not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?

Yup, Gardening Direct (Jersey Plants) are useless for us in the north
of Scotland. They are not prepared to send plants by Royal Mail but
instead use the cheapest of carriers. The result is that plants can often
wait for up to three weeks in Inverness before a carrier can be found
to deliver them. They will replace them - but with the same result! I have
found that Brookside Plants are the best - next day delivery by Royal
Mail and excellent quality.

Phil
Gardening 40 miles north of Inverness

On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?

Hi Pam
I've had problems with them in the past, but I've phoned them each time
and they have sent out replacements.
I'd tell them what is dead and say the other things are looking
decidedly sorry for themselves and you have your doubts about them.
David

.
Pam this has come up, with this company, before I am quite certain. Such a shame that you are unable to visit a garden centre or nursery, because I maintain, and others have supported me, that anybody dealing in plants "mail order", get rid of their dross and hope nobody complains, if they do "Well we have never had any complaints before" and ship the whole lot again.

We found something my wife wanted today in Morrisons!!!!! but decided to VISIT a proper garden centre and deal with proper people face to face........ But then she has been gardening for rather a long time and has learnt the hard way over many years.

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?

I mentioned here about Parkers some 15 months ago when I ordered a 15 bare
root roses from them. About 1/3 of them had to be returned because of poor
quality. They duly obliged by replacing them. Later it turned out that they
had sent some wrong varieties, but I let it drop as I couldn't be bothered
to raise further complaints with them. Funny thing is that everyone on here
at the time said how good Parkers were and that they had never experienced
any problems with them. Not long after this on another forum, somebody else
started a thread on Parkers and that they too had bad experiences. There
were several responses, all of them negative experiences.

So I think I can now safely say....they are a crap mail order firm. Don't
waste your time or money.

On Sun, 12 Apr 2015 04:18:45 +0100, "FrankB"
wrote:


"Pam Moore" wrote in message
.. .
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?

I mentioned here about Parkers some 15 months ago when I ordered a 15 bare
root roses from them. About 1/3 of them had to be returned because of poor
quality. They duly obliged by replacing them. Later it turned out that they
had sent some wrong varieties, but I let it drop as I couldn't be bothered
to raise further complaints with them. Funny thing is that everyone on here
at the time said how good Parkers were and that they had never experienced
any problems with them. Not long after this on another forum, somebody else
started a thread on Parkers and that they too had bad experiences. There
were several responses, all of them negative experiences.

So I think I can now safely say....they are a crap mail order firm. Don't
waste your time or money.

parkers have replied to my complaint.
They say the plants are sent out "dormant" but how can small plug
plants of delphiniums and echinacea be dormant? I think the echinacea
will survive(there is a sign of growth) but the delphiniums are
totally without growth and for the compost bin!
They say I have a guarantee till mid August. I expect they hope people
will have forgotten their non-existant plants by then!

On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?



In previous years I've ordered plug plants form Parkers and T&M and have
had exactly the same experience with items sent from Jersey that have
obviously been in the post a long time and some the items received were
sent to early with insufficient growth.

This year I took a chance and ordered from Ebay (Bellshill Garden Centre
Ebay trading as davidclyde) and received plugs in a lot better condition
that I've ever had from the large companies. They claim that they only
ever post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid plants being stuck
in the post over the weekend.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 12/04/2015 08:26, alan_m wrote:
On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?



In previous years I've ordered plug plants form Parkers and T&M and have
had exactly the same experience with items sent from Jersey that have
obviously been in the post a long time and some the items received were
sent to early with insufficient growth.

This year I took a chance and ordered from Ebay (Bellshill Garden Centre
Ebay trading as davidclyde) and received plugs in a lot better condition
that I've ever had from the large companies. They claim that they only
ever post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid plants being stuck
in the post over the weekend.

Well I must have been fortunate as I have never had a problem with
Jersey plants, but with lots of others. If they fail to supply quality I
will byte the bullet and spend extra for garden centre plants which I
can select.

On 12/04/2015 10:22, Broadback wrote:
On 12/04/2015 08:26, alan_m wrote:
On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?



