"sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2014-01-06 23:49:43 +0000, Janet said:


On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with
a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all.

If there's no reference to pot size at all, why are you so sure it's
10cm ?

Janet



'fairly sure'. Experience of what others experience and talk to us about,
both customers and other nurserymen. Some garden centres and nurseries
give pot sizes, quite a lot don't. But Ray is going to ring tomorrow and
ask. If it's a good size plant, I see no reason not to give that
information as it's an additional selling point. I'm not going to name
the shrub but it's not so rare that £20 is justified for anything small.
The p&p is cheap so either the plants are small, and are sent in those
blister packs, or the cost of p&p has been added to the plants so as to
make it appear less to the customer.

But my chief reason for raising the subject is to discover whether the
average customer would know what the pot size is if it is given as e.g. 1
or 2 or 5 litres. I am thinking that it might be more helpful to our
customers to give the diameter of the pot's lip, hence my curiosity as to
what people expect to receive.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

Like most folk over a certain age, pot sizes in litres have little relevance
as the the volume is a product of more than one dimension which can vary.

I can cope dairly well with metric measurements, but Imperial do tend to be
more readily appreciated
Bill

"sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2014-01-06 23:08:17 +0000, David Hill said:

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.

Despite using a range of pots I still have problems picturing Pot sizes
when in Litres, it's bad enough in cm I still have to put them back to
imperial, 6 inch or 8 inch etc. I can picture right away, as for "Thumbs,
Long toms etc." I doubt many of us remember them.
David @ a slightly less windy (For now) side of Swansea Bay .

Yes, we certainly refer to long toms in which we grow e.g. sweet peas but
we don't sell those online. But the responses I'm getting seem to be
referring more to quality of plants and those will vary from place to
place, however you buy them. What I'm interested in is whether a
customer, buying online, knows the difference in what they will get IF the
pot size is given, 9cm, 1 litre, 2 litre etc. Do they even ask the pot
size before buying, I wonder? So do customers still pay up, not knowing
what they're going to get in terms of plant maturity? These may be more
inexperienced gardeners and not as savvy as most urglers! It's something
we've seen often in ads and on web sites and it's always surprised us that
you can't see or envisage what you're going to get but nonetheless you're
being asked (in the instance which has finally caused me to ask these
questions) to pay £20 on trust for something which, in this case, is being
marketed as rare and unusual and not by its real name, either. It's
unusual to some degree but it's not rare.

While some claim not to buy online, we've often seen remarks here about
buying plugs and being pleased or disappointed but in those cases, people
knows what plugs are, what to expect. They now they've got to pot them on
and look after them a bit before planting them out. If they were told
we're charging you £20 for something in a 9cm or 10cm pot or even a 1
litre pot, what I'm wondering is, do they have a mental picture of what
they'll actually get and if they did, would they buy it, I wonder.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

Have you thought of selling plants in -"say" 0.75 pint pots ?...:-)


Bill

On 2014-01-07 12:44:05 +0000, Bill Grey said:

"sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2014-01-06 23:49:43 +0000, Janet said:


On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all.

If there's no reference to pot size at all, why are you so sure it's
10cm ?

Janet



'fairly sure'. Experience of what others experience and talk to us
about, both customers and other nurserymen. Some garden centres and
nurseries give pot sizes, quite a lot don't. But Ray is going to ring
tomorrow and ask. If it's a good size plant, I see no reason not to
give that information as it's an additional selling point. I'm not
going to name the shrub but it's not so rare that £20 is justified for
anything small. The p&p is cheap so either the plants are small, and
are sent in those blister packs, or the cost of p&p has been added to
the plants so as to make it appear less to the customer.

But my chief reason for raising the subject is to discover whether the
average customer would know what the pot size is if it is given as e.g.
1 or 2 or 5 litres. I am thinking that it might be more helpful to our
customers to give the diameter of the pot's lip, hence my curiosity as
to what people expect to receive.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

Like most folk over a certain age, pot sizes in litres have little
relevance as the the volume is a product of more than one dimension
which can vary.

