"paghat" wrote in message
news
This week I received about $300 worth of plants (according to the
invoice
anyway) all of which would fit in a kid's lunchbucket with room left
over
for the lunch. These are mostly kinda rare things, so the fact that
they
cost three times the price of common things doesn't bother me; that
shipping makes them more expensive still is just part of how things
work.
But when a monkshood vine consists of one leaf sticking out of some
wrapping-moss, barely distinguishable FROM the moss, I'm not convinced
I'm
getting bang for my buck.

And this vendor told me last year before I placed this order that they
ship plants much more mature than does Heronswood (whose shipped
seedlings
are gigantic compared to this!) & ready for the garden. But on Monday,
the
day the plants were shipped, I got a chatty e-mail that included the
information that some of the plants might seem a bit small but it was
cheaper due to the health permit for the plants to ship them all at
once,
& the Famous Paghat being such an amazing ace gardener & all, the
shipper
was sure I wouldn't mind. Well butter my buns -- if I put these in the
garden they'd dry up & die their first hour in the sun, & flattering
me
about it makes me more rather than less annoyed.

I don't have a greenhouse & I don't like to raise my own seedlings.
But,
well, I'll pot these babies & put plastic bags over them & in a few
weeks
they'll be big enough for the garden, & if nothing dies on me it'll be
worth the imposition. But this is a reminder of why I so rarely
mail-order any plants except bulbs. It's no fun to pay a maximum-high
price plus shipping & end up with a handful of little sprouted seeds.

The lesson remains: See what you're getting before you plunk down the
money, & SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NURSERIES.

-paghat the ratgirl

Care to name names?

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5