On 2013-10-15 19:23:59 +0100, rbel said:

On Tue, 15 Oct 2013 11:29:37 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

We're looking for a reliable courier who would deliver plants within
the EU. Many refuse to handle plants because of all the risks involved
with damage or delay. If anyone happens to know of such a company I'd
be very glad to hear of it. will get
emails to me.

Please use Royal Mail. They may not be terribly reliable but any
support for the business will, I am sure, be appreciated by
shareholders everywhere.

;-)
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 10/15/2013 10:16 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:

Try living here, it takes DHL 3 DAYS to get a parcel to me from
Inverness, but of course that is 41 miles!

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday - TNT delivered an order from
Staples, which I had placed the previous afternoon - and I'm even
farther north than you are!

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
On 10/15/2013 10:16 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:

Try living here, it takes DHL 3 DAYS to get a parcel to me from
Inverness, but of course that is 41 miles!

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday - TNT delivered an order from Staples,
which I had placed the previous afternoon - and I'm even farther north
than you are!

Ah, but TNT don't have an intermediate depot at Tain!

Phil

On 10/16/2013 3:34 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:
"S wrote
On 10/15/2013 10:16 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:

Try living here, it takes DHL 3 DAYS to get a parcel to me from
Inverness, but of course that is 41 miles!

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday - TNT delivered an order from Staples,
which I had placed the previous afternoon - and I'm even farther north
than you are!

Ah, but TNT don't have an intermediate depot at Tain!

Ah. I didn't know that.

On 2013-10-15 19:47:59 +0000, Dave Liquorice said:
snip

I'm wondering about any regulations regarding the export/import of
live plant material and soil etc. Or is any thought of pest/disease
control against "free trade" and thus sacrificed on the alter of the
all powerful god, MONEY.

Seriously? Are you really unaware of the enormous amount of big
business that already exists in the import of live plants into UK?
Numerous wholesale nurseries in UK make a living out of selling on
stock that has been imported from within the EU. Some gcs or nurseries
mark plants as raised in UK which have in fact been propagated abroad
in vast quantities, brought into UK and then potted on. This trade has
arisen partly because the industry here has received so little support
in terms of e.g. oil prices that it simply doesn't pay to do everything
from scratch in UK for the huge garden centre chains. There is now a
growing movement towards buying British propagated and raised plants
where ever possible and this trend is even stronger in the cut flower
and bulb trade.

There is free movement of live plants within the EU with some
exceptions for things such as potatoes, which might be subject to
certification from the PHSI. Things brought in from outside EU (except
small amounts for your own garden) require a Phytosanitary Certificate.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 17/10/2013 13:44, sacha wrote:
Some gcs or nurseries mark plants as
raised in UK which have in fact been propagated abroad in vast
quantities, brought into UK and then potted on.

A disgraceful and misleading practice - and one that a lot of the large
food providers also pull

This trade has arisen
partly because the industry here has received so little support in terms
of e.g. oil prices that it simply doesn't pay to do everything from
scratch in UK for the huge garden centre chains.

Why should they receive any assistance - and from where? Wouldn't it be
an illegal subsidy?

--
regards
andy

In article ,
says...

On 17/10/2013 13:44, sacha wrote:
Some gcs or nurseries mark plants as
raised in UK which have in fact been propagated abroad in vast
quantities, brought into UK and then potted on.

A disgraceful and misleading practice - and one that a lot of the large
food providers also pull

and then GC's who can't turn a profit from deceiving the customer,
have the nerve to blame their business problems on TV presenters?


Janet

On 2013-10-17 13:50:23 +0000, News said:

On 17/10/2013 13:44, sacha wrote:
Some gcs or nurseries mark plants as
raised in UK which have in fact been propagated abroad in vast
quantities, brought into UK and then potted on.

A disgraceful and misleading practice - and one that a lot of the large
food providers also pull

Except that nobody is eating their paeonies that we know of and that I
don't think we've known of one customer ask the provenance of a plant.
Equally, we don't label them misleadingly but we DO know of someone
selling organic herbs as "potted in UK". Guess where they were
propagated. Caveat emptor.

This trade has arisen
partly because the industry here has received so little support in terms
of e.g. oil prices that it simply doesn't pay to do everything from
scratch in UK for the huge garden centre chains.

Why should they receive any assistance - and from where? Wouldn't it
be an illegal subsidy?

No more than any assistance given to e.g. French farmers. Since the
war, when we needed to produce great amounts of our own food,
horticulture has become a bit of a Cinderella industry in those terms.
It's a question of economics and keeping people in work and there's a
good deal of discussion in the trade press and elsewhere about
interesting young people in it as a career. The Dutch have done a lot
to help their horticultural industry, aiui, so many plants currently
coming into UK come from there. Our local tiny flower shop is often
seen with a huge Dutch artic outside, delivering cut flowers, for
example.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 2013-10-17 14:09:33 +0000, Janet said:

In article ,
says...

On 17/10/2013 13:44, sacha wrote:
Some gcs or nurseries mark plants as
raised in UK which have in fact been propagated abroad in vast
quantities, brought into UK and then potted on.