I can cope dairly well with metric measurements, but Imperial do tend
to be more readily appreciated
Bill

Thanks, Bill. All this has convinced me that showing the diameter in
inches and cms is more helpful to more gardeners.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 2014-01-07 12:46:45 +0000, Bill Grey said:

"sacha" wrote in message
…snip

While some claim not to buy online, we've often seen remarks here about
buying plugs and being pleased or disappointed but in those cases,
people knows what plugs are, what to expect. They now they've got to
pot them on and look after them a bit before planting them out. If
they were told we're charging you £20 for something in a 9cm or 10cm
pot or even a 1 litre pot, what I'm wondering is, do they have a mental
picture of what they'll actually get and if they did, would they buy
it, I wonder.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

Have you thought of selling plants in -"say" 0.75 pint pots ?...:-)


Bill

Lol! The Americans often refer to pots in 'gallon' sizes!!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 1/7/2014 10:11 AM, sacha wrote:

Lol! The Americans often refer to pots in 'gallon' sizes!!

True.
But recently I've seen quite a few "three quart" pots (and of course the
US quart is smaller than the Imperial one). They're just a bit shorter,
and just a bit smaller across the top. Sneaky.

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.




I've been following this thread with interest. I have got so that I
mentally recognise pots measured in litres and inches (top
circumference). I can also manage metric pot sizes, but tend to convert
to imperial first.

Each has its ambiguity. I know roughly what a litre of compost looks
like, but that doesn't tell me how much of that volume is filled with
root. GCs often pot up small plants into 1ltr pots so they can charge
more. Nurseries do this less, but some are still guilty. On-line and
postal nurseries tend to keep the pots smaller (or send plants
bare-root) to ease postage.

A top circumference measurement is fine (whether imperial or metric),
but doesn't tell you the *depth* of the pot. 'Pans' are much shallower
than standard pots, which in turn are shallower than 'long tom' pots.

Perhaps, along with pot size, the labelling should say "garden ready" or
"established" (at least in catalogues). The depth of the pot is harder
to define, which is probably why volume in litres was adopted.
One way to get over this would be to label as follows:

Plant H2'x W1'
Pot 6"top x 4"depth.

Even this makes the customer ask whether the given plant measurement is
size at sale or size at maturity.

I think you may have opened a can of worms, Sacha! Squirm squirm :~).

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

On 2014-01-07 15:57:02 +0000, Spider said:

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.




I've been following this thread with interest. I have got so that I
mentally recognise pots measured in litres and inches (top
circumference). I can also manage metric pot sizes, but tend to
convert to imperial first.

Each has its ambiguity. I know roughly what a litre of compost looks
like, but that doesn't tell me how much of that volume is filled with
root. GCs often pot up small plants into 1ltr pots so they can charge
more. Nurseries do this less, but some are still guilty. On-line and
postal nurseries tend to keep the pots smaller (or send plants
bare-root) to ease postage.

A top circumference measurement is fine (whether imperial or metric),
but doesn't tell you the *depth* of the pot. 'Pans' are much shallower
than standard pots, which in turn are shallower than 'long tom' pots.

Perhaps, along with pot size, the labelling should say "garden ready"
or "established" (at least in catalogues). The depth of the pot is
harder to define, which is probably why volume in litres was adopted.
One way to get over this would be to label as follows:

Plant H2'x W1'
Pot 6"top x 4"depth.

Even this makes the customer ask whether the given plant measurement is
size at sale or size at maturity.

I think you may have opened a can of worms, Sacha! Squirm squirm :~).

Wow! Thanks, Spider but I think I'll stick with measuring the top of
the pot! We don't really use pans much at all and long toms are mainly
for sweet peas or a few shrubby climbers. You really can't give a
plant height and width at point of sale because they vary. Some will
have grown a few inches more or spread a few inches more, in the same
size pot and with equally good root systems. Sometimes, customers do
ask us how big a plant will be when they receive it so we trot out and
pick a good size and shape and tell them. The tallest might not be the
'fattest', so it's up to us to choose what we think best as they're
not there. On a couple of occasions, we've been asked to send photos
of two or three of the same plant, so the customer can pick the one
they like! I do wonder how large the plants are that some send out
because we quite often get delighted surprise as feedback from
customers who have never been to the Nursery. And of course, some
nurseries or gcs do specialise in small 'starter' plants because it
keeps the p&p costs right down and possibly the labour costs, too, as
they're not potting on into 1s and 2s every few weeks.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

One-and-three-quarter yards ;-)

For every day purposes, 1m=1yard, 30cm=1ft, and 1cm = a small half inch works well enough. But apart from the yard:metre equivalence, it is a matter of conversion rather than instant visualisation.

1m is close enough to 39inches, so 60m = 60yards +10%, ie 66 yards.

The one advantage of the metric system is the ability to switch between volume and weight - 1l = 10cmx 10cmx10cm = 1kg, provided that the 1l is of something more or less the density of water. Makes calculating, for example, how much gravel to buy, much easier than in imperial. And converting pot sizes from diameters to volumes!

On 07/01/2014 16:24, sacha wrote:
On 2014-01-07 15:57:02 +0000, Spider said:

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.




I've been following this thread with interest. I have got so that I
mentally recognise pots measured in litres and inches (top
circumference). I can also manage metric pot sizes, but tend to
convert to imperial first.

Each has its ambiguity. I know roughly what a litre of compost looks
like, but that doesn't tell me how much of that volume is filled with
root. GCs often pot up small plants into 1ltr pots so they can charge
more. Nurseries do this less, but some are still guilty. On-line and
postal nurseries tend to keep the pots smaller (or send plants
bare-root) to ease postage.

A top circumference measurement is fine (whether imperial or metric),
but doesn't tell you the *depth* of the pot. 'Pans' are much shallower
than standard pots, which in turn are shallower than 'long tom' pots.

Perhaps, along with pot size, the labelling should say "garden ready"
or "established" (at least in catalogues). The depth of the pot is
harder to define, which is probably why volume in litres was adopted.
One way to get over this would be to label as follows:

Plant H2'x W1'
Pot 6"top x 4"depth.

Even this makes the customer ask whether the given plant measurement
is size at sale or size at maturity.

I think you may have opened a can of worms, Sacha! Squirm squirm :~).

Wow! Thanks, Spider but I think I'll stick with measuring the top of the
pot! We don't really use pans much at all and long toms are mainly for
sweet peas or a few shrubby climbers. You really can't give a plant
height and width at point of sale because they vary. Some will have
grown a few inches more or spread a few inches more, in the same size
pot and with equally good root systems. Sometimes, customers do ask us
how big a plant will be when they receive it so we trot out and pick a
good size and shape and tell them. The tallest might not be the
'fattest', so it's up to us to choose what we think best as they're not
there. On a couple of occasions, we've been asked to send photos of two
or three of the same plant, so the customer can pick the one they like!
I do wonder how large the plants are that some send out because we quite
often get delighted surprise as feedback from customers who have never
been to the Nursery. And of course, some nurseries or gcs do specialise
in small 'starter' plants because it keeps the p&p costs right down and
possibly the labour costs, too, as they're not potting on into 1s and 2s
every few weeks.




Understood, Sacha:~). I guess measuring the top is simplest. It's
quite something that you're prepared to photograph plants to give a
disembodied customer a selection!! Not many nurseries do that!
The plants I've bought from yours have always been good quality. So
far, I've not had to order on line. Much nicer to pop along and see you
and Ray .. and the plants of course!

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

On 07/01/2014 12:46, Bill Grey wrote:
"sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2014-01-06 23:08:17 +0000, David Hill said:

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.

Despite using a range of pots I still have problems picturing Pot sizes
when in Litres, it's bad enough in cm I still have to put them back to
imperial, 6 inch or 8 inch etc. I can picture right away, as for "Thumbs,
Long toms etc." I doubt many of us remember them.
David @ a slightly less windy (For now) side of Swansea Bay .

