Good Online Nurseries and Plant Sellers

Quite a difference in price with Parcelmonkey gks. How are parcels rated with couriers please? Is it by size or weight?

 

Yes, they have a weight limit, a volumetric size limit and a length limit. So, if your parcel is classed as small, lets just say 10kg, then the volumetric size will be less and so will be the length limit. With FedEx, I am on the large parcel, this has a 25kg limit, volumetric limit of 3m which is worked out by length and girth combined with a maximum length of 2.5m. Then there is the service, timed delivery, Saturday am delivery, next day, 48hr, economy (72hr) and economy (5 days). Timed delivery and a Saturday am delivery are very expensive with the 5 day economy being the cheapest.

 

It seems a complicated way of working out the cost but I expect the couriers are at an advantage doing it that way.

 

Half of my order from roots plants arrived on Friday, a selection of 6 hostas. Lovely plants, well packed and good value, so despite the wait, I'm giving them a cautious "thumbs up".

 

Well, I think Plants Galore are definitely off my list of good sellers before me even receiving a single order from them! They seemed to have a great selection of hebes which are a genus I'm becoming increasingly fond of. Ordered 2 which are said to be particularly successful with butterflies on February 19th, still haven't received them now in May. They emailed me on March 16th saying there would be a 4 week delay and did I want some alternatives, I said no, I wanted my original choices. Called them just now and they said the plants wouldn't be ready until August! Utterly ridiculous!

Nick

 

I bought some hydrangeas (Annabelle)from here last year and this year they have exploded!

 

I am just bumping this up in case the influx of new members would like to read it.

I had never heard of the Secret Garden Club, but have just had a look and am tempted by their "variety" packs, £12.99 for 6 related plants, eg blue ones, or delphiniums, or whatever. Sounds like excellent value.

 

@ViewAhead I had an offer from them this morning buy one get one free on those boxes. I would have been tempted if I could have had 2 different boxes but it seemed that they had to be the same.

 

I used to buy quite a lot of plants from the Secret Garden Club but they seem to have gone conveniently bust and magically reappeared instantly, presumably left their suppliers out of pocket and as such and hearing lots of reports of terrible deliveries I haven't touched them with barge pole since.

 

All I can say with regard to the Secret Gardening Club is read the Trustpilot reviews. I was one of the one star reviewers - I’d have given them no stars. I had to really fight to get my money back, went through the credit card company in the end and still ended up out of pocket

 

Looking at Companies House, "The Secret Garden Club Ltd" was dissolved in November 2021. Whether they are the same owners, but "secret gardening club" is not registered with companies house, which is not illegal, but I would read reviews and other social platforms before purchasing.
They also don't have a contact phone number on their site, it say's they are based in Terrington, York but don't provide a Postcode.

They advertise on Facebook with many clicking the angry icon when they post anything on FB, plus they don't allow anyone to make any comments.

 

It's infuriating the way companies can go t*ts up and then just reappear. Something that badly needs clamped down on IMO. Building services are a classic example - leaving people up to their necks in debt with work unfinished.
I used Secret G. Club in the past, but fortunately, it was before they became seriously unreliable.
I think we had a dedicated thread on G's World for a while about them, because of the problems.

 

Goodness! Thank you everyone. It just goes to show that you need to keep up to date with how companies are performing and not assume past performance is a good guide. I must say £12.99 for 6 delphiniums did seem too good to be true.

 

Definitely too good to be true @ViewAhead , especially nowadays with the cost of everything rising dramatically.
For perennials, a good method is to buy in late summer/early autumn, when plants are outgrowing their pots in GCs or nurseries, and can be divided. Many places have sales at that time too. It depends on whether you want a specific plant, or aren't too bothered, though.