In previous years I've ordered plug plants form Parkers and T&M and have
had exactly the same experience with items sent from Jersey that have
obviously been in the post a long time and some the items received were
sent to early with insufficient growth.

This year I took a chance and ordered from Ebay (Bellshill Garden Centre
Ebay trading as davidclyde) and received plugs in a lot better condition
that I've ever had from the large companies. They claim that they only
ever post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid plants being stuck
in the post over the weekend.

Well I must have been fortunate as I have never had a problem with
Jersey plants, but with lots of others. If they fail to supply quality I
will byte the bullet and spend extra for garden centre plants which I
can select.

Seems that growers can't provide a transparent container for bedding
plants that prevents them drying out. Maybe it's because moisture would
condense on the inner surface and obscure the plants they're trying to
sell.
The annual scene of devastation in supermarkets and d-i-y stores is upon
us again. Why can't someone on a zero hours contract water the bloody
plants? And I have to say the incredibly efficient Aldi are the worst
offender round here

On 12/04/2015 10:39, stuart noble wrote:
On 12/04/2015 10:22, Broadback wrote:
On 12/04/2015 08:26, alan_m wrote:
On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?



In previous years I've ordered plug plants form Parkers and T&M and have
had exactly the same experience with items sent from Jersey that have
obviously been in the post a long time and some the items received were
sent to early with insufficient growth.

This year I took a chance and ordered from Ebay (Bellshill Garden Centre
Ebay trading as davidclyde) and received plugs in a lot better condition
that I've ever had from the large companies. They claim that they only
ever post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid plants being stuck
in the post over the weekend.

Well I must have been fortunate as I have never had a problem with
Jersey plants, but with lots of others. If they fail to supply quality I
will byte the bullet and spend extra for garden centre plants which I
can select.

Seems that growers can't provide a transparent container for bedding
plants that prevents them drying out. Maybe it's because moisture would
condense on the inner surface and obscure the plants they're trying to
sell.
The annual scene of devastation in supermarkets and d-i-y stores is upon
us again. Why can't someone on a zero hours contract water the bloody
plants? And I have to say the incredibly efficient Aldi are the worst
offender round here

There may be a light on the horizon.
I bought 2 5 packs of fuchsia plugs from Morrison's a couple of weeks
ago, they were set into a small tray containing a fine grade of water
retaining polymer, so they didn't need watering for probably a couple of
weeks, You could almost hear them purring.
Good for store bought plants but not for mail order.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay

On 12/04/2015 19:21, David Hill wrote:
On 12/04/2015 10:39, stuart noble wrote:
On 12/04/2015 10:22, Broadback wrote:
On 12/04/2015 08:26, alan_m wrote:
On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?



In previous years I've ordered plug plants form Parkers and T&M and
have
had exactly the same experience with items sent from Jersey that have
obviously been in the post a long time and some the items received were
sent to early with insufficient growth.

This year I took a chance and ordered from Ebay (Bellshill Garden
Centre
Ebay trading as davidclyde) and received plugs in a lot better
condition
that I've ever had from the large companies. They claim that they only
ever post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid plants being stuck
in the post over the weekend.

Well I must have been fortunate as I have never had a problem with
Jersey plants, but with lots of others. If they fail to supply quality I
will byte the bullet and spend extra for garden centre plants which I
can select.

Seems that growers can't provide a transparent container for bedding
plants that prevents them drying out. Maybe it's because moisture would
condense on the inner surface and obscure the plants they're trying to
sell.
The annual scene of devastation in supermarkets and d-i-y stores is upon
us again. Why can't someone on a zero hours contract water the bloody
plants? And I have to say the incredibly efficient Aldi are the worst
offender round here

There may be a light on the horizon.
I bought 2 5 packs of fuchsia plugs from Morrison's a couple of weeks
ago, they were set into a small tray containing a fine grade of water
retaining polymer, so they didn't need watering for probably a couple of
weeks, You could almost hear them purring.
Good for store bought plants but not for mail order.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay
correction, they were 6 packs