Yes, we certainly refer to long toms in which we grow e.g. sweet peas but
we don't sell those online. But the responses I'm getting seem to be
referring more to quality of plants and those will vary from place to
place, however you buy them. What I'm interested in is whether a
customer, buying online, knows the difference in what they will get IF the
pot size is given, 9cm, 1 litre, 2 litre etc. Do they even ask the pot
size before buying, I wonder? So do customers still pay up, not knowing
what they're going to get in terms of plant maturity? These may be more
inexperienced gardeners and not as savvy as most urglers! It's something
we've seen often in ads and on web sites and it's always surprised us that
you can't see or envisage what you're going to get but nonetheless you're
being asked (in the instance which has finally caused me to ask these
questions) to pay £20 on trust for something which, in this case, is being
marketed as rare and unusual and not by its real name, either. It's
unusual to some degree but it's not rare.

While some claim not to buy online, we've often seen remarks here about
buying plugs and being pleased or disappointed but in those cases, people
knows what plugs are, what to expect. They now they've got to pot them on
and look after them a bit before planting them out. If they were told
we're charging you £20 for something in a 9cm or 10cm pot or even a 1
litre pot, what I'm wondering is, do they have a mental picture of what
they'll actually get and if they did, would they buy it, I wonder.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

Have you thought of selling plants in -"say" 0.75 pint pots ?...:-)


Bill


Well the Americans do talk about 1 gallon pots etc..
Why not plants in pint pots then if it dies you could drown your sorrows.

On 07/01/2014 15:27, S Viemeister wrote:
On 1/7/2014 10:11 AM, sacha wrote:

Lol! The Americans often refer to pots in 'gallon' sizes!!

True.
But recently I've seen quite a few "three quart" pots (and of course the
US quart is smaller than the Imperial one). They're just a bit shorter,
and just a bit smaller across the top. Sneaky.

I thought that Americans were larger and a lot bigger around than us.

On 07/01/2014 17:04, Spider wrote:
On 07/01/2014 16:24, sacha wrote:
On 2014-01-07 15:57:02 +0000, Spider said:

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because,
frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant
with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and
how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I
think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.




I've been following this thread with interest. I have got so that I
mentally recognise pots measured in litres and inches (top
circumference). I can also manage metric pot sizes, but tend to
convert to imperial first.

Each has its ambiguity. I know roughly what a litre of compost looks
like, but that doesn't tell me how much of that volume is filled with
root. GCs often pot up small plants into 1ltr pots so they can charge
more. Nurseries do this less, but some are still guilty. On-line and
postal nurseries tend to keep the pots smaller (or send plants
bare-root) to ease postage.

A top circumference measurement is fine (whether imperial or metric),
but doesn't tell you the *depth* of the pot. 'Pans' are much shallower
than standard pots, which in turn are shallower than 'long tom' pots.

Perhaps, along with pot size, the labelling should say "garden ready"
or "established" (at least in catalogues). The depth of the pot is
harder to define, which is probably why volume in litres was adopted.
One way to get over this would be to label as follows:

Plant H2'x W1'
Pot 6"top x 4"depth.

Even this makes the customer ask whether the given plant measurement
is size at sale or size at maturity.

I think you may have opened a can of worms, Sacha! Squirm squirm :~).

Wow! Thanks, Spider but I think I'll stick with measuring the top of the
pot! We don't really use pans much at all and long toms are mainly for
sweet peas or a few shrubby climbers. You really can't give a plant
height and width at point of sale because they vary. Some will have
grown a few inches more or spread a few inches more, in the same size
pot and with equally good root systems. Sometimes, customers do ask us
how big a plant will be when they receive it so we trot out and pick a
good size and shape and tell them. The tallest might not be the
'fattest', so it's up to us to choose what we think best as they're not
there. On a couple of occasions, we've been asked to send photos of two
or three of the same plant, so the customer can pick the one they like!
I do wonder how large the plants are that some send out because we quite
often get delighted surprise as feedback from customers who have never
been to the Nursery. And of course, some nurseries or gcs do specialise
in small 'starter' plants because it keeps the p&p costs right down and
possibly the labour costs, too, as they're not potting on into 1s and 2s
every few weeks.




