alpines by post

Hi all,
as we're not able to travel far these days (cue violins) I've been thinking of ordering by post. Has anyone tried this with alpines and if so with what success.

Thank you,

Dogsbody

 

Hi Dogsbody,

I haven't specifically had alpines but most of my plants have come via mail-order.
The only company I'm not really keen on is Thompson & Morgan, their plants are generally tiny.

The best mail -order firm in my opinion is Parkers. They do everything, trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs.

 

Thanks for your reply Anthony, I'll have to give it a try.

Dogsbody

 

Personally if you are specifically looking for alpines you would be best dealing with a specialist alpine nursery.
Cant suggest any as its not my kind of thing, but well known online ones do exist.

I'd tend to shy away from the big boys, think you often get better service from slightly smaller specialists.
Have a look at the nurseries that attend Alpine shows and also do mail order.

 

The best people to answer this are probably @kindredspirit and @Palustris .

 

I've never bought Alpines by post so am not qualified to answer the OP.

I've bought most of my alpines from The Alpine Centre, Derbyshire or Chris Pattison, North Glos.but neither do mail order. I haven't checked but Potterton's in Lincs probably do and there's definitely a few in Scotland. The Scottish Rock Garden Society have a comprehensive list of suppliers from all over the world.

 

Me neither. I usually buy from the ones which attend AGS shows or Plant Hunter's Fairs. However Potterton's do have a superb reputation.

 

Here's a list of UK suppliers to check out,

http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/alpine-nurseries/+Alpine+Nurseries/3/

 

And here's another.

http://files.srgc.net/journals/NurseryListSRGC.pdf

 

A bit late in the day (four years) but much has been happening over that period. After my original query I took the plunge and ordered some alpines from Slack Top Alpines near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire and I was delighted. A1 condition and safely packed. They've a great website too. I've no connection with them, only a very satisfied customer.

 

If anyone ever gets the chance to go to Slack Top, their display garden was superb last time we were there.

 

Only just seen this - Slack Top is near me and is where I always buy alpines. Here is a pic of one from 2018, Caloscordon neriniflorum. Hoping it will be open again by March - their usual times are march - Aug. Always feels like the official start of spring when I go there for the first time in the year. Poetry fans may note, the nursery is a stone's throw from the grave of Sylvia Plath.

 

Interesting that plant has now been renamed as an Allium.

 

Yes, that's odd. It was always in the Allium family but now has that for its genus name also. I looked it up via the name I knew it by and was surprised to see hardly any results - two of those that did appear were from Slack Top nurseries! But of the meaning of the word Caloscordon I can find nothing, even in my old and trusted books of plant names.

 

All this name changing and reclassification really gets on my t..boobs. Why I ask. If you are so interested. Research back over the years in all the plant and botanical lists, names remained the same. Now. Once again modern technology and todays whizz kids. Lets change it. To be honest. Having now and then looked deeper into the science of name changing. Why? It beats me. Thankfully we are blessed with Silver Surfer. No plant ID is beyond our friend.