On 01/12/2013 22:54, Pam Moore wrote:
On Sun, 01 Dec 2013 17:16:17 +0000, Spider wrote:

On 01/12/2013 16:55, Pam Moore wrote:
On Sun, 1 Dec 2013 12:22:23 +0000, sacha wrote:

On 2013-11-30 23:11:05 +0000, said:

On Monday, 11 November 2013 22:37:54 UTC, Spider wrote:
On 11/11/2013 22:08, Frank Booth wrote:

Has anyome had any dealings with this company?



I ordered a fair quantity of bare rooted roses from them in early October.

They say in their blurb that plants will be delivered Oct/Nov, but so far

there's been a diquietening silence from them despite them happily taking

my money.



http://www.jparkers.co.uk/plant-0001...rose-korresia/




I've used them many times. They've never failed to deliver, but I
trust the quality of their bulbs more than I do of their plants.
However, it was their herbaceous plants, rather than woody material,
I had problems with. Woody material is less likely to collapse in
transit.



It may be that they will only send out roses when they are dormant
and, since we've not really had a lasting cold snap to induce
dormancy, I suspect they may be waiting for the right moment. Be
patient a while longer. You may yet receive them in November.



If it makes you feel better, prepare the planting hole in readiness.
I've done this in the past. I then put a large pot or bucket in the
hole to stop soil and detritus falling in. It makes the job so much
easier when the rose comes and bad weather comes with it.

Well the roses finally arrived today - last day of November. Had they
arrived any later they would have been in breach of contract of their
own terms. However 3 of the 9 roses delivered were either damaged or of
very poor quality. Not good at all. They are going back. Not sure
whether to ask for a part refund and buy the remaining 3 elsewhere, or
have the damaged roses replaced (and no doubt I'll have a long wait
again). I guess my early misgivings of this company turned out to be
well founded and I won't be using them again.

I'm really sorry to hear this, especially as some of us were reassuring
as to their usual standards. They, like anyone who sells anything
online, are at the mercy of couriers/post office though, so damage may
not be their fault. Poor quality is another matter.

I ordered some bulbs from their cheapie sale leaflet. All arrived OK
apart from 5 cyclamen hederifolium corms which were so shrivelled I
doubt they'll do anything. The bulbs, mini-daffs, iris and tulips,
seemed healthy enough.
I also ordered some astrantia and echinacea from them. These arrived
last week, all bare-rooted in poly-bags. Time will tell.....
I also ordered 5 "free" cyclamen plants from a firm in Guernsey. These
also arrived on Saturday, each in a 2 1/2 inch square pot, in
poly-bags. All growth had been cut to less than 1 inch above soil
level. Somewhat of a challenge for me!

Pam in Bristol




Hi Pam,

I don't know how well you know Cyclmen but, if you see no growth on
them, don't throw them out until you've checked that the bulb is firm
and healthy, as they show no signs of life above soil level in the
dormant season. Many people have thrown out cyclmen (esp. outdoor
types) because the tuber is very hard and looks somewhat like a pebble.
A rotten tuber is very clearly that, so there should be no mistake!

Thanks Spider, yes, I've grown cylamen many times before but was
tempted by the cheapies! Cyclamen corms I've had before were plump
and looking healthy; not these. I could barely see which way was up!
I'm now worrying that they may be plundered from the wild. I will
email Parker's, tell them my concern, and ask the question!

Pam in Bristol




They do sound like horrendously poor corms (think they're tubers?), so
they may well have come from the wild. Whether or not you can soak them
(except the tops, of course!) to improve their chances of taking, I
don't know. Trouble is, if you can't see which way is up, it's hard to
protect the crown. I think you're right to challenge Parkers over them,
especially if they are wild harvested. Good luck with that.

I confess that I have, on occasion, bought dry tubers, but I check each
pack for plump looking ones. I do think poor storage is part of the
problem, esp in hot, dry gc or supermarket sheds. I can highly recommend
growing them from seed. I've used bought seed (which must be as fresh
as poss) and good fresh seed from my own plants. I've had some great
successes. In fact, I'm nurturing a batch of C.hederifolium at the
moment. So exciting! I've never tried bringing on rare types from seed
yet, but it would be a cheap way of doing it if one could find a
reliable supplier.

Do report back after your Parkers encounter (if you haven't already.
I'll check below).
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay