Please mention the name of this company so that we can all avoid it!

I doubt too many of us US folks are going to be ordering from the same sources RP is :-) The shipping costs from the UK to the US would be prohibitive, not to mention APHIS issues!

And this is why I almost never use mail order. Other than some clematis from a very well known (but now closed) and relatively close nursery I had visited in person, the results have always been dismal. Or at least nowhere near the quality and size of the same plants I could find locally for half the price.

Fortunately, I live close to and am associated with the best retail nursery in my county so can get pretty much whatever I want (especially if asking ahead of the primary ordering season). And one of the superior mail order companies is a not very far drive and with 'open days' so the collector's or unique stuff is still rather accessible. But I do realize not everywhere is fortunate to have the luxury of a big, full service nursery close by. I'm just glad I do not have to rely on mail order for my plant purchases.

Yep, for sure I would have included the name of the nefarious nursery but it isn't applicable on your side of the Atlantic. I do use mail order because I am generally good with buying small plants in 9cm pots (which is pretty standard for mail order). There are plenty of really decent ones too, even sending out plants in 2-3litre pots. I recently bought a Rooiguchi clematis from the sole supplier in the entire UK...from the other end of the country...after waiting for 3 years or so for one to appear on the UK market, so sometimes, mail order is the only option. I received a small, but very healthy little specimen which will, I think, do very well indeed for me.

I tend to avoid impulse purchases, use nurseries I trust and generally never browse randomly on the internet and press 'buy' at the drop of a hat...but late night mindless (witless) insomnia and before I managed a shred of rational thought, I had 9 plants in my basket.

I am not a driver and there are no nurseries accessible on my bike, apart from some spendy and very limited garden centres. One of the main reasons that the vast majority of new plants have been patiently and laboriously grown from seed...and my lack of £££ of course.

I am so sorry for your disappountment, and for that company's terrible service. Even if you can't count on those of us over on this side of the ocean for support, I hope you have made complaints in your neck of the woods. How can they even advertise themselves as a nursery, if thy can't deliver live plants. I've ordered plants online in the US multiple times and for many years, and I've been very fortunate to receive vigorous, healthy plants every time. They have no excuse.

Martha

Aw, thank you, Martha. It does feel worse cos I shoulda known better - I do generally check reviews and stick to nurseries I know. I was looking at stock from one of the nurseries I have bought from before (Beth Chatto's nursery) and a lot of the inventory is still listed as 'growing on'...because it has been a cold, wet spring. In truth though, the plants I received were not just small - I was honestly mystified by the absence of any root development...which I would have expected, even if top growth was small and undeveloped. Still, I repacked them and posted them off and have arranged a nursery tour with one of the offspring, just as soon as I get a refund. Still have some £££ left in my garden budget teapot savings too.

Gardengal, you're lucky to have great nurseries where you live. Here, I mail order every single plant. There are great mail order nurseries... and then there are the others. But yes, tend to be smaller plants, and very high shipping costs.

Well, another tranche of plants arrived, from a different mail order source...and I feel vindicated in sending the others back. I received 3 grasses (eragrostis spectabilis, stipa ichu and panicum 'oxblood autumn', along with a salvia caradonna. All are healthy with vigorous root growth and are destined to grow alongside my muhly grasses, penstemons, umbels and verbenas...in a frothy, textured bed (I hope).

roseprimula's experience underscores the need to check out return/refund policies of online nurseries before placing an order. Unfortunately, there are also sellers in the U.S. who insist on customers mailing back dead or diseased/dying plants before they'll consider a refund. There's no reason for doing this, other than to discourage customers from pursuing refunds. Reputable nurseries will at best ask for photos of the problem plants and should readily provide refunds or healthy replacements.

More on things to look out for when doing business with mail order nurseries:

https://rustyblackhaw.substack.com/p/the-new-seed-and-plant-catalogs-are

So, so true, Rusty. I came to gardening quite late and only have a measly 30 years or so under my belt but even so...I should not be making novice mistake every single year, surely. It often seems that my every post on GW (cannot bring myself to type H****) is a wail of despair at my stupidity, a triumph of hope over experience. When, I wonder, is some sort of gardening wisdom going to turn me into a reasonably competent gardener instead of a deranged seed sower with limited planning or forethought.