Understood, Sacha:~). I guess measuring the top is simplest. It's
quite something that you're prepared to photograph plants to give a
disembodied customer a selection!! Not many nurseries do that!
The plants I've bought from yours have always been good quality. So
far, I've not had to order on line. Much nicer to pop along and see you
and Ray .. and the plants of course!


You are buying a 8 inch pot 5 inches deep 4/5th filled with compost
Incidentally it contains a plant.

On Tue, 07 Jan 2014 11:46:32 +0000, Sacha wrote:
[]
Ray rang this morning. These shrubs are £20 in 7cm pots but you can have
3 for £49.50! The plants are about 8 inches tall. No wonder pot size
isn't mentioned in this ad. This is even smaller than I'd imagined. We
were thinking at least 9cm pots. I wonder how many people buy them,
unwary and unseen, only to be astonished at what they've spent their £20
on.

Well that's simply outrageous!

Personally I prefer size, i.e. 1l, 3l etc. 7 cm tells all you need to
know also... very small.

I'm afraid it's standard practice for rarer plants to need a couple of
years of nursing before planting out. They arrive in such limited
quantity and are immediately snapped up, at whatever size, by
collectors. For rarities there's no choice but to order by mail, there
simply isn't any local availability. (Of course here in France there are
fewer good nurseries now, because they're taxed on stock as well as on
sales, so simply propagating becomes very expensive. A real shame.)

Also, small plants are cheaper to ship (assuming this cost is passed to
the buyer), and should be cheaper to buy. I get 2 yr Japanese maple
cultivars (grafted) for 8-10 € each, then I can grow them on.

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 07/01/2014 18:39, Emery Davis wrote:
On Tue, 07 Jan 2014 11:46:32 +0000, Sacha wrote:
[]
Ray rang this morning. These shrubs are £20 in 7cm pots but you can have
3 for £49.50! The plants are about 8 inches tall. No wonder pot size
isn't mentioned in this ad. This is even smaller than I'd imagined. We
were thinking at least 9cm pots. I wonder how many people buy them,
unwary and unseen, only to be astonished at what they've spent their £20
on.

Well that's simply outrageous!

Personally I prefer size, i.e. 1l, 3l etc. 7 cm tells all you need to
know also... very small.

I'm afraid it's standard practice for rarer plants to need a couple of
years of nursing before planting out. They arrive in such limited
quantity and are immediately snapped up, at whatever size, by
collectors. For rarities there's no choice but to order by mail, there
simply isn't any local availability. (Of course here in France there are
fewer good nurseries now, because they're taxed on stock as well as on
sales, so simply propagating becomes very expensive. A real shame.)

Also, small plants are cheaper to ship (assuming this cost is passed to
the buyer), and should be cheaper to buy. I get 2 yr Japanese maple
cultivars (grafted) for 8-10 € each, then I can grow them on.

-E


I think more info should be given about the age of the plant, since I
imagine this is what mainly determines its value. Box plants are as
common as muck and difficult to kill, but still command a high price.

There is a magnificent Camellia round the corner from us that must be 20
years old and seems quite happy growing in a chimney pot.

On 1/7/2014 1:33 PM, David Hill wrote:
On 07/01/2014 15:27, S Viemeister wrote:
On 1/7/2014 10:11 AM, sacha wrote:

Lol! The Americans often refer to pots in 'gallon' sizes!!

True.
But recently I've seen quite a few "three quart" pots (and of course the
US quart is smaller than the Imperial one). They're just a bit shorter,
and just a bit smaller across the top. Sneaky.

I thought that Americans were larger and a lot bigger around than us.

That's largely in the South...