Sarah Raven

According to Gardening Which Sarah Raven are no longer going to be selling young plants, but will be concentrating on bulbs, seeds and accessories.
I wonder what will happen to the clematis business bought from Taylors not long ago.

 

More information here: All jobs saved as SarahRaven.com bought out of administration

 

She was my 'go to' for strawberry plants.

 

There doesn't seem to be any mention of Taylors. Taylor's Clematis site was always worth a look, having a really good layout and all the information necessary when buying clematis. It's so disappointing when one of these larger groups takes over a nursery like this and then it goes to ruin.

 

Since clematis are never sold as young plants [apart from those sent to DIY stores and supermarkets etc] they wouldn't count as 'young', so they should be ok. Good suppliers never sell anything younger than a couple of years old. Anything younger than that is basically a cutting [slip] from the previous year.
Mind you, I wouldn't really trust anything Sarah Raven does.

I'm surprised you don't use a reputable fruit grower for strawberries @Penny_Forthem.

 

But @fairygirl, I don't think clematis are bulbs, seeds or garden accessories either.

 

I found this through an AI search @Sheal and @katecat58. (It says at the bottom of the info that AI responses may include mistakes .)

• July 2025: Founder Sarah Raven re-acquired the business through a pre-pack administration deal, securing the future of the brand.

This means the Taylors Clematis brand and stock are now part of the company that Sarah Raven repurchased in July 2025.

 

Maybe Taylors, like myself and other growers do not see a bright future in the sales of live plants and selling up was a wise choice.

According to the horticultural society, the sale of live plants is in decline, it has been for some considerable time now. Most large Garden Centres revenue from the catering has now over taken the revenue from live plants. Where as the sales from non gardening categories are also showing positive growth.

I have made compost for 43 years, but my knowledge of plants is poor, however, I am observant. I told my dad roughly 15 years ago that the gardening sector was changing and that small, specialist independent nurseries and growers would be a thing of the past and this is proving to be true. If your lucky to get the opportunity of being bought out, I would recommend snapping their hand off. But when you do get buyouts from bigger organisation, yes, it accelerates the decline.

I am on my own, I have been since the beginning of November and I would say 85% of the customers coming to buy plants and compost are in the 65 and over age group. So when people say they will be sad when I do close for good, they don't see what I do.

 

I think the extra costs of plant passports, phytosanitary certificates etc also mean it's harder for small specialist nurseries. UK gardeners are going to lose a lot of choice.

 

Too many garden centres just rely on imported stuff from Holland , its often forced and so well cosseted it promptly dies when you plant it.

They seem to send plants over in temperature controlled trailers every spring.

The plants look great but nobody realises they need hardening off and just plant them out.

The Dutch have always had a big cut flower market but the same principles apply to most of their plants, stick it in the ground, watch it die, then buy some more.

 

She was fine for my modest needs @fairygirl.
Though we are planning a proper strawberry bed, so i will go to a specialist, thanks.

 

It may be too late but as gardeners we need to give our local nurseries as much support as we can.

 

It was reported that since Brexit, the imports of live plants, bulbs, fruit trees, cut flowers etc etc into the UK has increased by 40% in valuation.

Many of these large chain owned Garden Centres are they really a Garden Centre or a Home Centre. Hayes Garden World in Ambleside was one of biggest independent Garden Centres in UK by turnover, another was Barton Grange. Both have sold up this year, The British Garden Centres has purchased Hayes with Barton Grange being sold to Blue Diamond.

The horticultural sector is growing with a value exceeding £9 billion annually, but like the horticultural and retail sector have rightly pointed out, Garden Centres have become a destination. Homeware, food, outdoor living, pets and gifts are just some of the additional sectors that many have expanded into, providing customers with a retail experience that’s more reminiscent of department stores than traditional garden centres.

So even though they report the horticultural sector is showing year on year growth, when it's broken down into categories, the revenue from live plants, bulbs, fruit trees, flowers etc etc is in decline.

 

There's a lot of good growers up here @Penny_Forthem - Perthshire etc, as it's renowned for good, sturdy varieties of all sorts of fruit. That might suit you too, for your location! I could have sent you some runners, but I sent them to another member here recently. Let me know if you want some though, because I'll have more next year. I only grow Elsanta, which is very reliable, but I don't really like strawbs, so it's always a bit pointless having them

As @Sheal says, it's always good to support local nurseries whenever possible, but not everyone has that luxury. It would be a great pity if those smaller outlets/businesses disappeared. I suppose gardening, and all it's related products, are like any other business now
I'm not sure I understand your reply @katecat58 , but I'm probably being thick!

 

@fairygirl, Sarah Raven are going to be concentrating on seeds, bulbs and garden accessories. Clematis, young or old, do not come into those categories.