff are often not very knowledgeable.
If you want more unusual plants, often better grown, you should search out local nurseries, or shop on line.
There is a thread on here, which discusses firms we have found to be good, or bad.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Of course I'd love some weird and wonderfuls and maybe I will start adding them eventually. I have only recently taken over this garden and it has serious problems ie natural springs coming up all over it, so I'm still getting to grips with the conditions. I've never googled the words "bog and water" so much in my puff. The first year is just over and the previous owner has obviuosly gone with the "bog" theme as well because when I wandered down "tother end" all sorts of strange things popped up throughout the season. I have a natural pond/sump as well so even the bog standard |(pun intened) are new to me! it's a steep old learning curve.
I think sometimes growing the common plants found at the GC can lead you to want try the more exotic versions or non hybridised versions of the species once you know they have a chance in your garden.