On 12/04/2015 20:59, David Hill wrote:
On 12/04/2015 19:21, David Hill wrote:
On 12/04/2015 10:39, stuart noble wrote:
On 12/04/2015 10:22, Broadback wrote:
On 12/04/2015 08:26, alan_m wrote:
On 08/04/2015 10:37, Pam Moore wrote:
not being able to get to garden centres much I ordered some plants
from Parkers.
They arrived yesterday (7th) having been posted on 2nd so were packed
in a box all over Easter weekend!
Some things were ok, being dry. 6 "free" pinks plugs were fine, as
also was a potted daphne, to replace my sadly deceased one.
However, 6 plugs of each of delphinium and echinacea were totally
devoid of any growth at all.
What crazy company sends out plants just before a bank holiday?
I have sent a strong complaint to Parkers.
Any one else had such a thing happen?



In previous years I've ordered plug plants form Parkers and T&M and
have
had exactly the same experience with items sent from Jersey that have
obviously been in the post a long time and some the items received
were
sent to early with insufficient growth.

This year I took a chance and ordered from Ebay (Bellshill Garden
Centre
Ebay trading as davidclyde) and received plugs in a lot better
condition
that I've ever had from the large companies. They claim that they only
ever post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid plants being stuck
in the post over the weekend.

Well I must have been fortunate as I have never had a problem with
Jersey plants, but with lots of others. If they fail to supply
quality I
will byte the bullet and spend extra for garden centre plants which I
can select.

Seems that growers can't provide a transparent container for bedding
plants that prevents them drying out. Maybe it's because moisture would
condense on the inner surface and obscure the plants they're trying to
sell.
The annual scene of devastation in supermarkets and d-i-y stores is upon
us again. Why can't someone on a zero hours contract water the bloody
plants? And I have to say the incredibly efficient Aldi are the worst
offender round here

There may be a light on the horizon.
I bought 2 5 packs of fuchsia plugs from Morrison's a couple of weeks
ago, they were set into a small tray containing a fine grade of water
retaining polymer, so they didn't need watering for probably a couple of
weeks, You could almost hear them purring.
Good for store bought plants but not for mail order.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay
correction, they were 6 packs

Glad to hear that. I just hate to see whole racks of good plants going
to waste for the sake of a couple of man hours labour. Aldi reduce them
drastically but nobody wants dead plants

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 12 Apr 2015 04:18:45 +0100, "FrankB"
wrote:



I mentioned here about Parkers some 15 months ago when I ordered a 15
bare
root roses from them. About 1/3 of them had to be returned because of
poor
quality. They duly obliged by replacing them. Later it turned out that
they
had sent some wrong varieties, but I let it drop as I couldn't be
bothered
to raise further complaints with them. Funny thing is that everyone on
here
at the time said how good Parkers were and that they had never
experienced
any problems with them. Not long after this on another forum, somebody
else
started a thread on Parkers and that they too had bad experiences. There
were several responses, all of them negative experiences.

So I think I can now safely say....they are a crap mail order firm. Don't
waste your time or money.

parkers have replied to my complaint.
They say the plants are sent out "dormant" but how can small plug
plants of delphiniums and echinacea be dormant? I think the echinacea
will survive(there is a sign of growth) but the delphiniums are
totally without growth and for the compost bin!
They say I have a guarantee till mid August. I expect they hope people
will have forgotten their non-existant plants by then!

Quite honestly, buying plug plants by mail order is risky as it doesn't take
much to kill very small plants. And if they are already half dead before
they've even been packaged you stand little chance of success. It may cost a
bit more to buy plants at your local nursery or garden centre, but then you
see what you are buying and my local nursery is generally very good value
and sells quality plants (eg 1 Blue Skies Delphinium £1.89 - grown in 1
litre pot)

On 17/04/2015 19:54, FrankB wrote:

Quite honestly, buying plug plants by mail order is risky as it doesn't take
much to kill very small plants. And if they are already half dead before
they've even been packaged you stand little chance of success. It may cost a
bit more to buy plants at your local nursery or garden centre, but then you
see what you are buying and my local nursery is generally very good value
and sells quality plants (eg 1 Blue Skies Delphinium £1.89 - grown in 1
litre pot)



All garden centres around my way only sell plants that have been forced
to bloom for sale to people who wouldn't know what to do with a plant
that needs some time to grow before getting to their best. Having
overly mature plants is not always ideal for planting into something
like a vertical planting tube with relatively small holes.