A disgraceful and misleading practice - and one that a lot of the large
food providers also pull

and then GC's who can't turn a profit from deceiving the customer,
have the nerve to blame their business problems on TV presenters?


Janet

Who has done that?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 17/10/2013 17:32, sacha wrote:


Why should they receive any assistance - and from where? Wouldn't it
be an illegal subsidy?

No more than any assistance given to e.g. French farmers. Since the
war, when we needed to produce great amounts of our own food,
horticulture has become a bit of a Cinderella industry in those terms.
It's a question of economics and keeping people in work and there's a
good deal of discussion in the trade press and elsewhere about
interesting young people in it as a career. The Dutch have done a lot
to help their horticultural industry, aiui, so many plants currently
coming into UK come from there. Our local tiny flower shop is often seen
with a huge Dutch artic outside, delivering cut flowers, for example.

Likewise here - there is often a big red Dutch artic blocking traffic on
the way to work

But maybe they are better at doing it/have better conditions, etc. (I
know nothing about what non-horticultural industry support they might
have had).

Same argument might apply, e.g., to the car industry.

[Thread drift alert]
At least the horticultural industry isn't mainly owned by non-UK
companies. How on earth have we got to the stage where something like
power can be virtually controlled by an overseas compay. I thought it
was always seen as an 'essential' that one wouldn't want to be in
external control.

But as you might have gathered, I'm not a fan of privatisation - the
recent decision to enrich a few at the expense of the many is another
outrageous step imo.

--
regards
Andy

In article ,
Martin wrote:

Some GCs make no secret that some of their plants are imported from
The Netherlands. Large articulated Dutch trucks are hard to hide when
making deliveries. If asked the staff are quite open about the source
of their plants. Roger's Plants even recommended a Dutch bulb grower,
which is local to us

One can reasonably argue that Holland is more local to the south
east than much of the UK is :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 10/16/2013 3:07 PM, S Viemeister wrote:
On 10/15/2013 10:16 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:

Try living here, it takes DHL 3 DAYS to get a parcel to me from
Inverness, but of course that is 41 miles!

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday - TNT delivered an order from
Staples, which I had placed the previous afternoon - and I'm even
farther north than you are!

Well, it was too good to last. Order placed yesterday, email this
morning saying it had left Inverness and was out for delivery. Checked
TNT website after dinner, as box had not yet arrived - instead of
delivery info it said 'call'. I did - agent said the account was marked
'attempted delivery, recipient not at home' (or words to that effect). I
was home ALL DAY.
If I call first thing Monday, I _might_ be able to arrange delivery for
Tuesday...

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
On 10/16/2013 3:07 PM, S Viemeister wrote:
On 10/15/2013 10:16 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:

Try living here, it takes DHL 3 DAYS to get a parcel to me from
Inverness, but of course that is 41 miles!

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday - TNT delivered an order from
Staples, which I had placed the previous afternoon - and I'm even
farther north than you are!

Well, it was too good to last. Order placed yesterday, email this morning
saying it had left Inverness and was out for delivery. Checked TNT website
after dinner, as box had not yet arrived - instead of delivery info it
said 'call'. I did - agent said the account was marked 'attempted
delivery, recipient not at home' (or words to that effect). I was home ALL
DAY.
If I call first thing Monday, I _might_ be able to arrange delivery for
Tuesday...

One of the major problems of living north of Inverness is that the
overnight parcel artics arrive in the city at around 0800 and all
the local carriers leave for their days deliveries at 0730. That is
if your parcel actually comes to Inverness, I have had many parcels
sent to Aberdeen because it's "quite close". I wonder how Londoners
would feel if all their parcels were sent to Exeter - about the same
distance from me as Aberdeen. Have also learnt never to include
the county of Sutherland in the address as all these parcels end
up in Sunderland!

Phil
Northern Highlands of Scotland

In article ,
Phil Gurr wrote:

One of the major problems of living north of Inverness is that the
overnight parcel artics arrive in the city at around 0800 and all
the local carriers leave for their days deliveries at 0730. That is
if your parcel actually comes to Inverness, I have had many parcels
sent to Aberdeen because it's "quite close". I wonder how Londoners
would feel if all their parcels were sent to Exeter - about the same
distance from me as Aberdeen. Have also learnt never to include
the county of Sutherland in the address as all these parcels end
up in Sunderland!

That's almost there, so obviously you can just nip down and get it,
can't you? :-)

On the new, wonderful, nausea-inducing BBC weather map, it is
indeed quite close.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 10/18/2013 8:17 PM, Phil Gurr wrote:

One of the major problems of living north of Inverness is that the
overnight parcel artics arrive in the city at around 0800 and all
the local carriers leave for their days deliveries at 0730. That is
if your parcel actually comes to Inverness, I have had many parcels
sent to Aberdeen because it's "quite close". I wonder how Londoners
would feel if all their parcels were sent to Exeter - about the same
distance from me as Aberdeen. Have also learnt never to include
the county of Sutherland in the address as all these parcels end
up in Sunderland!

Yes, I've had stuff go via Sunderland, too! They seem to ignore the
postcode.