Plug plants are a good idea but not if the supplier sends out plants
with virtually no root system, no top growth or sends them on days when
the package is likely to be in the postal system for 5 days.

And then you have some of the well known mail order companies implying
that the shopping TV channel QVC has the pick of the quality plants -
presumably leaving all the left-over c**p for the mugs who buy from
their catalogues or from the web.

Recently I ordered a dozen (non-perishable) items from Ebay, all sent by
second class post and all of the size that could fit into a small jiffy
bag that could go through my letter box. All sellers sent a confirmation
within a day saying that they had been posted. The quickest delivery
was the next day - the longest delivery was 14 days later. I even had a
card saying one package was too large and on collecting it I found 3
items that had the postman bothered removing the elastic band around all
three each could have easily gone through the letter box. Royal Mail is
a very poor for perishable goods and too many of these mail order
companies use this service.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 18/04/2015 21:54, alan_m wrote:
On 17/04/2015 19:54, FrankB wrote:

Quite honestly, buying plug plants by mail order is risky as it
doesn't take
much to kill very small plants. And if they are already half dead before
they've even been packaged you stand little chance of success. It may
cost a
bit more to buy plants at your local nursery or garden centre, but
then you
see what you are buying and my local nursery is generally very good value
and sells quality plants (eg 1 Blue Skies Delphinium £1.89 - grown in 1
litre pot)



All garden centres around my way only sell plants that have been forced
to bloom for sale to people who wouldn't know what to do with a plant
that needs some time to grow before getting to their best. Having
overly mature plants is not always ideal for planting into something
like a vertical planting tube with relatively small holes.

Plug plants are a good idea but not if the supplier sends out plants
with virtually no root system, no top growth or sends them on days when
the package is likely to be in the postal system for 5 days.

And then you have some of the well known mail order companies implying
that the shopping TV channel QVC has the pick of the quality plants -
presumably leaving all the left-over c**p for the mugs who buy from
their catalogues or from the web.

Recently I ordered a dozen (non-perishable) items from Ebay, all sent by
second class post and all of the size that could fit into a small jiffy
bag that could go through my letter box. All sellers sent a confirmation
within a day saying that they had been posted. The quickest delivery
was the next day - the longest delivery was 14 days later. I even had a
card saying one package was too large and on collecting it I found 3
items that had the postman bothered removing the elastic band around all
three each could have easily gone through the letter box. Royal Mail is
a very poor for perishable goods and too many of these mail order
companies use this service.

I have to disagree, I find Royal mail First class, but it does to a
small amount depend on your postman, here we have a great one, problem
is he is retiring and we have yet to find out how good his replacement
will be.
I have had a couple of things ordered on Ebay that have been sent by
carrier that could easily have gone in the post, they have taken on
average 5 days to get to me where as I get over 90 % of 2nd class mail
within 3 days, a lot of it in 2.
When I was doing mail order Dahlia plants I found that Royal mail was by
far the best, I had to claim for loss/damage just 3 times in 4 years.
I used City Link for a time but after taking an order to their depot and
having it then put in the back of a van not in use, and when found 10
days later they delivered a load of slime and said it wasn't their fault.
I got settlement 3 days before we were due to go to court.
I remember in the days of British Rail Red Star delivery having 5 boxes
of young Chrysanth plants sent from Littlehampton, I box got to Cardiff,
2 to Swansea and 2 to Haverford West, took 3 days to get them all
delivered to me in Swansea.
I have also had a box of young plants clearly marked "This way up"
delivered upside down.
A firm is only as good as it's staff.
I also had a delivery fail to be delivered and when I chased the
delivery firm up they said "We saw Nursery on the address and as it's
half term we thought there would be nobody there".
David @ a dry side of Swansea Bay